Eom Drivers &Mechanics Light Up Your , Lamps At — 6.37
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on Thursday ; 6.34 on Friday ; 6.32 on Saturday 6.27 on Monday ; 6.24 on Tuesday ; 6.22 on Wednesday next.
Lining Up Road Wheels.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the .10s. prize this week.
[1338] " A.H.H." (Llandaff) writes :—" I am forwarding you for the 'D. and M.' pages a description and sketch [We have had this redrawn.—En.] of the method which I always adopt when lining up the road wheels on any class of rubber-tired motor vehicle,
from a small express-delivery van to a 40 h.p. heavy industrial machine. For the purpose of bringing the method into use, I run the chassis into a good level place in the shop or yard, obtain four trestles or packing blocks, and adjust them about the same height from the ground as the hub caps, placing one at each road wheel. Two lengths of cord, about * in. thick and of sufficient Jength to clear the chassis overall, are placed over the trestles and weighted with a plumb bob at each end. I then place them in the position as shown in the sketch. For lining-up I commence work from the nearside back-wheel, moving my line to within about 9 ins, from the outer rim of the wheel to the inside of the cord, and making sure that the cord is parallel with each outer edge. I then turn the front wheels, bringing the nearside wheel square with the cord, so that it will be seen that both front and rear wheels on the offside are exactly squared and parallel. The other cord is brought parallel with the offside rear-wheel in the same way. I then measure the width between the two
cords and bring them parallel. Attention is then directed to the offside front wheel, which will often be found to be out of truth, and in many instances have found this to be as much as in. to 1* in. out, thus causing unnecessary wear on the tires, besides rendering steering a difficult matter. To adjust this wheel I make the necessary alterations on the steer
ing coupling rod. If there is no adjustment provided for, I bend the steering swivel levers on both sides of the machine to correct the error. With a little care the wheels can be brought in line to within a. thirty-second of an inch."
Ball Side-thrust Bearings for Dead Axles.
[1339] " H.M." (Silverdale) writes :—" I have had a, considerable amount of experience in overhauling and repairing the heavier types of motor vehicles, and there is a detail of construction, in respect of the ' dead ' axle type, in which I consider there is room for .a little improvement.
"I refer to the method usually adopted for retaining the road wheels in position a.n.d taking up side thrust by the ordinary form of D washer and nut.
"In overhauling I frequently find that washers are so badly worn, and the locking nut and thread so distorted that I have to. cut a new thread on the end of the axle. This particularly applies to the offside axle-ends, which I consider is due to the vehicle running on the road camber.
To eliminate the tendency to distortion and satisfactorily to take up all side thrusts, I consider that axles, both. front and rear, should be provided with ball-bearing thrust rings. This would not only ensure easier running, but would be an extra safeguard against the tendency of the wheel to come off."
Another Belt-dressing Medium.
[1340] " H.M." (West Bromwich) writes :—" I must
take exception to ' letter [No. 1330] with regard to what he states to be a good dressing for slipping belts. In my opinion Stockholm tar is not a suitable ingredient, and all belt manufacturers say that powdered resin has a very detrimental effect on the nature of the leather, but neatsfaot, one of the ingredients which 'J.B.' includes in his recipe, will, to a certain extent, counterbalance the ill effects of the others. The best thing to use is castor oil, recommended by manufacturers of belts and dressings."
Benzoic and Ether Assist Easy Starting Up from Cold.
[1341J " J.W." (Birmingham) writes :—" The following tip may be useful to drivers who are using benzoic in their engines.
" On cold and damp mornings I sometimes had some difficulty in starting my engine, so tried using a mixture of benzole and commercial ether in equal quantities, which proved most satisfactory. When starting up I pour a small quantity into each cylinder through the compression tap and find the engine starts very readily on the mixture. The spirit should be kept in an air-tight can, otherwise the ether will evaporate."
Benzoic on Albion and Hanford Machines.
[1342] " W.A.W." (Sunderland) writes :—" Using benzole for over 18 months on eight of our vehicles, all three tonners—four of which are Albion make and four Hallford—I find I get better results with this fuel as regards mileage than when we used petrol. As to the adjustment of the carburetter, all that I found necessary was to give extra air to the Hallfords, but I did not have to interfere with the carburetters fitted to the Albions in any way. " In my opinion the engines pull much better on benzole than on petrol. The only thing that caused a little trouble when we first started was that the valves were liable. to stick through their stems becoming clogged. However, I got over this difficulty to a certain extent by putting a small quentity of paraffin through each compression tap every morning a quarter of a-n hour before starting out. This, I find, not only keeps the valve stems clean but enables the engines to be easily started up. I make a practice of taking the cylinders down about every 8000 miles, for the purpose of cleaning the pistons and for general overhauling. As to carbon deposits, I have found there is no difference between benzoic and petrol. I suggest that all machines using benzole should be provided with gravity feed instead of pressure feed, my reasons being that when the exhaust gas is relied upon to keep the pressure up. the benzoic used being not quite so clean as petrol, the small valves used in the pressure-pipe line are liable to become clogged."
