The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1915-10-28

What necessary changes must be
! made to increase the available maxi
mum spssd Of car?
The weight Of the vehicle should first
be decreased as much as possible, Fa-
moving all nonessential units of equip
ment. Since wind resistance is an Inn
portant factor in the speed of the car,
II becomes evident that every effort
should be made TO reduce 1t. The hood
should be made long and tapering so
that 1t comes almost to a point, leav-
ing just enough space in front to per-
NIT air currents to reach the radiator.
After the body has been stream lined
| as much as possible attention should
be turned 10 the mechanical parts. If
! possible the valve seats should be en-
larged and new valves OF greater d.
ameter procured. II only the intake
valves can be made larger 1t is a good
idea to do this. A counterbore or an
! oversize valve reseating tool may be
used to enlarge the valve seats. and
new valves are comparatively cheap.
The lift OF the valves may be slightly
increased by substituting larger cams.
Resetting Of the magnetic will depend
upon conditions. Setting 1t ahead will
cause the motor to stop IL the throttle
Is set down too far. II 1t Is possible to
| use a larger carburetor and intake
header 1t Is best to do so. for II the
intake valves are made larger more
mixture can be accommodated. The
| frlctional loss In the motor Is reduced
somewhat by removing one of the pis-
ton rings. but II the pistons have but
two narrow rings this should not be
done. Lighter pistons will help mat
tiers materially. Some use ptstons Of
magnalium, steel or semisteel, while
others take the old pistons and drill
/ holes In them. Care should be taken
Ia doing this work that each piston
weighs the same as any of the other
pistOns. If possible use lighter con-
Meeting rods, but 1t would not do to
remove metal from the old ones, for
the strength might be impaired. New
rods of stronger metal and thinner sec
| tons or hollow rods are better.
I pressure oiling system with hand
control on the dash or somewhere
! within easy reach Of the driver ia one
of the first essentials for a speedy
, car. The hand control consists merely
Of hand pump drawing oil from the
TANK and forcing 1t to the crank case.
The direction Of Gow is regulated by
ball check valves, properly placed.
! Nearly all racing cars are fitted with
/ magnetos Of the double distributor so
that they feed to two sets of spark
plugs at the same time.
WHAT 10 an offset steering knuekis2
An offset. steering knuckle Is one
which causes the wheel contact with
the ground to be located to the rear
Of the point at which the steering
spindle axis produced meets the
ground.
Can you give a method Of cleaning
carbon from cylinders by dsnarurSd al.
eohol?
The use Of denatured alcohol Is sim
pie. 1t is best used when the engine
Is hot, as Immediately after a run. Ii
the carbon deposit Is slight it usually
is not difficult to be removed. but II
the deposit is II heavy one il may be
necessary to remove the spark plugs
of the cylinders to be operated on and
fill the combustion chambers with al
cohol, leaving II to soak overnight. 1t
is obvious that only two cylinders of
four cylinder engine can be treated
at the same time. for the simple rea-
sons that while two of the pistons are
at the top of the stroke the other two
will be at the bottom The alcohol
can be removed with u gun. When the
engine Is started up the carbon. il suf-
ficiently loosened. will be thrown out.
or course the treatment will vary In
proportion to the thickness and hard
ness OF the deposit.
10. there any element or compound in
the fresh or exhaust gases Of a qaso.
line motor which 10 injurious to rub.
Der?
Fresh gas contains particles OF gaso-
iulc anu EuuueE II SOiuDle III JnaI
liquid. The exhaust gas contains
number Of compounds which are in
furious to rubber. a. Cd. -. ~ %.
Can you explain the distance Of the
platinum points on both high and low
tension nagnetos7 Are these points
open or. closed when firing ! s->ia
The usual gap is one and thirty-two
shunl':edths lrchHs. hut this may vary
slightly. depending upon conditions.
Sometimes one-sixteen hundredth
inch gap Il best. In most systems the
spark occurs on the break Of the
points. but In some of the, older gys-
TENS where the one interrupter was
made to control both battery and mag
neto primaries. the points came togeth-
er TO cause the battery spark and sep
arated TO, cause the magnetic spark.
Can you give the formula for de-.
tsrminina the hcrsepowsr required to
spin an snsins2
We know Of no formula. but the
power required to spin motor at a
I \ 4 tE II -