MAKING BEST USE OF THE FORD.
Page 15
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Valuable Advice on Every Phase of Ford Transport which will appeal to the Owner, Driver, and Repairer.
414.—Testing Connecting Rods.
Connecting rods are often replaced in the engine, after repair or overhaul, without being tested for truth, this being usually due to the fact that the assembler does not possess a lathe or jig for checking alignment.
A simple and effective device of this nature may be made from scrap in the following manner :—Procure an old crankshaft, and from this cut the back main bearing, complete with flywheel flange. To the flange should be bolted a piece of steel bar, 1-} ins, by e in. and long enough to come well above the top of the piston when this is in posi.tion on the connecting tod.
The method of utilizing the device can easily be seen from the sketch which we include. Of course, the jig may be employed for other engines, providing the big-ends have the same diameter as those on the Ford, or suitable bushes can be employed in the case of big-ends of larger diameter.
415.—Does Your Engine Use Too Much Oil ?
The Ford is sometimes given an undeserved reputation for excessive oil coneuniption. This is often because too much oil is inserted. The ideal level should be midway between the top and bottom indicating taps, but many drivers are not satisfied even with oil flowing from the upper tap. This excess is soon expelled through the breather pipe, but not before it has fouled the piston tops and sparking plugs, and also assisted in choking the silencer. Other troubles caused by over-oiling are the flooding of surrounding parts, such as the timer and the timer connections, the insulations of which will soon rot. The carbon will also choke exhaust ports and gum up the piston rings so effectively that, even if the oil be reduced to the correct level, larger quantities will then pass the rings into the cylinders.
Perhaps the best method of refilling the crankcase is, each evening, when the oil is warm, to drain off oil to the lowlevel tap and then add a pint of oil in the morning. This should suffice for a long day's running. A good average consumption is 500 miles to the gallon of oil, or 60 miles to the pint. If the engine consumes more than this while the procedure advocated is in action operation, there must be loss at some point or other, or perhaps the pistons and cylinders are in bad condition and require attention.
416.—Tightening Spring-perch Conical Nuts.
Recent models are usually equipped with conical nuts on the front-spring Perches. When tightening these up they occasionally stop between the openings for the cotter pins and it may then be found difficult to draw them to the next openings without using undue strength. On the other hand, if they be backed they may be too slack,Some mechanics grind off a portion of the conical ends to allow them to be turned farther, but this is not a wise proceeding. It will be found better to slack back the nuts several turns and apply a little thin oil, which reduce the friction to such a degree that the nut can be screwed up to its proper position without the exercise of excessive force.
417.—A Cross-member Stay.
Breakages of the front cross-member of the frame sometimes occur, especially in the case of the ton truck if this be worked with extra heavy loads and under arduous conditions.
To prevent such an occurrence, a apedaily designed spring leaf may be employed in place of the small one at the top of the front spring. This leaf should fit under the cross-member and thus act as a strengthening member..
418.—Cleaning Glass Windows.
A good formula for mixing a window cleaner is: half a cup of alcohol (methylated spirits), the same quantity of ammonia and one tablespoon of salt, all mixed in one gallon of water, the proportions being altered to suit the exact quantity required. The water serves its usual function as a cleanser, the ammonia and salt cut the grease and fix the lustre on the glass, whilst the alcohol helps in the drying..
419.—Facilitating Inspection of the Engine Lubrication System.
A quick succession of big-end failures recently caused an examination to be made of the lubrication system in a certain Ford engine. It was then discovered that the oil pipe which feeds the oil to the big-end troughs was choked with particles of brake lining, etc. The fault was traced by pumping paraffin into the hole for the magneto collecting plug at the top of the transmission cover, and with the lower cover of the crankcase removed the fault was immediately found because not a drop of the paraffin could find its way to the front of the engine. It was decided to remove the transmission cover, which exposed the oil pipe, through which was • pushed a piece of Bowden cable.
To prevent a recurrence of the trouble, a special inspection orifice, 2-3, ins. long, 1 in. wide and n ins, from the magneto plug hole, was made in the transmission cover. This WEIS closed by a plate made from lein, sheet-steel fastened down by four i-in. screws inserted late holes tapped in the transmission cover with a cork packing made from an old valve cover packing inserted between the plate and the cover. This having been done, it is now an easy matter to make certain that the big-ends are obtaining sufficient lubrication, and the pipe can be cleaned out periodically by removing the plate and forcing Bowden wire through the pipe.
420.—Retaining the Fan Belt.
A simple way of preventing the fandriving belt from slipping off the lower pulley is to make a washer of a diameter about e-in, greater than the pulley, and to weld this to the outer edge of the pulley. It is quite a simple job and is said to have proved effective.