The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-01


 Many car owners will be compelled to do work that they have not been accustomed to doing. As time goes on owners will do more and more of their own work. as occasion arises, For that reason, l shall ainclude in this series of articles a number dealing with spe citic jobs that car owners will un- aoubtedly be compelled to do for them selves before we get through and which many of them will know only by name. I shall begin with a de- tailed description of how to refine the brakes.
 In the first place do nit let any owner go away with the idea that lining the brakes is an unimportant detail of car maintenance. The brakes share with the steering gear the honor of being the most vital parts of the csr as regards the safety of driver and passengers. If anything goes wrong with the brakes, the lives of the occupants of the car may be instantly endangered in some unforseen set of circumstances. It Is necessary, then, that the brakes be kept always in the best possible condition md this means, among other things, that they must be refined at proper in- tervals.
 The conventional type of brake in nse today employs lined brakes that Is to say, the metal bands are covered with an asbestos compound or fabric, which is nonburning, This is called the brake lining. It is common practice 10 weave copper Or brass wire into this fabric for it's further strengthening. When these Innings become badly worn, they no longer grip the drum SD as to give the friction desired for quick fhecking of the progress of the car. If the wear on the lining were even, Ii they wore equally throughout their whole area, there would be no occa sion for frequent refining, provided there were sufficient range of adjust ment But unfortunately the tendency of the lining is to wear unevenly, in ac]2T distributed at irregular intervals, Jne good sized hole or deeply worn spot is enough to spoil the action of he whole lining so that upon the first appearance of symptoms of worn lin sngs it is necessary to refine the band
 When the brakes fail to hold upon application, it is up to the driver to make careful examination. It may be that simple adjustment will cure the trouble. Or it may be that the Things nave become greasy or oily so that they do not hold properly. On the other hand it may be found that the Things are so worn that replacement is the only cure. Inspection of the brakes is not difficult matter, the removal of | rear wheel will expose the whole me- shanism to view. when the cause of the slipping is easily ascertained. Now methods of removing the bands differ greatly in different makes of cars, so that I cannot give detailed instructions 2. ,- talo 1,.,s { l,1 f.1. zAl- issued by the manufacturer of the par 'ienlar car will give full directions
 BUY GOOD LINING
 Before we proceed with the actual business of refining, want to say just word in regard to the purchase of the lining. To begin with. the best brake lining is the only one that should be nsed. Cheap Things wear rapidly, so that first cost is more than made up sy the more frequent renewals neces- sary. In the second place in a position like the braking system, upon the eff acient functioning of which the life. of the driver may depend, no sensible man will try to save a few pennies at the cost of safety first. Further, the very pest brake lining is not particularly expensive, so there is little excuse for sIrying to pinch the pennies
 Most of the brake lining of today nay be had in appropriate lengths for nse on any given make and model of sar. It is perhaps better unless the lining can be cut exactly to. fit, to purchase it in one piece and cut it accurately as it is used
 YOU NEED A PUNCH
 Now for the actual operation of re- lining. The brake bands have been re- moved and the first step is to -cut out the old rivets. which is best done with | chisel The band is placed in wise, If you are working alone. but if you have someone to help you, they may be cut out on the bench. If the old band comes off in pretty good shape, it n,aS be used as a measure to insure getting the new lining an exact fit. Otherwise, lseS tape measure and the band to KAf the. diur oood p,a n