Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-26
In the Motor World
BIZ G. ADAMS HOWARD.

les protective qualities, makes It's
use especially valuable during the
| Spring and Summer months.
Another preparation for tour
ing at this time Of year and after
touring Is brought out In the
following:
This is the time Of the year
when the motorist should take
the trouble to tighten up the body
bolts On his car. During the Win
ter mchths, when roads are rough
and the average automobile Is
| forced to cover many miles OF
bumpy roadways, bolts worn loose
and keep the body and chassis
from being as tightly held to-
getter as they should, according
to the technical experts of a
manufacturing company OF auto
bile body builders.
1.-The motorist will find that a
few hours work tightening up the
body bolts will repay him." ex-
perts point out. "The body bolts
hold the body to the chassis and
are bound to work loose, even on
an all-steel body. A few turns
with wrench and they are tight
ened up for the rest of the season.
The automobile owner can either
do this Job himself or, If he pre-
fers, any service station will do it
for him quite reasonably"
A Query Answered.
A reader Of this column writes
in to know what can be done to
keep filling station employees from
damaging q car. His request may
be along facetious vein, but for
the sake of argument 1t will be
| treated as sincere. To his ques-
ton, what can be done to keep
garage repair men from danag-
ing q car, might be added:
The answer to both Is the same.
Take your car to the most reliable
place you know Of and then keep
1t under constant supervision.
Today is an age of carelessness.
Watchfulness alone will cure 1t.
Most of the mechanical i'm
provenaents Of today are economic
ones. Initial prices and upkeep
costs are lower. Inventive genius
has improved the manufacture of
automobile tires to such an ex-
tent that the average car owner
today has to buy only half as
many new tires for replacement
during the life of his automobile
as he did 10 years ago, according
| to q bulletin made public here by
the American Research Founda-
ton.
Economic Improvements.
I'm 1885," says the bulletin, IAN
average Of only 1.6 new tires per
automobile were purchased for
replacement purposes in tn e
United States. In 1920 an aver
age Of $50 new tires per automo-
| bile, or almost an entirely new set,
were required annually. In 1910
the average car owner had to buy
6.5 new tires to replace castings
worn out during the year.
THE boon of added life, however,
has not been confined to tires
alone. Science has made impor-
tant contributions to the lon
gevity of other parts of the auto
mobile. For instance, the aver
age passenger car today will run
10000 miles before new piston
rings are required, compared with
| 10000 miles 10 years ago. More
over exhaustive tests have shown
that the amount of wear between
piston rings and cylinder walls is
now decreasing to such an extent
that q heavier oil to seal this
clearance is no longer necessary
in the average new car until after
5000 to 5000 miles, whereas a few
years ago this was necessary at
between 1000 and 1000 miles. To-
day it is safe to wait until q car
has Travelled between $4,000 and
&c, 900 miles under normal driving
conditions before changing to a
still heavier oil, compared with a
deadline of $4,000 miles for this
important fabrication shift here
tofore."