Evening star., 1931-06-07
4 YEEK before last the great
~ motoring event was the
" Memorial day races at
Td;o~ayNo1ie uha T.nllie

on a DrICk Ha&A UVAVAS A~S
STSs. weeks event IN the motor
world was the STenty-ninth an
nual gathering Of the American
Automobile Association, also held
in the Hoosier State. This event
also attracted great interest In au-
tomobile circles, and its business
will have a great bearing on COM
ing automotive plans. The asso-
citation has many irons in the hre,
all destined to aid the motorist,
and, therefore, cannot be too loud
ly acclaimed.
Good roads, just taxes, uniform
and proper regulation have much
to do with the happiness OF many
people of the Nation.
OF interest to motorists Is per-
haps the following:
Economy Of RebOring.
The relative economy Of having
the engine of an automobile re-
bored or Of trading the automo-
bile IN Is discussed in a special
bulletin on automobile purchase
and maintenance which has just
been issued to the 10000 SubScrlb-
ers to Consumers Research, Inc,
non -prof1tmc king research group
organized to provide unbiased,
technical information to the con-
Sumer.
The results of reboring, the bull
letin states, may range from prac-
tically no improvement to making
the engine as good as new. These
results will depend both on the
quality of workmanship and the
equipment available for the work
in the repair shop.
Assuming that good workman
ship and equipment are available,
the bulletin presents the following
conclusions:
On trucks, major overhauling
and reboring are usual practices
and regarded as economical.
On expensive passenger cars,
especially foreign, major overhaul
Is economic and usual. unless OBJ
soleScence is an ir- r-~ortant factor
Such work should be intruSted
only to the best specialized shops
On. ordinary passenger cars held
by original owners, unless cylinder
walls are damaged by accident
for example, at an early period in
the life Of the car, cars are usually
traded in at the stage where re-
boring would be required. This is
probably sound practice, because,
to a large extent, engine, body,
paint and style" pass out to-
gether. On the average car cost
ing 81 900 and under, the engine
wears, body loOSenS, paint fails,
upholstery becomes shabby and
mud guards rust out after 10000
to $4,000 miles. Under these as
SumptionS, cylinder reboring and
major overhauling in general are
not recon1mended-unleSS trans
portation is the dominant conSid-
Grafton and the construction of
the car in question is rugged, and
so warrants the expense.
On traded-in cars, bought at
second hand, major overhauling
economically extends the life of
the car and sometimes is better
than junking, all costs considered
Auto Theft Problems.
Last Sunday part of report of
into automobile theftS and its re-
lationShip to gangSterS appeared
in this column. A continuation of
the commiSSion'S findings follows: ::
Perhaps the most obvious cause
of these losses Is the incomplete
dissemination of reports Of miss
ing cars. There exists no system
whereby a report of a theft may
be quickly made to each police
department within the State, and
to each State motor vehicle de-
partment throughout the several
States. No kind of uniform SyS-
tenn prevails among the States
whereby theft information may be
tnterchanged.
At present the owner of q car
when it is stolen probably notifies
the nearest police department,
where a record Is made, but no
Nation wide system prevails
whereby the owner has aSsur-
ance that information of the loss
will go further than the Office
where he reports the theft. The
police IN an adjoining town may
receive no information whatever
of the theft. If insured, the stolen
car may be included in lists of
stolen cars compiled and sent out
by insurers. Several of the big
gest cities compile and send to q
limited number of law enforce
ment authorities lists of cars re-
ported stolen or recovered locally.
Some of the State motor vehicle
departments likewise send out
lists. One or two States main
tain (but do not publish) a record
not only Of cars reported locally,
but OF cars reported stolen in
other, States. The information on
stolen cars Is so slowly conveyed,
so meagerly, so poorly and so irreg-
ularly and incompletely dissent
mated throughout the States, that
thieves escape capture and stolen
cars may lie In storage with rent
charges accruing indefinitely be-
cause the police are unable to To-
cate the owner. The car owner
not only loses the use of the car
meanwhile, but deterioration of
the car through time, use and
abuse results. without any uni
form loss reporting system car
owners are but poorly protected,
the police are handicapped and
frauds and theftS are encouraged.
Recommends Uniform Law.
The committee recommends q
uniform registration law for the
several States to reduce frauds
and theftS. The need of q uni
form law is of prime Importance
and overshadowS the value of any
particular law In 1925 the Ma
tional Conference on Street and
Highway Safety adopted q uni