The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-03-06
TIMELY SUGGESTIONS
FOR THE AUTOOWNER

its surface with some round, smooth
object like the END of a tool handle.
This, if done carefully, will exclude
every particle of air and the cementeo
surfaces will adhere perfectly.
A sudden thaw, after a severe frost,
| accompanied by moisture-laden at
mosphere, plays havoc with the body
work of an automobile. Those In pos
session of a well-heated garage need
have no fear of such weather condi-
tons, but a goodly number of motorists
are content to house their vehicles in
wooden structures, or, at all events, in
premises devoid of heating apparatus.
Whenever the car begins to sweat" it
is advisable to sponge the paintwork
| and dry it with chamois leather. More
over, the chamois should be used fire.
quently, until the varnish has become
accustomed to the altered temperatures.
1t is, of course, a much better-and in
the end cheaper-plan to install a suit
able stove in the garage on the approach
of winter The bodywork is not the only
portion of the car to suffer, however,
Dampness soon finds out the unprotect-
ed parts of so-called plated surfaces
those places where the plating has worn
off-and the owner soon finds that ac-
cumulations of rust have to be dealt
with before his vehicle becomes present
able. There is, of course, nothing bet
ter than a rag and drop of oil for the
prevention of rust, but 1t must be used
when the metal is dry and clean. After
the vehicle has been we'll washed and
dried, an application of car polish will
be found to work wonders on paint
work and leather upholstery.
Many motorists whose cars are fitted
with accumulation and coil ignition have
been occasionally troubled with
"jumpy" spark and some of them have
been unable to locate the cause. Several
cases of faulty ignition have. however,
been remodeled by the insertion of a re-
turn wire from the contact maker to
the switch, proving that the use of the
frame as a return is sometimes detri-
mental to the successful operation of
the ignition system. Where the current
has to pass through bearings or gear
ings there is always a chance of loose
ness causing a break in the circuit OF of
grease acting as an insulation medium.
The best way to have dependable sys-
tenn is to have complete wire circuit.
Good compression and engine eff1cIen-
cy are synonymous terms. If the COM
preston is poor the compressed gas
that the engine castings are sound; the
sources of this leakage are either via
the piston rings, exhaust valve or the
inlet valve. Leakage through a broken
sparkling plug porcelain or through a
defective compression tap is easily To-
Gated.
The burning of the platinums on the
tumbler of an engine fired by high ten
sion coil ignition is probably the COM
monest Of all causes of loss of power or
stoppage. The screw and trembler blade
can be removed, dressed perfectly
square with a small file and then re-
placed and adjusted so that a good
"buzz" is obtained with as light con-
tact as possible; heavy contact wastes
electricity and causes burning. When
adjusting it is important that the high
tension wire be connected to the spark
ing plug, otherwise the coil may be
damaged by burning of the insulation.
Short circuits are another source of
worry. An easy method to detect these
torts is to run the engine in the dark;
a dark blue flicker soon shows where
the leakage is and then a little rubber
tape will soon effect a cure.