For DRIVERS, MECHANICS & FOREMEN
Page 37
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
TEN SHILLINGS is paid to the sender of any letter which we publish on this page, and an EXTRA .FIVE SHILLINGS to the sender of the one which we select as being the best each week. All notes are edited before being published. Mention your employer's name, in confidence, as evideziee of good faith. Address, D., M. and P., "The Commercial Motor," 7-15, Bosebery .Atenue, London, EX. 1.
Lamps Alight.
On Saturday, October 2nd, light your lamps at 7.5 in London, 7.15 in Edinburgh, 7.9 in Newcastle, 7.11 in Liverpool, 7.11 in Birmingham, 7.15 in Bristol, and 7.59 in Dublin.
The above are summer times. In the event of an official order being given to put clocks back, each of the lighting-up times given will be one hour earlier.
An Adjustable "C" Spanner.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the extra payment of Sr. this week.
[2140] "H.J.0." (Battersea) writes :—" The accompanying sketch allows a form of adjustable 'C' spanner which I have made myself. We had quite a run, at one time, in the repair shop, of gearboxes which embodied a number of nuts with notched edges, and as it was rather expensive to lay in a whole range of spanners suitable for this type of nut, I decided to see what could be done in the way of making an adjustable one. In the result, the tool, as will be seen on reference to the sketch, was very workmanlike and practicable; it proved extremely useful, is continuously in demand throughout the shop, and cost next to nothing.
"I took a piece of plain flat bar steel and bent it double as shown in Fig. 1. I trimmed it up anti made it nice and parallel. I then bent it round as shown in Fig. 2, trimmed it with a file to the dotted lines so that ultimately it was shaped as shown in A in Fig. 3. I brazed a packing piece in the middle to keep the arms correctly spaced. The other part of the spanner was also made from a piece of flat bar of the right thickness to fit nicely between the jaws ef the other one ; it, too, was bent and shaped as shown in the sketch, two or three holes were drilled in each piece for the purpose of adjusting the spanner to fit various sizes of nut, and the business ends.of the tool were carefully case-hardened. The method of use will easily be apparent."
Novel Use for a Lead Pencil.
[2141] " F.G.B." (Tipton) writes : " The most ordinary things can sometimes be put •to the most extraordinary uses. Some time ago I remember reading in The Commercial MotoP a description of how a driver overseas used a lead pencil as a substitute for the lost jet of his carburetter. My experience is perhaps not quite so unusual or out of the ordinary as his, but it will at least be interestang, and perhaps instructive, to a good many of your driver readers.
"I had a little trouble with my ignition the other day and traced it to the plugs. On looking in the tool box for a screw-driver with which to apply the usual test, I discovered that I had left that indispensable tool behind me. I had in my pocket, however, as most of us have, a piece or ordinary lead pencil. I drilled a small hole in it, near the butt end, and in the hole screwed a small ordinary wood screw. By applying the outer end of the screw to the plug terminal and putting the lousiness end of the pencil near the metal of the cylinder, I was able to test the plug in the usual fashion. in the event of a suitable screw not being available, the test can still be carried out by pushing the plug terminal up the hole in the stock of the pencil Until it touches the graphite."
A Couple of Useful Tips.
[2142] "J.L." (Worcester) writes:—" Valve springs do not break so frequently or so easily now as they used to do but when one does break it is still as inconvenient and awkward as ever, perhaps more so, since, owing to the present general immunity from trouble, one is less and less inclined to carry spares than one used to be in the old days, when to break a spring was all in the day's work. At any rate, it was in that state of unpreparedness that I was found the other day when one of the exhaust valve springs of my lorry broke, I was carrying a full load, on an urgent journey when the accident happened, and it was therefore essential that I should have at my disposal all the power that the engine could afford. However, I managed to get along all right by adopting the following expedient, although I took care when I got home to requisition not only a new spring to replace that which was broken, but also a couple of spares in case of another similar mishap. "I first removed the spring from one of the inlet valves and put it under the exhaust valve in place of the broken one. Fortunately, the springs were interchangeable and thus allowed of that being done. I then rummaged in my tool box until I found a light tension spring which I happened to know was lying there. One end of this I hooked into the cotter hole of the inlet valve, and the other end I attached to a convenient bolt on the crankcase.
"Another little incident may be of interest. On one of a fleet of lorries the magneto was due for an overhaul. It was therefore removed and replaced by another one. Now the lorry had been driven into the garage on the old magneto, and the new one was put in place with the same timing and without any other alteration whatever. Nevertheless the engine positively refused to start. I went over the timing, and proved that to be correct, and I tested the•magneto itself : it gave off quite a fat spark. Finally, I removed the plugs and, by way of experiment, closed the points into the minimum distance which is allowable. The engine after that started at the first pull
over." . ,