IN TRYING CIRCUMSTANCES.
Page 27
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Repairs in Emergencies Effected by Our Driver and Mechanic Readers.
FROM time to time breakdowns occur which, although they may appear unisual and the methods of repair adopted Ire peculiar to the cases, there is always ;oinething to be learnt regarding prin. ivies which can be adapted to failures of an entirely different nature. We mblisit this week a selection of breaktown repairs submitted by our driver Ind mechanic readers, and the first prize of 15s. i,s awarded to "MM.," of West 3rornwich.
A passenger vehicle returned to the :arage one day at 5 p.m., one of the parking plug holes in the aluminium .ylinder head having stripped all its hreads. This vehicle was wanted ur;ently at 6 a.m. next morning, and ' H.M." set to work to repair the lamage. The head was common to a :roup of cylinders. The original sparkng plug hole was bored 4:tilt on a lathe o 14 ins, diameter and tapped 12 breads per inch. A bronze adapter was lest turned up from 14-in. material, its sternal diameter being reduced and subequently screwed to fit the enlarged ole in. the cylinder head, the internal iameter being tapped out to take the parking plug.
Although this job took some four ours on account of difficulties in setlug up the lathe, it saved the cost of a ew cylinder head or the time which 7ould have to be taken in welding perations, )WING to an error in timing an en gine, the tail pipe of a silencer was town off, and " W.D.," of Pentrebach, as called in to repair the damage. In his particular case the tail pipe was cited to• the end of the silencer by leans of a rectangular flange with four olts. The bolts broke off, due to the aekfire, and as the silencer was asnabled starting with the rear end-plate, : appeared that the whole unit would eve to be dismantled, which would ave taken a great deal of time.
In these circumstances, " W.D." made )ur new bolts and rested the silencer gainst the bench. He then put his and through the hole in the silencer ad, which the tail pipe covered when in osition, worked one bolt at a time irough the end-plate, and tied string to tch one, thus preventing them falling to the silencer again. When all four alts had been put into position and ere " lassooed," the four ends of the „rings were passed through the tail ipe flange, which was then moved into asition and the• strings cut off one by ae as the nuts were put in place.
L BROKEN front axle beam is not a common occurrence, but such was m unfortunate lot of " of underland. The vehicle was a 2-tonIT, and was stranded some 20 miles am home. First of all he obtained a ace of piping 3-1 ins, in diameter and ins. long. This he fitted over the .oken part of the axle so as to keep it the same plane, and drove hard wood edges in the spaces between the pipe id the axle. Next two stout chains were obtained, and one was passed through the jaws of the axle ends and made as tight as possible, the second being fixed round the springs. Finally, pressure was put upon the axle via the chains in an endwise direction by tightening them with a "Spanish windlass."
ON a light lorry which had no hand
throttle control, a breakdown occurred due to the accelerator pedal breaking off short. In order to overcome this trouble, " L.T.C.," of Ealing, devised the following scheme.
He obtained an ordinary small " T " door hinge and screwed it down to the footboard in a convenient position for the driver's right foot This provided the pedal. The next step was to connect it to the "throttle rod. In this cast a small angle bracket from a child's Mgccano set was used as an anchorage for the rod, it being fixed to the pedal by one bolt.
A VALVE whieh fails due to its stem
breaking off above the eotter hole or other fixing is not common, but the suggestion of" D.M.D.," of Merthyr-Tydfil, is worth remembering.
When the broken portion of the stem has been removed, together with the spring, collar and cotter, if they have not disappeared when the breakdown occurred, the valve Stem should have a nick filed in it so as to give an anchorage point for wire, or cord if the former be not available. Tie the wire tightly round the valve stem, making sure that it cannot come loose, and attach the wire to one end of a light spring, the other end of which is attached to any convenient bolt or point on the engine. In the case of an exhaust valve, remove it, and transfer a sound inlet valve to its place and run the makeshift as an inlet valve. The opening is effected automatically, the tappet, of course, being unable to reach the and of the broken valve stem.
pACKING a worn bearing in a mag neto make-and-break by means of a piece of kid cut out of an old glove seems to be rather in the nature of a fairy story, but nevertheless this is actually what was done by " T.T.," of Mara. The vehicle concerned was a tractor, and trouble was experienced with the breaker points locking, owing to the serious wear which had taken place ; the rocker arm bearing ' was packed with a small strip of kid, and the trouble was overcome.
A PUNCTURED oil pipe caused
" H.E.," of Sheffield, to think of a satisfactory means of repairing the damage. Two inches of the pipe on each side of the hole were cleaned for soldering, and the hole covered with a blob of solder ; thin copper wire was next taken and bound round the pipe, the coils being closely wrapped for 13: ins, on each side of the hole. The wire was then tinned thoroughly from end to end, and the repair, states "HE.," lasted satisfactorily for 21 years.