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HOW TO CHOOSE GARAGE EQUIPMENT

By H. SCOTT HALL,

M.I.A.E., M.I.T.A. Maximum Economy in Maintenance Attainable Only by Intelligent Selection and Use of Garage Appliances, Some of the Most Important of Which are Reviewed in this Article by an

Authoritative Writer

THE principal outward sign of the operation of the Road and Rail Traffic Act is the improved appearance of vehicles owned by hauliers. Presumably, that visible sign of improvement is accompanied by a corresponding mechanical betterment. Both are inevitably the outcome of intensified attention to maintenance.

With the exception of the owner-driver there is now to be noted, even in the smallest garages, an increasing tendency to adapt machinery to the everyday operations of vehicle maintenance. The equipment itself may be classified under three headings: (a) That of general utility; (b) that which facilitates what I might term running maintenance; and (c) apparatus chiefly necessary in connection with chassis and engine overhauls.

Space will not permit of any description of plant for fuel and oil distribution. I can state only that modern practice as regards petrol pumps is towards the adoption of electric equipment. Crankcase sumps are best replenished from portable tanks, of which a typical example embodies two 30-gallon compartments, each with metering pump. High-pressure lubricating equipment for chassis nipples is a sine qua non. A complete outfit comprises a grease gun of a special type, with a flexible connection to an air bottle mounted on a trolley.

Latest Washing Plant.

The latest type of high-pressure washing plant is fully enclosed, electrically driven though noiseless helical gears and operates at a pressure of 350-375 lb. per sq. in. The capacity is 3 gallons per gun per minute, and pumps are made in sizes having up to eight guns.

Prominent among equipment which I have defined as "general purpose is apparatus for lifting. A good jack, suitable for heavy vehicles, is capable of lifting the axle of a bus or lorry to a height of about 3 ft. in a few minutes, thus largely eliminating the need for a pit.

Alternatives to the jack are the gantry and the floor crane. The former is a built-up structure, mounted on castors, and big enough to span a chassis. It is equipped with ropes or chains and pulley blocks. The floor crane serves the same end, but is differently constructed. A substantial base mounted on castors supports a vertical column, with a cantilever-type crane overhanging the base. A well-equipped shop should have a couple of jacks and a gantry or floor crane.

Among items of equipment of general utility none is so useful as a press. My preference would be for a cornc24 priation " of funds for equipment will allow only one to be acquired, buy one of fin, capacity, which will serve as a power unit for cylinder honing and for the operation of " top-overhaul " equipment, as well as the more obvious purpose of drilling holes. If funds permit, one of j-in. and another of i-in. capacity should be acquired. The testing and proper'adjustment of four-wheel brakes is a maintenance ogeration of first importance. In some of the types of testing apparatus the vehicle stands upon a platform, whilst electric motors rotate the wheels against the resistance of the brakes, that resistance being indicated on dials. In others the vehicle is driven on to movable platforms, the brakes are applied and the braking effort is transmitted through the platforms to dials.

The remolial of old brake facings and their replacement take an unconscionable time if performed manually. Modern brake-refacing machines reduce that time by 90 per cent. A typical outfit is electrically driven, the extended shaft of the motor carrying a pulley around which is an endless band used for grinding the refitted liners to a cylindrical surface of the correct radius. A separate drive goes to a drilling and counter-sinking spindle. Chisel attachments (for removing heads of old rivets), rivet extractors and rivet punches are pedal operated through powerful toggle-lever mechanism.

Warped or scored brake drums are the despair of the maintenance engineer who is without appropriate equipment. Even with a lathe available, repair is unsatisfac tory. Grinding is the only suitable course. There is equipment on the market designed especially to that end. A substantial spindle supports the brake drum, with or without its wheel. A high-speed emery wheel, mounted on a spindle so that it can be fed up to the brake-drum surface, removes the minimum of material and leaves the drum with a fine finish.

It is rarely possible to ensure that batteries on commercial vehicles can be constantly kept at full charge. Generally, the practice is to keep in stock a few spare batteries available to replace any which may run down in service. 'This necessitates provision for recharging in the shop. The tendency, to-day, is towards the use of the constant-potential type of charging apparatus. It has the advantage of simplicity, in that batteries may be connected to the bus bars indiscriminately, no grouping being necessary. Overcharging is impossible, and each battery is charged individually.

