Evening star., 1924-01-27
No. 30-watching Mechanic Work

1t was the first holiday since ac-
quiring the car that Smith had been
denied its use, and the knowledge
that it was standing in the garage
in process Of being taken apart did
not help matters any \ bright
thought. however, suggested to him
that there might be some pleasure
and not n little profit in spending
the morning contemplating the car 5
innards
Upon reaching the garage. however.
he found that owing to an unusual
amount of work on hand the me-
chanlcs were on the job as usual try
| ing to get some Of the work out Of
the way. Guess you can have your
! car this afternoon" the head man
encouraged Smith. But I'll need a
little assistance ii you're willing.
Just hand me that wrench over on
, the stand and stick around here TIL
| get this crankcase bolted up and
maybe We can get You out Of here
by noon. Fine day for q ride.
Smith fell III with the scheme with
out u seconds delay. 1t was thus
| that he noticed that the mechanic was
| fitting a connecting rod bearing and
why he happened to ask the name
| Of the thin layers Of metal pieces
| which the repaircr WAS taking out
the sides of the bearings.
Hard Job Explained,
"Shims," the mechanic explained.
| When you want to tighten a bear
ing you just take out one OF these
thin strips on each side. OF course.
you've got to back off the nuts first
and remove the bolts which hold the
lower half OF the bearing 10 the
upper. Fitting Il hearing is not easy
work if You want to do the work
right. BY the way, did YOU ever
! touch this bearing YOURSELF"
i've never even dropped the case"
Smith replied. Il had q bearing
frightened on one Of my trips. think
il was that one
well. they did an amateur trick
all right. See this numeral three
stamped on the upper part of con-
Meeting rod bearing number three ?
The mechanic adjusted the drop
light SO that Smith could see. There
is II similar uumcral on the lowe
part of the hearing. The bearing
should be fitted 80 that these numbers
are ON the same side. | found them
reversed. Somebody was careless"
Smith told the mechanic Of the
nIan the service manager had for
testing for u loose connecting rod
bearing and asked If that was the
correct way to do it. The mechanic
said that hy "shurtiug' Il cylinder
tCuttinG out the SparkD a piston slap
or a loose bearing can generally be
located.
Smith After Knowledge.
But how can you tell d loose main
bearing2" Smith asked
Il use Il jack" the other replied.
"BV raising the shaft the weight is
taken off the main bearings. If bub-
bleS of oil form around one You may
he sure it's loose
The mechanic had been working
fast as they talked. He had tight
ened the bearing to his satisfaction.
replaced the craHkshaft ana was now
putting back the valves in their seats.
How do you know whether you
are putting them back in the right
places" Smith asked
The other pointed to five dot mark $
on the head of the intake valve in
the third cylinder. Il mark them with
my punch before taking them out"
he said The valve marked six
belongs in the exhaust port for this
same cylinder. and SO on"
After compreSsing the valve springs
and inserting the keys which hold
them in place he started to adjust
the push rods.
THAT part would puzzle me" Smith
declared.
SimpIc-Nhen Nou Know