Evening Star Newspaper, January 25, 1925, Page 87

l John Smith and His Car BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL. Tohn Smith is a character whom every motorist should welcome. is wot selfis He ; rather he is a motoring martyr, a chap willing and glad to have exploited. in an interesting way, his experiences for the benefit of the other 10.000.000 or more members of the motor clan. No. 82—“01d Gears and New.” Having decided to run his car a while longer before trading in for a new one, Smith took it to a repair ehop with which he had not had pre- vious experience and ordered a new ond speed t slon gear in- stalled in the bel ¢ this would do away with the aunoyance of hav- ing the gears slip back into “neutral” when climbing hills. He never told me exactly what in- structions he gave the repairer, but judging from the results he asked him to make the job as inexpensive as possidie. “W never seem to repatred pr Smith complai nottcing that w the original noise in the transn bad disappeared, humming noise was substituted told that fellow exactly wrong, and you see the “I don't see where you have any cause for complaint,” I told him got rid of the thing you didn't like and gave you something else Deceptive Car Nolses. “Something else I don't th said bitterly. 1 always seems to b. Our friend Brown tell: was troubled with a c {n his transmissfon. - mgnosed it ront ssion had when > the bear- o= revolving, its roller: >ne fixed spot un grooves in the g thing loosened a little the wh bearing started revolving and caused a clicking nolse as the rollers passed | these worn grooves. It seemed M an easy thing to fix—just installing a | new gear—but when the car ca back with a $20 repair bill it had frighttul grind. Sounded like a street car.” “? could glve you a dozen ceses,” I said when he had 1ot of compliments to the ri “but you will be surprised, to know that most of the tory repair work is owners."” “I'm serious about this,” he d. such added a men erhaps, nsat due to inter- am I” T retorted, “oth would go back with you to the i do the job all ov ring th right “He | the | the | | ring gear in the rear axle is a very ‘de]nu!w operation which requires first-class skill, for unless the teeth of the gears mesh just so there is bound to be humming and excessive wear. Now, when you come to sub- stitute one new gear for an old one ind then try to mesh it with another »ld one, you cannot possibly obtain 1 quiet adfustment. The mesh may seem to be perfect, but the old gear will not run quietly with the new one. In time the grinding or humming noise may cease, but when that time arrives it simply means that the rough edges of the teeth of the old gear have worn off. After that the nt will be too loose and there considerable backlash and consequent wear. “When the repairer installed a new second speed sliding & r he should | have instulled a new second speed inter-shaft gear also. He prob- ably would have done this if you had not Insisted upon having a ‘reason- able job You really meant that you wanted a cheap job, and he gave you one. It will be & lesson to you not to skimp on repalrs, Beware False Ecomomy. “If ever should accidentally handle the car roughly and strip off a few teeth from the ring gear in the rear axle, do not under any circum- | stances allow any repair man to urge | you to use the old pinion th a new r. Mechanics are human gine they are winning tomer's favor by pretending to But just remember you new means more money for a repairer to do a job twice, so don’t encourage any ideas of econo- izing. | job depends upon you.” “Well, what had I to do with the | tuilure of this fellow to remedy this | stipping into. ‘neutral’ when I try to climb a hill in ‘second’?” Smith manded. far as I can see, you had every- to do with it 2 h didn’t _know trouble. You should have ta ar to some reliable repalr man uld know that all you needed was shifter fork to keep the second speed gear in position. Whenever I \ in doubt as to whether a me chanfc is fitted to do a job I ask hi <t he intends to fix. If he can give a plausible outline of his prc cedure, I can take it for fact that h I let de- the {who w Much of the success of the |! him | THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. ¢, JANUARY 25, BALLOON PROBLEM MET. The main trouble experfenced by owners who have installed balloon tires on their cars is that there has been entirely too much bobbing ac- tion. Many of the excellent spring control devices have been unable to check this successfully, even on some of the new cars which have not been especially designed for balloons. Though you will still need your spring control device, the excess bob- bing can be done away with by tak- ing a few leaves out of the springs. You will note on cars especlally de- signed for balloons that there are tewer spring leaves, as a rule. —— PLEASURE AND SERVICE FROM CAR DUE TO CLUBS, SAYS A. A. A. HEAD (Continued from Third Page.) ever, the A. A. A. has paralleled the history of the automoblle itself. Whea | the automobile was designed to ven- ture farther away from its customary stamping ground the A. A. A. sent its roadmappers and its pathfinding cars into ‘the new fields and opened | up new possibilities for the motorist. { “When it became evident that the | number of car owners had grown to |a point where it was not possible for the average tourist to stop by the | wayside to offer assistance to a stranded comrade the A. A. A. was |ready with emergency road service for members through the develop- ment of a nation-wide system of afil- lated clubs. iere, then, were two great forces Vi ng together to make of the | automoblle what it is today and what it will be tomorrow. The manufac- turers were busy developing a vehicle that could be trusted to do the Na- tion's personal transportation worlk. The A. A. A. was seeing to it that the automobile would not be ham- pered in its mission of service. “But there was & third party to the of the automobile, & party made possible the silver which the industry now cele- Without the willingness of oring public to invest in cars would not have been possible to write such records into the history of rn transportation. A. A. has steadily