Most temporary derangements of motor vehicles are in connection with the electrical equipment. This fact emphasizes the need for a good electrical test bench. A modern bench, suitable for service in a commercial-vehicle garage, provides for the following:—Testing of dynamos, for output and regulation, at all speeds, loads and conditions, as though on the vehicle; trying out of starter motors, for torque and power; testing of ignition equipment

throughout, whether it be magneto or coil and battery.

A small, but particularly useful, item of equipment of comparatively recent introduction is a sparking-plug cleaner. Compressed air and a special cleaning compound are used, the process being in the nature of sand blasting. Ten seconds suffice for complete cleaning.

An air compressor of some kind is essential, not only for tyre inflation, but to supply, air for many other purposes, such as spraying paraffin (for cleaning), penetrating oil and paint, the operation of high-pressure greasing apparatus, the drying of parts, etc. The most popular method of meeting these manifold requirements is to install a stationary compressor, mounted complete with receiver and cooler, and having automatic switch gear.

As an alternative to an air compressor operating, as described above, at about 100-120 lb. per sq. in., ultra-highpressure equipment is sometimes used. The compressor works at 1,800 lb. per sq. in., and is used to replenish air bottles.

Among equipment for tyre maintenance I place a good wheel-alignment gauge barely second to apparatus for infia

tion. Another small item of equipment, " having a utility and capacity for timesaving out of all proportion to its size and cost, is an automatic tyre inflator. This is a combined gauge and three-way cock, by means of which the time taken to test

and properly inflate a tyre can be reduced to a relatively small figure.

To attempt the removal of giant tyres without suitable equipment is inevitably to injure the cover. There is apparatus available by which the operation is simplified; this is an item of equipment I should recommend for inclusion in any first list.

A new appliance is a tyre regroover, for renewing the non-skid properties of partly worn tyres. In one model a U-shaped blade is mounted on an adjustable holder. The blade is set to cut into the tyre to any required depth and the wheel rotated until the groove is complete. Any number of grooves can be cut. In another, the grooves are transverse. An inexpensive hand-operated tool is also on the market.

Value of Engine Kit.

For decarbonizing and the companion operations of valve grinding and valve-seat trueing an engine kit is required. This equipment is designed to be operated by a portable electric drill and a fairly comprehensive outfit will comprise the following:—A set of carbon-removing tools, brushes, etc., for cylinder heads and pistons, special brushes for valve guides, and a stand to hold the drill while, with a wire-wheel brush in its chuck, it is used to clean the valves; a range of valve-seat reamers and pilots, for cleaning up valve seats, and a mandrel, by the aid of which the reamers• can be sharpened in a valve refacer (described below).

It is rarely that engine valves will withstand frequent regrinding, or perform their function satisfactorily for long without refacing. Modern " top-overhaul " equipment includes an electric valve refacer, generally of the two-motor type, in which one motor drives the grinding wheel, and the other the chuck which holds the valve.

Early among the operations involved in an overhaul is the cleansing of the parts as they are removed from the chassis. The one-time popular medium for this, paraffin, in a suitable tank and with a pedal-operated pump for the fluid, is now gradually giving place to degreasing tanks involving the use of trichlorethyleue.

For convenience in engine overhaul, a swinging stand on which to mount the engine, while it is being dismantled and re-erected, is a great aid to efficiency and economy. On a par with the engine stand is the differential 'trolley, which facilitates the speedy removal or replacement of differentials. The design embodies a cradle for the accom modation of the differential and an hydraulic jack with a lift of 23 ins.

The prevention of accidents as the result of fractures, the outcome of hidden defects, has always been a problem. One solution—and it may be the only one yet available— is the electro-magnetic crack detector.

The principal requirements of cylinder-reboring equipment are five in number. It must, in the first place, be accurate and the surface of the rebored cylinder should be smooth. The next need is reasonably high-speed operation. To rebore a four-cylindered block of any commercial-vehicle engine should not require more than an hour. Simplicity in handling and operation is the next feature I would specify and, finally, dependability. Where the capital out

lay involved in the purchase of a cylinder-reboring machine, is an objection, the hone is a suitable alternative.

