Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
Page 19
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TEN suiLur:Gs WEEKLY for the Best Communication Received, and One Penny a Line of ten words for any
thing else published.
Drivers of commercial-motor sohic'es and tractors, and mechanics and foremen of garages or shops, are invited to send short contributions on any subject which is likely to prove of interest to our readers. Work. shop tips and smart repairs ; long and successful runs ; interesting photographs ; all are suitable subjects. Send a post-card, or a letter, or a sketch to us—no matter haw short, or how written, or how worded. We will " knock it into shape" and prepare sketches, where necessary, before Puldication. The absence of a sketch does nut disqualify for a prize, When writing use one side of the paper only and mention your employer's name as a guarantee of bona fides. Neither your own nor your employer's nano will be disclosed. Payment will be made immediately after publication. Address your letters to The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR, 7-75, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.C.
The Withdrawal of Bushes.
7g01 " E.B." (Dartford) writes :—" Being a constant reader of the Cll.,' I have noticed a number of letters have been published about the drawing of bushes, b; means of ii:ore-or-less complicated devices. Now my way el drawing such things is as follows. If the bush is a small one, can generally find something to meet my requirement, lying in the scrap-box, even if it is only a hexagon or a square nut. With a few plates such as you will find round the drilling machine, and a few long bolts, most small hushes can be extracted. Whenever I get a large bush to draw, I find the cheapest way is to cut it through with a roundnose chisel or a diamond point in two opposite places. Thu hush will then almost fall out. This method saves making plates, collars or distance pieces for the job. When a bush is worn out, it is no good for anything but scrap and so is not worth troubling a lot about. Therefore, 1 advise, cut it out quickly.
" If a bush is turned properly, it will drive in with a *few good sharp blows from a small flogging hammer on to a piece of hard wood laid across the bush. If it is too tight, it will close in and will want filing out to fit the shaft or whatever it may have to work on. That means that you start wearing out the bush before it has done any work. Fit it properly before it goes in is my motto. A lot of men go to trouble and expense to make all sorts of tools to do these jobs, but I do not find they pay."
Getting Home with Two Ignition Systems Out of Order.
7;81] " W.F.F." (Balham) Writ Cs :—" I am in charge of 12 commercial-motor vehicles, ranging from 30 ewt. to
tons in capacity, and, as you are, of course, aware by your long experience, some very funny problems are encountered in the running of such machines.
" ['give you herewith, as an example, one of my experiences which occurred the other night. I was rolled out into the country to see to one of these maehines, and, when I arrived, I found that the cause of the breakdown was ignition trouble.
" The machine in question was fitted with L.T. magneto and coil and with battery and quadruple coil. The magneto armature had burnt out, and, as this had never given the slightest trouble before, and burning out is not a mishap which is, as a rule, anticipated, I have to confess that the ordinary coil, of the alternative batteryand-coil system, had not been examined for a long while and, now that it was wanted, two of the coils were wrong somewhere in the internal winding. So here 1 was stranded with the magneto armature of one system disabled, and with the coil of the other installation beyond hope of wayside repair with the tools I had at hand.
I finally got out of the difficulty by wiring up various units of the two systems. I cut out the magneto and its -coil, retaining only, in my new arrangement, the mag neto H.T. distributor. The L.T. current from one of the two-remaining coils on the battery-and-coil system, passed through the L.T. contact-maker, whose four terminals I wired together. H.T. induced current, by reason of this one coil working overtime and catering for all the four cylinders, passed to the ITT. distributor on the magneto, by which path it duly reached each of the H.T. plugs on the engine."
Putting a Roof on a Plug.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 10s. prize this week.
U.S.C.'' i_Slough) writes :—" I have, for the past three months, been driving a 30 h.p. motorbus, of a wellknown make, whose engine is fitted with low-tension ignition of that type in which the insulated portion of the mechanical plug is fixed in the top of the cylinder. On wet days—and we have had a great many of these this summer I used to have a lot of trouble, owing to water getting through the joints in the bonnet and lodging on the soapstones, and thus forming a most-effective short. During one day's work, I had to wipe the plugs seven times in 11 miles. • One of my passengers, an American, offered, in fun, to lend me his cap to cover them. I did not accept the suggestion, but the word cap ' started me thinking. When I gut home, I took four tin-can lids (Lucas's carbide tins) and, haying drilled a small hole in the centre of each, I fitted one to each plug as a cap. Since then I have had no further trouble with . water, though. it may rain ever so hard. " I think this tip may be worth insertion in your D. and M.' columns and may help some other driver over similar trouble."