Evening star., 1924-11-16
No. 52-Relinfng the Brakes.

IT WAS d alleIiooi iio''
particularly favorable for motoring.
hiding that l did not have suitable
;rench for a small job 1 was doing
n the carburetor, 1 decided to walk
,ver and borrow one from Smith.
hat marked the end of my work for
he day. for Smith was in the act of
'elining his brakes. and the way he
as going about it told me plainly
,at two heads would be better than
one.
He had lacked up the rear wheels,
locked the front ones, removed the
Ib caps and the nuts which hold the
wheels to the end of the aXles but
hat was as far as he seemed to be
lie to go. The wheels would not
1me off the axle ends because the fit
similar to that Of a glass stopper
I a vinegar cruet.
You need a wheel puller," | told
i'm. I'll drive you down to an ac-
essory store. And, by the way, you
ID better buy your lining at the
ame time"
Hadn't I better wait until the old
ming comes off: then I'll know just
ow much to buy?' he asked.
Smith Wrong Again.
IF the time was appropriate for
couldn't have the slightest trouble
htnting out the pitfalls you will en-
unter when YOU try to do repair
,bs like this without first studying
he situation. In any first-clasS sup
ly store they can tell you just how
uch brake lining you will need for
ther the service or emergency
rakes of your car.
That point being settled, l raised
ONE other questions as we proceeded
ward the city. For instance. J
sked him why he thought it was
acesSary to refine his service brakes
lis answer was that. having driver
he car 1900 miles, the Innings ough'
O be worn out.
1T isn't a question of mileage" J
rgued Some drivers need new lin
.ng every 5000 miles. Others car
make Innings do them 10000. 1ol
re IN the latter class, because yo'
ong since learned how to use you
rgne as a brake when going down
i'll. You learned that squirting
tile gasoline on the Innings OF tn
.rvice brake now and again will re
move dirt, stop screeChing and cauS
he Innings to swell just enough t.
improve the braking force. That al
;aves brake lining
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Shine.
but the drums of the wheels loof
cry shiny" he added. That make
We suspect that the lining has wor1
through in several places so that tn
METAL band is scraping the drum.
shiny drums are just what yot
ought to expect to find. If the lining
were dangerously thin at any on
1oint rivets would start scraping tn
drums. You would soon notice deel
scratches in each drum"
Well" Smith decided you may be
light, but I've started this thing, ano
I'm going through with It, If for nc
nther reason than to see how it's
done"
Curiosity ruled and the job pro-
ceeded
But hardly had the wheels been re-
moved when Smith encountered a new
difficulty. He found that the piI
which holds each band in place 9th,
Ietails vary with different makes o.
cars) was frozen with rust. 1t re
luired a half hour to tap out eacl
pin, which is just another reason
why it pays to keep every working
part of a car we'll oiled. Smith placed
all these parts in kerosene, in order
to clean them before proceeding to
,hisel off the old rivets, and thus re,
move the lining from the bands, but
this was no compensation for no'
having attended to the little matter
of oiling the brake assembly-from
time to time.
Refining Under Way.
Having done this sort Of work my
self, proceeded to be foreman of
the shop. instructing Smith to clean
each band after removing the lining,
to see that the rivet holes were round
and that any burrs were filed off. He
was about to join the lining (Which
was cut to the proper
lengthy by punching the rivets
in any old way, as I had to
impress upon him the fact that a sue
cessful refining job hinges on drill
ing the holes in the lining SO as to
exactly match those in the bands.
Smith also nearly forgot to counter