a memb ploneer that re prog- hip of a mere ers to a nts the ar owners in , yet there s a development h must materialize very soon if t success in the Years between its and golden jubllees. e average motorist has yet to learn that he has not bought trans- rtation until, in addition to his car joins his automobile America own cars, yet scarcely a milllon own an intercst in motordom's welfare work. It is an amazing fact that must be faced and corrected if we are to celebrate the.future suc- cess of the automobile in America. “The history of the A. A. A. paral- lels that of the automobile industry try, yet the majority of motorists continually attempt to tear apart by trying to motor successfully with merely the mechanical side of moto~ing. This no different than in- vesting in a car and then trying to run it without oll Makes Car Serviceable. “Millions of car owners here in America are attempting to get the most from motordom without taking precautions against excess taxation, diversity of motor law inadequate road building programs, unfair legislation and complexity of tour- They are buying automobiles new / rcfincn}cnts / OLDSMOBILE 183514th St. Potomac 1000 them | without investing in the car-owner organization that can make these cars truly serviceable. “I am speaking of the average. A | million car owners have already de- termined to take an active part in {the work of their automobile clubs— ! which is their work: d they are | Jooking forward hopefully to the {day when the majority of car own- jers will falluin- Hane with this ides, | that has been evident to the pioneers ever since those display cars of 25 | 1925—PART T7. years ago first chugged around the demonstration track at Madison Square Garden. “If the new year could be made to reveal an exact parallel between the number of cars sold and the num- ber of new automobile club members the silver jubilee celebration would be complete. “The history of the A. A. A. con- sistently points to the bellef that a big motor club membership can do for motordom exactly what a big registration and factory production has done for it. Since the consolida- tion of the N. M. A. with the A. A. A. the greatest strides have been made in the work of slmpllifying motoring for the car owners, and it suggests the advantages possible through a great- er public recognition of the close parallel that should exist between registrations and club membership. “Ninetoen-twenty-five should be a record year for the addition of re cruits to the car ownership ranks. 1. o. b. Detroit, plus war tas) The only Four Door Coach-Brougham on the American Market b 5 3 Malke it real progress by making it a record year for increase in motqr club strength.” " At the Auto Show CADILLAC Standard of the World All This Week sures himself that the use ar will not be needlessly ro- through motor problems that remain uneolved b 5,000,000 persons Performance Speed —regardless of all arguments for and against— the buyer of today demands speed. He will use his own judgment as to when, where and how he will use it—but he does insist the maker build speed possibilities into his car. Sixty miles per hour is the minimum requirement— and on occasion, the American owner, who thinks and acts in terms of time, wants sixty-five and more, always on call. v important i h prope tn GARDNER He has learned too, that the same reserve power—the same pulling quality—which make for extremely high speeds —also guarantee that his car will take any ordinary grade as if it were level, at thirty-five to forty-five miles per hour. This (New Series) Rickenbacker Six is designed and built for the most critical and progressive class of buyer. : It will not only give you all the speed you desire under any conditions, but still more important, it is cap- able of sustained performance at very high speed Step on her!— In less than 7 seconds she has passed the 25 M.P.H. point. In less than 11 seconds, 40, and in 19 seconds she is flying over the road at 50 miles per hour; and before your stop-watch records 30 seconds the speedometer registers 60. Hold her there—an hour—two hours—all day! The “red’’ in your motor-meter will hold as steadily below the safety point as your car will maintain its speed. And there will be absolutely no variation in that, save at your own will. Then, with her wonderful 4-wheel brakes, she will decelerate at an even faster ra 2 inline Closed car at same price as open $19985—boch open and closed models. Advanced Buropean styles — miles shead in beauty. Eilght-in-line lflthi—n horsspower. One of the ever built—and the Abun Quietly obedient. smoothest! and dant power, instantly Disteel Wheels—rive, of Latest ball Five, of jsourse. oon type. No smarter w-mxmnam Protected against -Balloon Tires and Snubbers—Genuine, full-sme balloons. Special balloon-type snubbers front and rear. Easy riding. Easy steering. Duco Finish—Awursnce of enduring besuty. Two-ton bination: both open and closed models. "belt—d.rusecr”oz.: of the ;e:‘. Chassis—1ow hung. 7inch frame. 125-inch wheelbase. Perfect balance. Rugged simplicity throughout. The most “get-at-able” car built. Appolntments—Every comfort and i fea would naturally expect in a fine car. Sumnlle:;:bmm i L o vyt s THE GARDNER MOTOR COMPANY, INC, ST. LOUI1S, U. S. A. B. C. R. MOTORS CO. DEALER-DISTRIBUTOR 2201 M St. N.W. Phone West 2007 In fact, this Rickenbacker Six responds to your every thought—seems as if she acts even before you have given the signal. Here is a wonderfully built car —and therefore one of wonderful capabilities. Perfect balance — marvellously accurate machining— the most advanced engineering principles. Nothing less than the quality that is designed in and built into this Rickenbacker, can guarantee a phase of performance such as this. $1995 AR it o S n&ll:-’. Water - tight wind- i | ; ook Cantitghts: Speed, more than you will ever need, for as long and as far as you will ever care to drive. Drive this Rickenbacker Six yourself —’twill be a revela- tion to you. llli 0 HOFFMAN MOTOR CO., Inc. AT THE SHOW—SPACE 29 1507 18th Street Main_ 520 J. Ogden Hoffman, Pres. Frank B. Ochsenreiter, V. P. and Sales Mgz, Open Sundays and Evenings i ; i . phaali Y = i 1 i t i