PLANT EQUIPMENT FOR SMALL GARAGES.
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The Comments and Suggestions set forth below are intended for Garages that, at Present, are only doing a Few Repairs to Commercial Vehicles.
By " Vim."
THERE ARE NUMEROUS small garages scattered about the country which are excellently conducted, and admirably equipped w 1(4 all essential plant for repairing touring cars. In the natural course of events these places are from time to time called 'upon to give their professional attention to various kinds of commercial vehicles, sometimes because of accidents occurring near them, but more often because, amongst their private customers, are heads of business concerns that use motor transport, and these customers prefer to send their vans and lorries to a repairer in whose abilities they have confidence. It is to such garages that this article is addressed, and I hope they will takeit in good part. Whether the proprietor of a garage wants to increase his commercial vehicle connection, or whether he wishes to concentrate on touring car work as far as his customers will allow, makes no difference to the fact that, so long as he does accept repairs to vans and lorries, he ought to provide the requisite appliances for executing them efficiently. He should do so, not only for his customers' sake, but for his own, for it is quite easy to lose what reputation he has acquired through his staple line by messing up the occasional jobs that are put in his way. I have come across many ,garages, insignificant in size, yet replete with everything reasonably likely to be useful for heavy repairs; but I know of a great many more• where, for lack of a few tools, jobs that come under that heading are handled in an atrociously unecono rnical manner, and that is why I fancy that the hints which follow may be acceptable in certain quarters.
For ordinary van repairs little else than the plant required for touring cars is iztecled, since the difference between carrying out work,on private cars and vehicles employed for industrial purposes. is mainly one of weight. The gearbox of a three-tonner, for instance, is not the same proposition as that of the very largest touring car, when it has to be removed from its chassis. I have seen no fewer than eight men struggling to drag the• back axle of a lorry across the shop. What superlative waste of energy this man-handling is when proper appliances can be bought or made, which would save at least the time of six of those men. have seen jack after jack break down under the strain of trying to raise one wheel of a loaded vehicle, simply because they were never meant to stand it ; the threaded ends of driving shafts burred over until they looked like mushrooms, because the largest wheel-drawer in the place, even when encouraged by blows from a sledge hammer on the shafts, was incapable of Shifting a couple of rear wheels ; a cylinder block dropped with sinack because the men who were striving to lift it discovered, all of a sudden, that it was considerably heavier than they had thought.
In general the machine plant commonly found in garages as sufficient for heavy vehicles. I refer particularly to turning and drilling, of course. Most replacement parts, are purchased from the manufacturers of the car under repair, and there would be no sense whatever in paying out hundreds of pounds for special machines which would have no prospect of ever earning their keep. The chief care must be to provide adequate appliances for lifting, transporting about the shop, and supporting whilst being worked on' articles of gretit weight. For jacks, a minimum of two five-ton jacks should be.kept ready for use. Employed intelligently, they can be made to raise the front or back axle of the biggest lorry, loaded: Balks of 9 ins. by 9 ins. -timber, cut to 2 ft. lengths, should also be on hand to „pack up under axtes and frames. They form a very firm foundation if the timber is of decent quality, and has been sawn square, and an infinitely safer structure than one consisting of all the odd bits of wood knocking about the garage, plus a half-brick or two. For lifting tackle a good set, of :blocks and chains should be procured. If a stout steel girder is avail, able for the purpose, tackle of a strength sufficient to hold the entire front or rear end of a heavy lorry may be bought with advantage, but as it frequently happens that a large and unwieldy Vehicle cannot conveniently be got. under the usual girder arrangement of the typical; small igarage, a light travelling crane is a satisfactory., alternative. This crane need only be capable ofá carrying the weight. of a back axle or engine unit,sfoiaits, duty will be exclusively that of raising and moving parts.; the more'.strenuous task of lifting the chassissbeing left to the jacks. Such a crane may be'parchased from one or other of the well-known machine and tool merchants, but will prove a rather costly affair. On the other hand, it is not beyond the powers ofva, motor engineer to manufacture one for himself. Two H-section steel joists.are used for uprights, and these are joined at the top by a similar joist. The uprights stand on horizontal pieces set at right angles to the 'top beam, the whole being mounted on four strong castors, and strengthened at the corners by angle-plates and tierods. The crane should be wide enough to span the front, of a lorry, so that as cylinder block can be drawn by means of tackIetsuspended from the centre, and the contrivance then trundled clear of the chassis with the 'casting hanging on the chain. If well built, it is wonderful what can be done with one of these workshop cranes when the men get accustomed to them.
A low, six-wheeled trolley, of the pattern found in warehouses' is a convenience when a gearbox has to be removed. It can be run underneath the vehicie, the gearbox lowered on to it, and then, pulled out into the light of day ; after which the crane may be requisitioned to lift the unit to the bench.
Get Some substantial trestles made for supporting units whilst they are being operated on or better still, buy one or more of the special on, now stocked by the leading: tool firms. They save any amount of wages in'the end. Also see that your -garage is equipped with a roomy paraffin bath. Here, again, it is ,probably cheaper to buy rather than to make on the premises. A refractory lorry wheel is an insoluble problem
without the necessary appliances. Purchase the heftiest drawer you can place .your hands on—and then probably it won't be large senough! I once saw an ingenious lorrywheel-drawer in a garage; which was fashioned in the main from a bit of a front axle, two lengths of chain, and.a bottle jack. One word more. By hook or by crook become the possessor of a small oxy-acetylene outfit, not with the idea of doing welding stunts (ms experience is that it is wiser to leave welding to the experts, unless the quantity. to be done warrants a trained welder being engaged), but for heating rivets in. situ, truing up dunabirons, and setting,,iteering arms after accidents, and so on. Blawlamps sound very businesslike when going full blast against a buckled frame, but these methods do waste time.