FROM• THE INSPECTOR'S NOTE BOOK
Page 18
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The Value of Official Recommendation. Graded Fittings for Spare Parts.
. M OST OF U-S HAVE noticed, on main high
roads, the small shop-front, generally some what disreputable, with its window brightly and tastefully arranged with a selection of half-used oil cans, a perambulator with a tyre off, a sewing machine " in for repair," and two or three pairs of swam:I-hand roller sk,ates hanging on a rusty nail, and above this enterprising display on the facia board some such title as "The Muddletown Motor Works." Worse still, there are occasions when one comes across establishments of this kind, even if not of quite so 'unbusinesslike appearance as that suggested, which displays amongst a miscellaneous collection of metallic advertisements of tyres and vulcanizers, and now, I suppose, of gas bags, an official pronouncement to the effect that the establishment in question is in the registered list of repairers, for one or other of our national motor organizations.
It has always appeared to me that one of the most noticeable activities of these various asseciaticns is that arising from 'their capaeity for the distribution of gaudily coloured metallic discs all over the country which, whilst primarily advertising the associations in question, yield a certain amount of information as to the whereabouts of the spot where they are affixed or as to the certified capacity of this hotel or that repairer. I have never been able to avoid the conviction that these medallions, or whatever the real name for them is, are, in the first place, distributed with a view to scouring the• utmost publicity for the " R:A.C.," the " A.A. and M.U.," the " A.-C.U.," and so on. It may be useful to learn from them that Puddleton is 2i miles from the corner, whilst Sliehester is 9i miles back, and I am quite prepared to believe that the " A.A." or the "R.A.C. usefully helping the milestones in that way, but when I come to the list of recommended hotels or certified repairers, I eonfess at once that I distrust the judgment which has been responsible for a considerable number of the selections.
There are not a few so-called repairers in this country bearing one or other, or both, or more of the official plaques of approval who are entirety unsuited for such work. There seems to be no particular standard which shall decide when the possession of a shop-front and a. dirty "interior" ceases to be what it appears to be, and blossoms into a "motor
• works," and perchance the abode of an official repairer. In most of the bigger, towns there are, of . course, as a rule, one or two thoroughly competent, well managed. well organized repair shops, whose i claim for official status s.,supportable without argument But there are a number of so-called repairers
• who have little other claim to capacity for repair work than a bench littered with scrap parts, a few • comnaratively worthless tools, and odd corners • stuffed with the wreckage of repair experiments.
There should be a very sharp line drawn indeed when public road traffic calls for`effective garage and repair establishments. The C.M.U.A. has in its enterprising manner compiled its own list of industrial facilities, which ,is already fairly comprehensive and with which few faults can be found. But the country before the war was besprinkled with trans for the unwary. There should be no places found in the future organization of the industry for those whose principal claims to be competent and effective repairing agents. are based on their ability to present . an ample account for services supposed to have been rendered.This matter-affects the commercial vehicle ti42
industry more particularly. The pleasure car world must be left to look after itself. With the commercial vehicle every mile .run, every hundredweight carried is a matter of X s. d., and there is no margin for incompetency. More power then to the elbow of the C.M.U.A., which will enable the 'EA'. C.. -and A.A. and other recommended lists to be dispensed with so far as' the industrial vehicle is concerned. The connriercial motor belongs' to business men,. and they mast have businesslike facilities. There Will 63 ample scope for numberless new waysiderepairers in the new age, of commercial motoring which-Will quickly follow peace when it comes, and it is imp ortaut that no patronage shall be extended to Concerns which will do everything but ,good to the industry.Such facilities pall foie skilled help and. management, adequate repair facilities. and .chargesstrictly in accord with prompt and effective service rendered.
Graded Fittings for Spare Parts. . .
I am surprised to. And in talking to users hoW frequently they profess entire ignorance of the desirability of certain spare parts being made in several sizes. It has apparently not occurred to many of them that when .a.-hole has worn larger it will, unless it be bushed to the original size, require a larger pin to fit it. Piston rings, when they are 'wanted for replacements, are required to fit into grooves which are more often than not wider than when the piston itself was new ; similar circumstances are true of quite a number of detailed components of every chassis. It is particularly the case, however, in connection with replacement parts which are to go into
That particular refinement of design which provides for every hole, however relatively unimportant, in which a pin or other part works, to be bushed in the first place is one which one seldom encounters throughout a chassis design whether for touring car or for commerciarmoclel. • Bushes, as a rule, are provided to ensure bearing surface of the proper metal, the idea of replacement is often a secondary one. It is an expensive initial provision if carried out thoroughly, but, of course, it affords the opportunity by means of rebushing for replacement on the original lines. The bush, worn though it be ever so badly, can be knocked out, and a new one with exactly the same sized original hole can be placed into position. Pins and shafts can then be of the same sizes as were required in the first instance.
Failing such provision, manufacturers should be pressed to provide replacements in certain cases in at least one or two sizes. This, of course, only applies to those parts which have to work in conjuno. tion with some existing part of the structure on which wear may havektaken place, and for which reamering may be a sufficient corrective. I have frequently known replacement to be attempted when a new part has arrived from the works made exactly to the original drawing, and With its grinding allowances accurately gauged, and yet when it has been offered up on the machine under repair, theworn surfaces with which it has to co-operate have rendered the new," fit" only slightly 'worse than when the need for replacement was finally decided upon. Now that considerably closer attention is being given to the whole question of the necessity of proper spare-part provision, it would he well if certain manufacturers reviewed the situation from the point of view of providing some at least of their replacements in various " fittings" with definite measured. tolerances or allowances to make uptf or wear and tear. It is often quite necessary,to list one or. two such variations for certain parts. A few enterprising ..makers do so,