~l..v 12T H, 1906.

THE AUTOCAR B Journal publial,eb in tbe interests of tbe mect,nmrnll~ propelleb roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

I o. 551. VoL. XVI.]

SATURDAY, MAY 12TH, 1906.

[PmcE 3D.

TlfE AUTOCAR.

(Published Weekly.)

Registered as a newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom.

Entered as second-class matter at the New York (N.Y. ) Post Offi<..e .

EDITORIAL OFFICE :

COVENTRY.

PUBLISHING OFFICES :

20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., ENGLAND.

CONTENTS.

l 'AGE

NOTES : ACCESSIBILITY-POINTS FOR ATTENTION-A SUGGESTION-

THE EXCESSIVE FINING OF FREE MEN ...

593-59,4.

USEFUL PitNTS AND TIPS : MAKESHIFTS OM T OUR (illustrated) AN EASTER TouR (illustrated) . .. THE 25-30 H.P. FoRMAN ENGIN< (illustrated) AN !RISH MOTORIST'S L oss AT SAN FRANCISCO A TEST OF A SINGLE-GEARED CAR

... 595 596-599 ... 600 .. . 600

THE A.C.G.B.I. EXAMINATJ< >NS .. . GENERALITIES. By " Rutulan" . SCOTTISH RELIABILITY TRIAL FOR TOURING C ARS ENGINE TESTING-IN THE House OF COMMONS THE ARGYLL DRIVER'S PRIZE THE IRISH RELIABILITY TRTALS . .. AERONAUTICAL NOTES (illu-trated) CONTINENTAL NOTES AND NEWS: THE TARGO FLORIO-THE GENERAL

601 601 602 603 603 604 60 605

STRIKE-THE ELASTIC WHEEL TRIALS-THE 1NVENTORS1

ACADEMY . ..

606-608

CORRESPONDRNCE: DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT-COPPER IN ACETYLENE

LAMPS-PREVENTION OF DUST- INSURANCE PREMIUMS-PAID DRIVERS AND SECRET COMMISSIONS-ENGINE INDICATING-UP 8RASTED HILL- PURCHASING CARS THROUGH AGENTS- PEDAL FOR BACK BRAKES- CUBICAL CnNTM:NTS AND HORSl!-POWER-RESI5TING PUNCTURES (illustrated) -THE BALANCING OF PETROL ENGINESSuMMARY OF CORRt:SPONDENCE 609-613 MOTORING IN ANDA.LUCIA (illustrated)... 6!-+-615 FLASHES . . 616-618 CLUB DOTNGS: CLUB F1xTuars-A SUBSTITUTE FOR CLun RuNs­

NoRTH LoNcow A.C.-HERTPORDSHtRK CouNTY A.C.-MANCHF6TKR A.C.-NOTTs. A.C. WELBl!'..CK SPEED TRIALS (illustrated) -KENT A.C. 619-620 HILL-CLIMBING JN INDJA-THE ROAD QUESTION A WELL-POLICED ROAD {illustration ) ... SOME QUERIES AND RF.PLIES

621 621 622

"THE AUTOCAR" SUBSCRIPTION RATES : ~ritish i sles, 16s. Abroad (thin p.-1pn ed1uon), 22s. t!d. per annum.

/

Notes. Accessibility.

Some of our older readers ll"ill begin to tire d , ~1:p erio<lical refe,ences to this ~uh ject. but th e lo-nger we use cars . and the longer ,,·e read lettus from our readers. the more conl'inced II e become of the fact that one of the Ye ry greatest objections to th t: motor ca r of to-day is the inaccessibility of many parts which, bi' a Ye r\' lfttle. sometimes a lmo ·t infinitesi mal. alteration couicl be macle eas ily get-at-able. We might multiply instances by the doze n. but 11·e 1rill gi,·e one 1Yhic-h came under ou r notice last ,reek. It \\"as des ired to get at the float of the carburetter on a certain car. This should haYe meant undoing six screws with a srre,rdri,·er. a nct nothing more. but it was found that, owing to the carbure.tter being placed half an inch nea rer the frame' than necessary, it was impossible to undo one of the scre;,s 1ri th the scre\\" d ri1·er; it had to be painfuily loosened with a pair of pliers. T hen 1t ,ms found imposs ible to entirely remoH~ it ,rithout getting it clown into its place again and filing dO\rn the head. Ha,·ing gone to all this trouble. 1t ,1·as then fm111cl absollltely out of the question to take the top off the fl oat cha1nocr at a 11 because it \\"as just a shade loo fa r m:d""r the frame. so that it could not lie lifted . and. of course. it could not be worked round and remo,·e,.l 1·:ithou, lienJing the rnh-e stem. It is ob,·ious , therefore, that the only way by which the float of this carburetter can be got at is for the carburetter to be · taken ff the car c nmplete. This means the undoing of the induction, air, and petrol pipes. all of which are p laced in inaccessible positions, so far as the joi nts are concerned, It is quite impossible, therefore, to do the job \\"ithout going under the car, and then it 11·ill require a great deal of patience and a . pecial spanner to unscrew two, if not three, of the bolts. All this trouble is caused by the fact that a ,·ery slight improvement has been made so fa r as the f"rame is concerned. but eYer~ thing else has been left alone instead of being al te red to suit. Cr _:;equently the carburetter. "·hich ,ras o riginally accessible. is 110w just the n.: Ye rse.

Such points are more common this year than pre1·iously. This is largely due to the fact that a good 111a1w ca rs ,re rc so satisfacton last ,·ear that ,·en- small alter.ations ,rere marle_ Certain s ligh t mocl ifi.cations 11·ere necc ·sar). anrl these ha,·e resulterl in the partial or total ecli pse of other parts ,rhich ha,·e been left in the ir olrl positions. and ,rhich 1re re fairh· accessible. or eYe11 easih· accessible. on I ast ,·car·s cars.

Points fo r Attention. The po;nts about which ,re are most cv11tinually receiYing complaints are, fir t and foremost. inaccessible carburetters. :Magnetos are often the cause of unnecessary troubl e because they are so cl iffi !'ult to get at. but this is u11ques ti onably a shortc-oming 11-hich has been O\·ercome in many cases this year. and magnetos a lone a re more accessible than they 11·ue a year age. Then. agai n. the wiring or piping is often so arranger! as to make simple 01:erations lik e taking out and replac ing a rnh·e a matter of the greatest difficulty. Annther ,·ery silly practice is to cr;\m a great rleai tl;o much into a bonnet of a gi ,-en size. This re~ults in the back cylinder, if not the front, bei ng abominably rl iffic ul t to get at. whereas t ll"O or three inches lo spare bet reen t he engine and th e dashboard 11·oulcl make things comparatiYely comfortable. Jn fact. there is a goorl dea l in faYour of the elongation of bonnets . as lo-ng bonmt~ seem to be n ry much appreciated so far as appearance is concerned, and th e French practice of placing the magneto across the front is a good one, and one which has possibilities in other directions that arc at lea t \\"Orth consideration. i >eople have become user! to long bonnets noir and regard them as ;1 11 imrro,·enienr ir. the appearance rather than other·,rise. and :• lth1r.1rl1 ,r e 11·oulrl be th e last to suggest th 0 t four-c\·lin rler rars shoulrl ~o ahout rlisguised as ,ixC1-lincler cars. 1Ye mu. t sa1· that 11·e think a little more