In endeavouring to estimate the value of any individual item of equipment, having regard to its cost, the mistake should not be made of considering merely economies in labour charges which the installation will effect. The saving in idle time for the vehicles concerned is what matters in this connection. Secondary to that, and still prior to labour saving, is the improved efficiency of the work done.

MAKERS OF GARAGE EQUIPMENT.

Sir W. H. Bailey and Co., Ltd., Albion Works, Salford, Manchester, 5. E. P. Barrus, Ltd., 35, Upper Thames Street, Loudon, E.C.4. B.E.N. Patents, Ltd., Gorst Road Chase Estate, London, N.W.10. Black and Decker, Ltd., Slough. S. F. Bowser and Co. (Lbridon), Ltd, St. Ann's Hint Wandsworth, London, S.W.18. Joseph Bradbury and Sons, Ltd., Braintree. Brown Brothers, Ltd. 22, Great Eastern Street, London, Buma Engineering Co.,. Boyd Street, Newcastle-on-Tyne. V. L. Churchill and Co., Ltd., 27-34, Walnut Tree Walk. Kenningtoir, London, S.E.11. William Clark (Spare Parts). LW., 5, Marshalsea Road, London, S.E.1 Consolidated Pneumatic Tool Co.. Ltd., .170, Piccadilly. London. W.1. R. H. Cook and Co., Ltd., 209, Broadway, Hendon, London. N.W.9.

Desnio, Ltd., 31, Stafford Street, BirMingliam. Dunlop Rubber Co.. Ltd., Fort Dunlop, Birmingham.

East London Rubber Co., Ltd.. 29-33, Great Eastern Street, London, E.C.2. Equipment and Engineering Co., Ltd., 2. Norfolk Street, London, W.C.2. Epco, Ltd., Star Works. Skinner Lane, 'Leeds, 7. Gordon Equipments, Ltd., 23, Milton Street, London, E.C.2. Hammond Pump and Equipment Co., Ltd., Victoria Road. London, N.W.10. Harvey Frost and Co., Ltd., Bishop's Stortford. Ernest H.

Hilt, Ltd. 66, Fitzwilliam Street Sheffield. ' Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., Millbank, London, S,W.1. Lake and Elliott, Ltd., Albion Works, Braintree. Layeock Engineering Co., Ltd., Victoria Works, Millhouses, Sheffield. Joseph Lucas, Ltd., Great King Street, Birmingham. Mann Egerton and Co., Ltd., 5, Prince of Wales Road. Norwich. Slather and Platt, Ltd., Park Works, Manchester. Henry Miller anti Co., Standard Road, Park Royal, London. N.W.10. James Neill and Co. (Sheffield). Ltd., Napier Street, Sheffield, 11. A. Page and Sons, Ltd., 99. Albion Street, Leeds. R. M. Papelian, Ltd., Trio) Rouse, Edgware Road, London, N.W.2. • Pyrene Co., Ltd., Great West Road, Brentford. Rotax, Ltd,, Willesden Junction, London, N.W.10.

A. Schrader's Son, Inc., 829, Tyburn Road, Erdington, Birmingham. Simpkins Engineering Works, Gedling. Nottingham. S. Smith and Sons (Motor Accessories), Ltd.. Crieklewood Works, London, N.W.2. StreamLine Filter CO, Ltd., Hele-Shaw Works, • lngate Place, London, S.W.S. Tecalemit, Ltd., Great West Road, Brentford. Theo and Co., Ltd., 32, Tarleton Street, Liverpool. Timson Brothers, 37, Moor Street, Birmingham. William Turner and Brother, Ltd., 44, Eyre Lane, Sheffield. Valor Co.. Ltd., Wood Lane, Birmingham.

Wayne Tank and Pump Co., Ltd., 42, Newlands Park, Sydenhant„ London, S.E.26. Wilcot (Parent) Co., Ltd., Alexandre, Park, Fishponds. Bristol. Williams and James, Chequers Bridge, Gloucester. S. Wolf and Co., Ltd, 11.5, Southwark Street, London, S.E.1. Youngs, Ltd., Ryland Street Works, Birmingham.