The Motor Drivers News.
Page 35
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.'Exhaust-pipe Repairs: Emulsive Lubrication.
AN.'' (Oundle) writes :—" J have been driving a steam wagon for nearly five years, so naturally I take a keen interest in' Txt COMMERCIAL MOTOR.' I was on a journey one day when my exhaust joint blew out. I made a new joint, .and, while screwing the nuts up, I had the misfortune to break off one half of the flange. I bound it together temporarily to run me home. As the flange is cast with the cylinders, it was a serious item unless the damage could be successfully repaired. The flange is oval in form. We decided to shrink a ring round it if it could be done, so a ring was made from a piece of finch square iron. I took out the low-pressure valve plug, and drove a bung up the exhaust pipe, leaving about 5 inches of the pipe to act as a reservoir. The pipe was then filled with water to keep the cylinders cool. The ring, after being welded was forced on, and bedded to the flange. It was then taken off and " drawn " .enough to allow for contraction. The ring was again heated and gently driven on, my mate holding the broken part by the stud with a pair of tongs. After the ring was cold, it was found that it had contracted enough to make a splendid repair. The engine has now run for two years, and, although I have taken the pipe off several times, it shows no -sign of giving way, a fact that speaks well for itself. I
• would advise anyone doing a similar repair to be careful not -to get the ring too tight, as it might burst, or even damage the casting."
In reply to " T.D.," who asks for the name of a good lubricating oil, I can strongly recommend the emulsion of Birtill, Spurrier and Co., Manchester. When we had our new lorry, we experienced a lot of trouble with the brasses in the engine case, having to close them in every fortnight for -the simple reason that the oil was too thin. We were advised to use emulsion, and as a proof of its quality, I may say that I did not take a split pin out of the engine for over 18 months. "It is now over 12 months since any of the brasses were re.duced. Emulsion is more expensive than ordinary oil, but .as we use equal parts of emulsion and water, it is as cheap in the end. I have used a lamp wick for a joint on the 'engine covers since we got the lorry, but I replaced the 5-16-inch studs and wing nuts with 7-16-inch studs, spring 'washers and nuts, and I never lose any oil from these joints. Emulsion is only intended for splash lubrication, as it gets very thick in cold weather.
'Hints on Packing.
" G.G." (Bedford) sends the following note on packing glands :—" I think the following experience may be of some interest to drivers, as I seldom hear or read about the packing of engine glands, or the making of joints. I was re-cently driving a steam wagon which had been driven previously by several other drivers, some of whom I think must have been very poor ones. During the first few days, I had considerable trouble in keeping the different glands tight. I 'had taken out all the old packing, as I thought, and had re-packed the glands with good material, but still they leaked, 'keeping the wagon in a cloud of steam when the engine was at work. I determined, therefore, to have the packing rings out, to see if they were worn, and to my surprise found that there was more old packing in the stuffing boxes ; this I had to cut out with a half-round chisel, as it was as hard as iron. After re-packing once more, I had no further trouble with the glands, as the piston and slide rods were kept well lubricated, and the engine worked much more easily than before. I find that, by putting packing in the glands in the 'form of long pieces it stands more wear than by putting it in -ring upon ring. Last summer I came upon a steam tractor which had broken down by the roadside. The driver wanted to know if I had anything with which to make a cylindercover joint ; he said that he had made the joint twice already, and had used up all his sheet asbestos. On examining the cover, I found it was very well faced, and, having some brown paper with me, I told him to make the joint with it. He seemed very doubtful for a few moments, and then asked me if I would make it for him, so I cut the paper to fit the -cover, and oiled it well on both sides with a little cylinder oil, afterwards bolting the cover in position for him. I met the -same driver again some time afterwards, and he told me that the joint had stood until he took the cover off to examine the cylinder, which was weeks afterwards. I think that there is no substance to equal brown paper for making machine-faced joints. For rough joints, I can safely recommend asbestos string, one turn inside the stud holes and one outside them. For screw plugs, fusible plugs and gas plugs, a little paste graphite ridde on the screwed portion will always keep them tight, and make them easy to remove. Graphite is, without doubt, far ahead of tallow for the foregoingjobs. A little care on the part of a driver, in seeing that joints are properly made, more than pays for itself,"
A Trying Experience.
H.E.C." (Kelveden) writes :--" My mate and myself left Windsor one evening for London, with a toh.p. M.M.C. laundry-van. The engine pulled well until we reached a point just outside Egham, when one of the exhaust valves stuck in the guide. We tried to run the engine, but it was no use as our efforts only made the stem jam tighter. It. was a nasty evening, raining fast and very dark, so we decided to put the van up for the night in an hotel yard, and. get a bed. We found some men who pushed the van for us and then we telephoned to our employers to let them know of the breakdown. Next morning, at 8 o'clock, we started work and took down the cylinders. We had very few tools; only a large screw-hammer, a small spanner, two files, and one oil-can. That was our outfit. We managed to borrow two more spanners and began to work. First, we. roped the cylinders to a tree, and tried to draw out the valve, but it was no use. Then, we borrowed the landlord's poker, and, after a long time, we managed to get the _y_alve loose. (The poker looked rather damaged when we -had done with it.) We found that the valve was slightly bent, so my mate took it to a garage at the other end of tg.ham, and put it right. After this, we thought our troubles were at an end, but we opened up the tappet chamber, to make sure that all was right and found that the tappet rod belonging to the jammed valve was very badly bent. This was not all. We found that the cam had sheared clean off its pin on the camshaft, so we had to take the whole lot down, upsetting the timing gears, etc., and tilting the heavy old coil radiators. We went to a garage and were allowed to use the tools. It was a weary job. When the tappet rod was straightened, I took it back to the van to run the surface true in the guide. Meanwhile, my mate was at work trying to drill the pin out of the cam ; be had bad luck, as the drill broke in halves when partly through the spindle. We settled everything at last, and started to put things together. When we finished we found that we had only half-a-pint of oil in the glasses in addition to what we had in the crank chamber. We did not quite know what to do, as we had no oil for the tappetbox. We unscrewed the glass oil-cap from the tappet-box, put a.stnall funnel in the hole, put some grease in a beercan, and made a fire of waste and melted the grease, then poUred it in. The engine started on the first half turn, and we were off. It was 2 a.m. andAve felt very tired, because we had been working all the time since 8 o'clock the preceding morning. We reached Gloucester Mews just before 6 o'clock in the morning. We had run out of petrol near Notting Fill, but I managed to get some from a friend after wandering round various places. When we reached the stable, I left my mate in charge of the vehicle while I went to the manager's house to get the key: I went back to my mate and found him sound asleep. The :toolbox on the seat stood open, and what few tools we had were gone. The van is for sale now, and I am hunting for a:job, and also my mate, because a few days after this he. borrowed my bike (nearly new) to go to breakfast; and he has not been seen since."