ROADSIDE AND GARAGE.
Page 31
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A Page for Drivers, Mechanics and Foremen.
A Cheap Cylinder Lap.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the extra payment of 5s. this week,
(2249) " A.L." (Notting Hill) writes : —" I have a fleet of rather old-fashioned taxicabs to look after, and lately it has been found to be necessary to lap out the cylinders of most of them. In order to do this, and to avoid going to the neces sity of having the cylinders ground, which operation would involve an expense which would hatdly be justified in view of the age of the cars, I made a cylinder lap myself from an old piston. The construction, I think, is plainly shown by the accompanying sketch. was made from an old piston cut in two. A plate on the top, secured by means of a couple of setscrews, the holes in the plate being elongated so as to allow a certain amount of freedom of movement, kept the two parts more or less together. I made a special gudgeon pin as shown, shouldered so that it would keep itself in a central position in the. piston. On this gudgeon pin I fitted the operating bar of the lap, a second and smaller pin nearer the end of the skirt of the piston serving to prevent this handle from swinging about. I fitted two pairs of springs as shown in the sketch, so asto press the two halves of the piston.out against the cylinder wall when it was in use as a Tap. The springs near the skirt were made a little stronger than the others as it was in the mouth of the bore of the cylinder that most of the grinding was required."
Oil Level on a r ora.
(2250) " W.W." (Dewsbury) writes :— " As a driver on a Ford van, which is used only four or five times a week, and then only for journeys of Ilot more than six or eight miles, I was for a long time doubtful as to the best method of ensuring that the oil level in. the crankcase was correct. I had had good reason to distrust glass ail 'gauges, which are so liable to get broken. Eventually I adopted the following method 1—Immediately on entering the garage, on returning from a journey, I placed an empty tin under the bottom oil tap, which I opened, leaving the oil to run out. Next morning I make up the quantity of oil in. the tin to about threequarters of a pint and pour the lot back into the engine-ease through the breather pipe. I do not know whether this tip will recommend itself to Mr. R. T. Nicholson,
A Broken Petrol Pipe.
(2251) " W.A.f." (Bromley) writes :— " I was recently running down to South-. ampton, driving a Dennis, in company with another man, who was in control of a Swiss Berna. We were within five miles of Winchester, the time being two o'clock in the morning, when the petrol pipe of my friend's lorry broke. Oh examination we found that the breakage had occurred quite close to the union which screws into the tank, and for a moment the case looked to he a hopeless one, and my mate was just formulating plans for himself to stay where-he was until day broke, while I went on ahead, when it occurred to me that there was a way out of the difficulty after all. I had been making an examination of the petrol pipe, and had remarked that there was a pipe from the tank.to a filter, and then again from the filter to the carburetter. Moreover, the union on the filter was of the same size as that on the tank. I therefore removed the filter altogether,. coupled that piece of piping which usually led from filter to carburetter to the tank. I then united its free end to the broken end of the other pipe by means of a piece of gas tubing, and coupled the union end of the second pipe to the carburettor. So equipped, we were able to run throughout to Southampton and home again without any further trouble."
Lubricating a Steering Rod.
(2252) "FN" (Redhill) writes :— "The following improvement which I have carried out on several subsidy-type lorries of a well-known make May be of interest to readers of your "Roadside and
Garage" page. Whenever I overhauled the steering gear, I invariably found that. the bottom hushes of the steering pivot were dry and worn, while the pivots themselves at that point were not only dry but frequently rusty as well. Now the method of lubricating these bearings, on the standard chassis as turned out from the works, is by grease cues fitting into a hole at the top of the pivot, the grease being supposed to penetrate along
the drilled hole in the pivot pin to both the upper and lewd. bearings. Unfortunately, as it appears, the hole for the grease is very easily ,choked up, with the result that the top bearing gets all the lubricant and the lower one none. Moreover, the lower hearing is in a very exposed position, and so soon as it becomes a trifle worn, water and mud splash up from the road and find their way in between the two surfaces.
My method of overcoming the trouble was, first of all, to fit a coverplate to the underside of the bush so as to protect it from the effects of road splashes. For this purpose I used Tit in. steel plates, each seemed by three Ain. screws. I then drilled through from the front of the steering fork to the lower bush, tapping the hole at its outer end
in. gas thread to accommodate an ordinary grease cup. By this means I ensured the lower bush being kept clean and well lubricated.
Lamps Alight.
On Saturday, July 9th, light your lamps at 9.45 m London, 10.12 in Newcastle, 9.57 in Birmingham, 10.25 in Edinburgh, 10.5 in Liverpool, 9.55 in Bristol, and 10.51 in Dublin.