AIDS TO EFFICIENCY.
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Some Helpful Hints from Our Driver and Mechanic Readers.
Bumper Springs.
TTSUALLY vehicles are turned out by J the makers with springs of suitable strength for the load to be carried with safety, and it is only in the case of gross overloading that trouble arises through bodies or wings coming in contact with tyres and causing damage.
There may, however, be cases in which it is necessary to increase the strength of springs or to prevent undue rolling when very high loads have to be carried.
The suggestion of " G.W.," of Bolton, for improvising bumper springs to enable heavier loads to be carried than those for which the vehicle is designed appears to us like tieing down a safety valve to enable a boiler to be worked at a pressure for which it is not intended. We, however, give particulars of how be made his bumper springs for the Leyland he drives, but do not encourage the fitting of such springs.
His sketch is so complete that it needs little description. The brackets can be cast in malleable iron or gunmetal, or as an alternative method of construction they might be built up of plates welded together.
A Sprung Trailer Lamp.
LiKu so many other drivers of lorries, "HE.," of Cannock, has had trouble through the lamp behind his trailer jolting out when going over rough roads. It is a curious fact that lamps on trailers seem to he more affected by vibration than those at the rear of ordinary vehicles. The usual lamp seen on trailers is of the hurricane lantern type, smeared with red paint. It does not strike one as _ being a very scientific accessory, but it is evidently the favourite of those who drive vehicles with trailers attached, and is used by our correspondent " H.H." The only difference in his method and the ordinary way in which such lamps are used lies in the fact that he suspends his lamp from the trailer by means of a coil tension spring, which damps out the shocks from potholes and other road inequalities.
An Improvised Drilling Machine, A. PRACTICAL suggestion is sent us
by " L.M.C.," of Dartford, who says that under certain circumstances a driver may have to drill holes in plates of iron or other materials to effect a temporary repair when no drilling apparatus other than a small breast drill is available.
Useful as the breast drill is, it is not practicable to drill more than a fin. hole with it, whereas with the device he suggests holes of 1 in. diameter can be drilled.
The apparatus can be rigged up in almost any place where there are a bench and a wall. An old file of a size near to the diameter of the hole to be drilled is procured, the tang is broken off to about half its original length and the end filed down to a point.
The other end is ground on a grindstone to the shape of a drill. Heat is then applied to the body of the file to reduce the temper, and is allowed to extend gradually towards the point that is to act as a drill. The colour due to heat should be watched, and a pale straw colour will be seen gradually coming on the metal, which will deepen into a plum colour and then into a blue. When the point of the drill part is a very deep straw colour the file should be dipped in water to prevent over tempering. Two pieces of wood should be clamped to the file as shown to form a handle. A piece of wood should., be nailed to a wall to form a fulcrum ; any old board will do for a lever, and a piece of strong cord to anything that will answer as a pedal will provide the necessant pressure to make the drill cut. A coach screw with a centre-punch mark in it will answer as a centre, which should be kept well oiled. A nail will prevent the job from revolving with the drill.
With this simple rig-up holes can be drilled with ease if one person works the drill while another person stands on the treadle.
Facilitating Starting:
THE difficulty of starting large engines in the morning in cold weather is well known to most drivers. " A.A.W.," of Wolverhampton, has found that by providing a piece of wood or iron of sufficient length to jam against the front of the driver's seat and thus hold the clutch pedal in the " out " position, all friction due to the gears revolving in the thick oil of the gearbox is eliminated, and that the friction of the engine alone is all the driver has to overcome. Any suggestion that will reduce the labour necessary to start a large engine that has been standing in a cold place all night will certainly be welcomed by drivers, and we would like to learn of others which have been found to be of real service.
To Remedy Pump Trouble. IT is sometimes found that a centri
fugal water pump will lose efficiency through end-play, due to wear, developing in the spindle.
A correspondent, " G.O.J.," of Taunton, seems to have been troubled in this way with his Tyler engine and to have overcome the difficulty in a very simple manner.
By drilling a W-in. tapping hole in the front cover of the pump and tapping it in. to take a long screw provided with a lock nut, he is able to push the spindle and its impeller back against the cover of the pump, and then slightly slacken the screw until the impeller can just revolve freely, then lock the nut. He says that he has found this arrangement very effective in increasing the efficiency of a water pump.
Curing Brake Scream. BRAKES that scream are an annoy
ance, both ta the driver and to the public; they are also a danger, as they will in some cases causes a pedestrian to look round, and by so doing take his eyes from the direction in which he intends to go.
"ETC.," of Pinshury Park, informs us that he has remedied this trouble on his Morris-Oxford, which he drives for business purposes. His remedy consists of cutting two strips from an old inner tube, cleaning about 6 ins, of both ends with petrol, and solutioning the parts where they are to be joined to make a ring which will grip the brake drum. He informs us that this has entirely Cured the screaming.