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FORD VAN POINTERS.

16th January 1923
Page 24
Page 24, 16th January 1923 — FORD VAN POINTERS.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

By R. T. Nicholson (Author of "The Book of the Ford ").

IHAVE already dealt with the question of ea.6tig the starter as much as possible, but let me " rub it in" once more. It does you no harm to use your muscles on the starting-handle, if it is only a !natter of freeing the pistons in the cylinders. It hurts the starter a great deal to have to do the freeing, particularly if it is a question of taking the z out of freezing.

523.—Keep the Van Clean.

The time to wash the van is when it is wet. If you want the paint to last well, use nothing but cold water, though luke-warm water with a little soda dissolved in it will help when things are very had. Hosing will fetch the mud off when it is really wet. If you have to postpone the washing, soak the mud with water in a sponge, and then hose off afterwards. Dry—when all the dirt is removed—with a chamois leather kept for the purpose. " Leathering " prevents spotting.

524.— Over-speeding.

The law of the land limits you—still—to 20 miles an hour. But, whatever you think of the law of the land, you owe it to yourself, or the owner of your van or truck, to observe that speed limit faithfully as long as the engine is new ; and I call an engine new until it has run 1,000 miles. Twenty miles an hour is fast enough till all working parts are well run in and polished by use. Any higher speed is not running ; it is racing and racketing. The first 1,000 miles in the life of an engine have a great deal of bearing on its whole life. We all know what happens to a man who " goes the pace" in his early years. What happens to man happens also to van. The Ford has a strong constitution, but you can racket it by early excesses. If, later on, you want to show " what she can do "—within reason—that's a matter between you and the policeman. For the first 1,000 miles you have to reckon with me—and I've got my eye on you

525.—" Weights" of Oil.

As in the case of petrol and paraffin, the oil distillates of petroleum differ in weights. So we hear talk of heavy oils and light oils. The heavy oils " come over " in distillation later than the light oils and the greases and wax later still.

Speaking generally, motor engines fitted with pistons haying liberal clearance in the cylinders need a heavier oil than those in which the pistons fit the cylinders closely, as is the case with the Ford engine. Generally speaking, the Americans make their engines with closely fitting pistons, and the Ford is, of course, American. It is clear why the heavier oil should be used when there is considerable piston clear an c e: the heavier oil has to seal the gap between piston a n d cylinder : the lighter oil would be too thin to do so.

In the case of the Ford, there are other reasons why a light oil must be used.

(1) A heavy oil " gums " _more readily than a light oil, and clogs the working parts. Among those work ing parts on the Ford is the clutch, it is essential that this should be free to move even when the engine is quite cold, if it is not so free, the sticking plates make it very difficult to turn the engine over for the start. Further, if the oil is heavy, it gums the bands of the transmission on to the drums, and this adds to the, difficulty of the start. On other engines the construction of the gears makes it possible to get a neutral position independently of the clutch, This is not possible on the Ford, a neutral position being then possible only when the clutch is free of gumming. (2) The system of lubricating the Ford engine is one of " splash." The working parts are anointed with the supply of oil thrown up by the big ends of the cranks. On many motor engines, the oil is distributed internally by pump action, which forces lubrication to the surfaces where its presence is needed. Without such forced action, use of a light oil is essential, since it has to creep to the parts where it is wanted—parts working closely together and allowing very little room for the passage of the oil. A thick oil would be quite unable to pass. Further, on the Ford, there is a simple system of oil circulation from front to back of engine : a small pipe is used for this purpose, one which would tend to get choked if a heavy oil were used. I am a strong advocate of light oils for lubrication of the Ford engine, more particularly in winter. I am convinced that the popular prejudice in favour of heavy oils—whether for the Ford or otherwise—is largely mistaken. An old, worn engine may run better on a heavy oil, but an engine in good working condition will, in my experience, always show the best results when run on a suitably light oil. The reason is that the lighp oil " gets there." while the heavy oil " gets stuck.'

526.—The Warford Six-speed Auxiliary Transmission. •

Brame° (1920), Ltd., St. Nicholas Street, Coventry, market this attachment, which has been well attested by use in America. Its six speeds are the following :—First, underdrive low ; seCOnd, standard Ford low ; third, overdrive low i • rourth, under-drive high ; fifth, standard Ford high; sixth, over-drive high. There are three reverse speeds in addition. The Warlord combines the advantages regularly attaching to independent gear drive, a real neutral position of the engine for starting, coasting, clutch adjustments, etc. Provision of the six speeds naturally gives great engine flexibility, rendering it possible to suit the speed to road and load conditions. The gear ratio-s are as follow (ratio to 1 being Price for the six-speed transmission, fitted either to van or track, £28. The use of any particular oil in any particular engine depends more upon experience of practice than upon theory of properties: I mean, you can only learn what oil best suits a particular engine by trying. You cannot, on theory only, choose an oil to suit.

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People: R. T. Nicholson
Locations: Coventry

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