The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1914-07-09
low to get mora power out Of the
4 car seems to be q general topic

HOW to get moro power out OF the
III car seems to be general topic
among many owners of small road
sters and not few are at this late date
willing to give up much Of their time
tuning up the car for speed.
The first step in increasing car speed
is to decrease the weight of the vehicle
as much as possible, removing all un-
necessary, that is, non essential, equip
ment. Since wind resistance is a great
factor in reducing speed, it becomes evil
dent that every effort should be made
to streamline the car. A long tapering
hood coming almost to a point, as in
some racing cars, is good. Just enough
space should be left in front to allow
air currents to reach the radiator. The
object Of all this streamlining is to re-
duce the resistance to wind of the car
to minimum. Just as piston going
downward in cylinder creates q
vacuum so g car going along road has
vacuum behind it. This condition re-
tards the speed of the vehicle and any
means adopted for reducing this vacuum
or, better still, partial vacuum, will in
crease the car speed. 1t is considered
more important to care for the rear of
the car than it is to look after the
front.
Speeding Up the Engine.
After the parts have been streamlined
as much as possible the mechanical end
should be considered. If possible, the
valve seats should be increased in size
and new and larger valves obtained. If
only the intake valves can be made
larger, it is a good idea to do so. In,
creasing the size of the valve seats NAV
be done with q counterbone, or an over
size valve reseating tool. New valves
may be purchased at comparatively
low price. The lift of the valves may
be increased slightly by substituting
ls ger cams. Tho magnetic should be re-
set so that the advance occurs one
eighth or even one-fourth earlier than
it does at present. Much will depend
upon conditions as to just how the
magnetic shall be rest. Setting the mag
neto ahead in this way will ause the
motor to stop if the throttle is set down
too far. If it is possible to use larger
carbureter ard intake header it is best
to do so, for if the intake valves are
made larger more mixture can be ac-
commodated. The frctional loss in the
motor is reduced somewhat by remov-
ing one Of the piston rings, but if the
pistons have but two rings this should
not be done. Lighter istons help mat
ters materially. Some use magnalium
semi or steel, while others take
the old pistons and drill holes in them
Care should be taken in doing this work
that each piston weights the same as
any other piston. If possible use lighter
connecting rods, but it would not do to
remove metal from the old ones, for the
strength may be impaired. New rods
Of stronger metal and thinner section,
or hollow rods, are better.
Oiling System.
One Of the first essentials for O
speedy car is to have pressure oilng
system with hand control on the dash
or other place within easy reach of the
driver. This consists merely of a hand
pump drawing oil from the tank and
forcing it to the crank case. Ball check
valves properly placed can control the
direction of flow.
In nearly all racing cars the motors
are equipped with magnetos of the
double distributor type, so that they
feed to two sets Of spark plugs at the
same time. This system is most helpful
in Thead motor, bu; is valuable as
well in L-head or I-head motors. In the
former the best results are obtained, for
tten the plugs are on opposite sides of
the cylinder and hence flame propaga-
tion is more rapid. The L-head comes
next. 1t is not always possible to place
two plugs n an I-head cylinder; all de.
pends upon the construction, but if pos
able the plugs should be threaded on
opposite sides of the casting.
A reduction in gear ratio to not more
than 24 to l will show goods results