The Washington times., 1929-03-13

AGAG - AtO CHLGRAAiH bAAAS Wow
after one has taken a run through
the laboratories Of motor car COM
panies where one has seen designer
after designer figuratively welding
an ak ON the idol of his own crea'
! tion,
Unbelieversi That is what they
all seem to be. Their every action
substantiates the remark that one
of the leading figures OF the indus.
try who defined q good engineer as:
"One who never believes the good
words the sair~ department says
about the car"
Costly, Endless Effort
The costly and endless effort the
laboratory makes to destroy Its own
creations 80 that better ones may
be built upon the ruins constitutes.
one OF the most fascinating aspects
Of the industry, In the opinion OF
ali who have looked at it. 1t ex-
plains, the conviction is in escap.
able. the constant and ordered prog
ress made in building better cars
and selling them in greater quaint
From the time the future auto
mobile comes to the factory as
rough stock" raw material until
1t rolls out on its own rubber tires.
It Is subjected to o process OF PROV
ing its worthiress for the highway.
A greater worthiness Is demanded,
the designer explains, 1t becomes es.
sential to develop more brutal
proving process.
Tremendous tensile strength, for
instance. becomes necessary In the
metals used. Accordingly. machines
- EhnTNR2nnA
pounds Of wracking pull upon
metals are devised. A limited
amount Of stretch Is permissible in
brake Innings. The engineer must
know Just how the various types
Of Innings conform to this limit. TO
find out. he Adevises &. machine that
takes the defenseless brake lining
and pulls 1t apart, or tries to, at
n the machine wins, the tested
feature Ia built stronger. IT the
part submitted to the wrackinS
process Il victorious in the test,
about the only bright outlook 1t
has is that 1t may take the designer
a little time to build q tougher test
ing process. However, 1t always
comes along in time and the battle
begins all over again--the part
versus the test machine. 1t Is the
battle ofsk the century so far as
the motor car buyer. always inter
ested In better values. is concerned.
In earlier netoring days, the
factory knew the bugs in anew
design only because the kicks be
gan 10 come in. Now, there are
few bugs and fewer kicks Because
the laboratory eliminates the. for
mer before the car gets on the road.
Occasionally. of. course, it fails
and a bug does get through. But,
even then, the factory usually
catches 1t before the public.
An illustration of this Is to be
1found in the case of one of the
finest cars made, the product of
one of the most up-to-the-minute
laboratories. A new model was in
troduced, few months ago. After
it had been put .on tbs market, the
factory discovered that there was
a bug in the ignition. noticeable
at low engine speeds. 1t found the
cause and devised the remedy in
the form Of d light spring member
to be inserted in the distributor.
Owners asked to bring the ear IN
to have the correction made, in
most cases, had failed to notice any
trouble.
This instance could be multiplied
many times.
Must Prove Worth
No feature of the car is too small
nor too delicate to escape the neces-
sity of proving its merit, its. right
to inclusion in car which will
boast Of a long and lusty life. Valve
springs, upholstery, gaskets, even
the smallest bolts, light and horn
switches-every single part OF the
car must prove its ability to take
punishment.
Valve springs, for instance, are
literally beaten to death In order to
prove that. under the most rigorous
conditions, they win have long life
and render faithful and efficient
service without failure or fatigue.
Upholstery Tested
Proud owners of new cars who
warn the children not to jump UP
and down on the seats should see
the mechanical Johnnies and Jennies
that the engineer has devised to
test the upholstery. The human
youngsters eventually get tired of
jumping, even IL they do not heed
parental counsel. The mechanical
ones. that jump great deal harder,
never stop until the engineer cuts
the switch.
Mothers and fathers, to carry the
parallel q bit further, never have
been able to condone little Willie'E
complex for swinging on the door
of the family sedan. In Wiilte's
behalf it may be said that the de-
signer of the door made it strong
enough to hold great deal more
weight without sagging or suffer
ing OF course, Willie should not
be allowed to read this.
The interesting tests in the labor
atory seem almost endless. In this
room, for instance. there is ma.
chine that tests the rubber used on
engine suspension members to alb
sorb vibration. Alternately, it ap'
plies thousands of pounds pull and
thousands Of pounds pressure to the
test piece. When 1t gets through
the fact Of the rubber's strength
Is uretty well established.
In another part Of the building
an engineer behind a strobosccpe
looks at g. part that seems TO be
standing still though turning al
thousands Of revolutions per minute
Investigation discloses that he is
trying to find out what happens in
the life of a. drop of oil crushed be
tween a bearing and a crankshaft.
Or perhaps he is noticing what dis
/ tortion Is taking place in unit
that should not distort.
One of the most impressive as
poets Of the laboratory excursion is
q look ut the array of gauges and