Little or No Deposit on the Pistons.
[1343] " A.H." (Bristol) writes :—" I send you my impressions since adopting benzoic on several machines of which I have charge. At present my employer has a 30 h.p. two-ton Lucre, a 16 }hp. Albion with a load capacity of 25 cwt., and a 45 h.p. Daimler touring car. He has a contract for petrol which will terminate at the end of the present year, and about two months ago he asked me to get some benzoic: and thoroughly test it for a week or so. Accordingly I arranged for a supply of benzole of good quality from a bceal firm of tar and resin refiners. This concern I might mention is already doing a considerable business in the sale of benzole in and around Bristol, and one of the directors himself, who owns a50 h.p. RollsRoyce, uses this spirit, and informs me that in his opinion it gives 25 per Gent. higher mileage than petrol under any conditions of use.
" To state my own case, I first used benzole on the Daimler. The car is fitted with an S.U. carburetter, and I soon discovered that no alteration was necessary in thematter of jet adjustment. The biggest mileage I ever obtained from petrol on this vehicle was 14 m.p.g. With benzole I have registered 18 m.p.g. over a 200-mile test. The greatest advantage on this car, to my mind, considering that we use benzole, is the ease with which it will start up. It is much too stiff to turn by hand and start on the magneto, and the method I adopt is to give it four or five half turns, and then switch on the accumula
tors. Sometimes with petrol she would misfire or make half-a-dozen revolutions and then stop, but with benzoic this does not occur.
" We next tried benzole in the Lucre, which has a White and Poppe carburetter fitted. The advance in mileage in this case was not so apparent. After 21,000 miles running it still does 13 to 14 m.p.g. on petrol. However, 1 manage to squeeze an average of 15.3 m.p.g. when using benzole. In this case I have to give all the air possible. The carburetter gets its supply of hot air from around the exhaust pipe, and I also opened one or two slots in the air-intake pipe, thus giving a plentiful supply of slightly-cooler air. The most noticeable feature after all these adjustments WaS increased power on hills at slow speeds.
"Benzoic, I must say, was not such a success when tried on the Albion. This is fitted with the Albion Co.'s own make of carburetter. I have fitted a slightly larger jet and think that I must, in consequence, fix up an extra air valve. I might mention that a mixture of 75 per cent. petrol and 25 per cent. paraffin proved fairly successful on all the cars mentioned, but we found this had a great tendency to soot up the sparking plugs. With benzoic no deposit of any kind is apparent upon periodic examination, and it is our opinion that this spirit can be successfully and profitably used."
Paraffin on a 5-ton Commercar.
(1344] " E.A.kI." (Sheffield) writes :—" I have read the letters which you have published from drivers who have been running their machines on benzole with great interest. I have not had any experience with that particular class of spirit, but I have been running afive-ton Commercar for upwards of nine months on ordinary paraffin, using for this purpose G.C. vaporizer, and thought I would send you my experiences in this direction, as they might interest readers of your D. and M.' page. "I must say that I get considerably more power and a shade better mileage with, paraffin than when I used petrol. I had to regulate the jet, and when I had found a satisfactory adjustment, did not interfere with it again. 1 took the cylinders down after six months' hard wear, and found everything in satisfactory condition, there being nothing on the piston heads but a thin layer of brown soot, which could be easily rubbed off with the fingers. I made adjustments to give a rich mixture to enable easy starting, but this sooted up the sparking plugs, so I had to reduce the jet considerably. "Since cutting down the supply of paraffin to the carburetter, I have not experienced any more trouble in this direction. Of course, the engine has to be started on petrol in the morning, and I generally run it for about five minutes on the spirit, this taking place on the outward journey in the morning. I then change over to paraffin. I have to make a series of stoppages during delivery, and find that if the engine has only been standing a few minutes, I can always start again on paraffin. " When I get the right mixture the exhaust is perfectly clean, but it smokes alittle just as the car is stopped or when the engine is throttled down, and in traffic, where I probably have to stand for a few minutes, I simply just change over to petrol. There are two separate controls fitted, and it is quite easy to effect this. With this machine I generally average about six miles to the gallon, as we have to work rather hilly districts. I have used just over 1700 gallons of paraffin, costing 7d. a gallon, in nine months, and as the cheapest petrol is Is. 2d. a gallon (contract price), you will at once see that this has been a bin saving.
"What I like about this vaporizer we use is that there are no moving parts to have to adjust ; when once fitted it requires very little attention."