Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
Page 19
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Ten Shillings Weekly for the Best Communication Received, and One Penny a Line of ten words for anything else published.
Drivers of commercial motors, and mechanics and foremen of garages or shops, who are engaged in any branch of the industry, are invited to contribute short, personal experiences, ()Pinions, or suggestions, on subjects which are likely to prove of interest to our
readers. We shall be glad to hear of anything interesting that has come under any driver's or mechanic's notice, either in the shops or on the road. Long and successful runs ; services with no " lost journeys" ; workshop tips and smart rePairs all are suitable subjects. Send a post-card, or a letter, or a sketch to us—no matter how short, or how written, or how worded. We will "knock it into shape" before publication. When writing, it is as well to mention your employer's name as a guarantee of bona fides (not for publication), and to state whether you wish your own name, or initials only, to be published. Payment will be toads immediately after publication. Address your letters to The Editor, " THE COMMERMAL MOTOR," 7-15, R osebery Avenue, London, E.C.
Postal Communications.
We shall be pleased to reply, by post, to the queries raised in the letter from " E.M.1)." (Plaistow, E.) if he will furnish us with the name and address of his employer. We have sent replies by post to " FRED DEWSON " (Alton), " BUZZER " (Slough) and " M. MAYRURY " (Hertford).
Another Foden Mileage.
[426] From " W.C.V." (Cawdor, Ross-on-Wye) :—" I am sending along a record of some work I have completed on a Foden wagon, and this may perhaps compare favourably with other similar records which you have published in THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR ' recently. I have driven my machine for two years and seven months, and have, during that time, completed a mileage of 25,000, and carried 3,050 tons outwards. This record takes no account of short runs, but merely states the longer trips as they appear in our records. The machine is the property of the Alton Court Brewery Company, of Ross-on-Wye ; it is now in excellent condition, and gives very little trouble indeed."
Motorcab Bodies—Metal or Wooden Panels 7
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the los. prize this week : [427] We have received the following letter from " J.E.V.B." (Balharn Hill, S.W.) I beg to submit to you a short contribution on the construction of motorcab bodies, in the hope that you will find it suitable for insertion in your drivers' and mechanics' columns. There is a considerable difference of opinion as to the relative advantages that accrue from the employment of wooden and metal panels for motorcab bodies. There is very little doubt that wooden panels are the only suitable fitting for private-service vehicles, but, without exception, it has been found that, for public service, pressed-steel leaded panels are the only really sound form of construction. The great objection, from the user's point of view, is the drumming hollow sound which is emitted by all metal panels, and this is largely due to the fact that a metal panel has to be rigidly encased in the framing of the body which forms the quarters ' and the back. For metal panels to be a good job, they have to be beaten into a more or less concave shape, and this undoubtedly accentuates the drumming capacity of the metal. One leading manufacturer, with whom I have been employed, is now having all metal panels fixed with special screws on the outside of the body framing, and this has been found to give quite good results from the point of view of the elimination of noise; it has also been found to be of advantage in the matter of repairs. In the case of accident, the damaged panel can be removed, and a new one may be fitted without disturbance to any other part of the body. There is no question but that a wooden panel will take a very much better paint surface than a metal one, and it certainly reduces vibration of the bodywork to a minimum, especially if it be well covered with canvas. If wooden panels are employed, considerable care should be taken to ensure that the grain of the wood runs in the right direction.
" I may be remembered that many coachbuilders, at first, had considerable trouble with regard to the drumming effect of the wooden domed roofs of horsed broughams. An attempt was made to lessen this effect, by the building of a false or second roof on the inside of the body; this secured the passage of a free current of air between the two skins, but it was eventually found that a great deal of the noise arose from the fact that the roof boards were usually arranged so that the grain ran longitudinally in the direction in which the vehicle was travelling. The difficulty was ultimately overcome by the employment of three-ply built-up wood, with the grain, wherever possible, running laterally across the vehicle. If wood be employed for cab bodies, it will, therefore, be very much better to arrange for the grain to run transversely, and not from the back to the front of the vehicle. I hope these few remarks may prove of interest to your readers."
How a "Threepenny Bit" Maintained a Service: Some Novel Methods of Raising Pressure.
[428] In our last issue, we published a letter, from " E.C." (Eastbourne), in which he described how the use of a threepenny piece avoided a breakdown in the service on which he was engaged. It will be remembered that he employed the small coin as a blank for the union which normally secured the broken hand-pump pipe to the main pressure pipe. As our correspondent considers that his account of the incident may have led to sonic degree of conjecture as to how he was enabled to secure sufficient initial pressure to start the engine while his hand pump was out of action, he has sent us a further communication dealing with this point :—" I regret to find that I was not perhaps quite explicit in my letter, which you were good enough to publish in your last issue, with reference to the temporary repair to the pressure pipe. It is always possible to secure sufficient pressure for starting by the attachment of a piece of rubber tube to the pressure-valve tap; pressure can then be raised by blowing into this pipe with the mouth. This was the method I employed in the case described in my previous letter.
" I have also used, on other occasions, the following means for raising the pressure when I wished to start the engine from cold.' I have turned the engine, while my conductor has held his hand over the outlet from the silencer. The back pressure which resulted has been sufficient to secure a supply of petrol. A much easier and a quicker way is to carry a petrol squirt, and to inject a few drops of petrol into the compression cocks of the cylinders. The engine can then be started, and can be kept running until pressure is properly raised by squirting small drops of petrol at any convenient spot in the induction pipe in the vicinity of the throttle valve, until such time as the carburetter is found to be filling. I trust you will find room for this further explanation of how I overcame the difficulty."