INGENIOUS REPAIRS.
Page 31
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Experiences of Our Driver and Mechanic Readers Which May Be Helpful to Others.
WHILE on the road with a 6-ton V V steam wagon, " W,S.," of Eithare, bad the misfortune to break one of the front axle radius rods, due to very bad going at the time. He had to locate the axle definitely in some way, and this is how he did it.
On hoard the wagon was an old boiler tube which he found was of the right size to pass over the broken rod, thus bolding the two ends together and keeping the rod practically in a straight line. The next task, WaS to keep the rod in compression, thus holding the axle in place.
A piece of wire cable was used, one end being fastened round the axle and the other carried to the bracket at the front end of the firebox. Next the wagon was driven forward slowly for a foot or two so that the axle was pushed backwards as far as possible ; then the wire was tightened with the aid of a long bar used as a Spanish windlass, the bar itself being tied to the other rod to keep it in place.
• LOST or broken cams in the magneto make-and-break cannot usually be replaced by spares on the road as such parts are rarely carried. " C.E.K.," of Peckham, had to contend with an emergeney of this type, and made a cull of a
' temporary nature out of wood and tin. He cut the wood to the same shape as the lost cam, but its size was smaller than the original to allow for the thickness of the tin which passed over the fiat portion of the wood, the ends being turned under. The assembly was kept in place by a wood screw passed through a hole in the .cam cage. In similar eases it is essential to see that the makeshift is of the proper size so that the contacts break to an-equal extent when opened by either cam.
ACCORDING to " H.31.," of West Bromwich, trouble is often experienced with regard to wheel mountings owing to the small diameter of the threaded portion upon which the locking nut is fixed. An improvement which " H.M." advocates is, instead of reducing the axle to so great an extent, to tarn down the shaft a little in the first case to take the main nut, and, secondly, to a further extent at the end
to take a locking nut. One nut is screwed with .a left-hand thread and the other with a right-hand one, a cotterpin hole being made in the end of the axle to ensure that the locking nut re
mains in place. The thread bearing surface is increased by this design, and there is a much greater margin of safety all round.
IT is not a common experience to find that clutches using only one central spring are put out of action by its breaking, and on this account possibly a breakdown may be the more serious. " S.D.C.," of Pelaw-on-Tyne, was once hung up by a failure of this description and this is the method he employed to get home. The fallowing principle can only, of course, be adopted where the clutch-withdrawal mechanism works in both directions. First he obtained a piece of rope about 3 ft. 6 ins, long and a piece of iron bar about 3 ft. long. One end of the rope was tied to the clutch pedal, its centre to the bar, and the other end fastened to the driver's seat: a slight amount of slack was left in the rope.
The scheme a operations was as follows :—When the rope was slack no load was placed upon the clutch pedal, consequently, in the absence of a spring, slip took place and the drive was broken.
As the rope was pulled by means of 'the iron bar working as a lever, the clutch pedal was moved backwards, thus forcing the cone into the flywheel. In this way, after a little practice, gear changing could be managed quite easily, but, of course, the driver bad to keep a hand on the iron bar all the time so as to press the halves of the clutch together, except when declutching.
ON most steam wagons one of the rear
wheels is driven from the differential by . means of a loose sleeve. Once A.W.," of Dewsbury, had the misfortune to have a fractured sleeve and the trouble was to get the vehicle home, as, obviously, .owing to the crack, the driven portion of the broken sleeve merely revolved when the power was applied, without transmitting it to the road wheel. The problem was to transfer the power to the wheel on the sound side, and " A.W.'s" method was to wedge the differential so that it could not work, thus giving a solid drive to one side, the wheel coupled to the broken sleeve running idle-.
FAN belts are easily lost when there
is no undershield, and if they be in the habit of breaking they can be costly items in the course of the season's work. " A.W.," of Wolverhampton, suggests a method of catching broken belts as they fall. He takes a piece of wire net, of small mesh, just long enough to reach from one chassis side member to the other, and of sufficient width to fit close up to the radiator on one side and the sump on the other. For fixing the wire he uses two metal strips of about /-in. thickness, drilled at each end to take 1-in. bolts, which pass through the strips and the webs of the chassis side members, the ends of the wire, of course, being trapped between them.
FOR _those who have many holes to
Punch in sheet-metal, the use of a. frame punch is recommended by "WA.," of Stratford-on-Avon. The frame resembles the familiar fretsaw, but instead of the handle there is a square hole An which the punch moves, its point passing through a hole in the other leg of the frame, on the upper surface of which the work is laid. The frame and punches may be made to any dimensions. but "WA." states that he has punehotl holes up to Fin, diameter through A-in. metal with one of these devices.
PERSISTENT clutch slip on an Austin lorry troubled "5.0.," of Walsall, and all orthodox methods failed to
effect a cure. He removed all the fabric-faced plates around the clutch, and in each of these he drilled three holes in. in diameter, the holes being staggered. Into these were forced cork discs cut from ordinary bottle corks, each projecting about 1-16 in. beyond the contact face.
Will " of London, S.W.11,
please let us have his address. His contribution appeared in our issue of March 23rd.