MAKING BEST USE OF THE FORD.
Page 51
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Valuable Advice on Every Phase of Ford Transport which will Appeal
to the Owner, Driver and Repairer.
569.—A Repair to a Driver's Cab.
A ton truck which had received very hard usage at the owner' hands was brought into .a repair shop for an overhaul. . Amongst other troubles, • the driver's cab was in a very sorry condition. The, seat front had broken away for the entire depth a few inches from the near-side door. As. this component serves to brace the cab sides, as well as serving as a seat front and floorboard, the sides of the cab, deprived of the bracing effect, had also broken away. The vibration had loosened the other bolts and screws, until the whole cab rocked from side to side at the slightest touch.
For a start, the seat front with the two flat-steel stays and the two sheetsteel sections which serve as toolboxes were removed. All screws and bolts were then tightened up and larger bolts and screws substituted where the holes bad become unduly enlarged through vibration. Incidentally, for effectively tightening the screws a screwdriver bit in a carpenter's brace is to be recommended.
The satisfactory repair of the seat front was the main difficulty.' This part is not included in the parts list, and as time was pressing it was not feasible to. get into touch with the factory. The fracture was, therefore, welded together, but as the metal is very thin it was felt that to rely upon the weld alone to hold it would not be safe.
A length of strip iron 4 ft. by 1 in. by in. was bolted behind the top of the seat front, using the two existing bolts and nuts I hrough the two doorposts. The broken-away sides were jacked and cramped up close to the doorpoets and two more /-in. holes were drilled through the cab sides and the iron strip and. bolted together, washers being used as packing behind the sides. Two more lengths of theiron strip, each 5 ins. long, wet% bolted from the door-post to the sides of the cab, ising the existing door-catch-plate bolts on the door-posts.
This made a satisfactory, neat-looking job, which has held the cab together for the past six mouths.
570.—A Cause of Difficult Starting and Uneven Running.
Some causes of erratic running and difficult starting are quite simple in themselves, but most elusive to trace. Such a fault is looseness of the carburetter needle which controls the size of the jet orifice. This needle, which is actuated from the dash, passes through a nut in which there are two saw cuts, the not being sprung on to the needle with the object of securing it at any desired position. After some time, however, wear develops and the needle is then permitted to vibrate in the jet.
To effect a cure, remove the nut and nip the head in a vice so that the saw cuts close in, then try the needle for fit. If still too loose open out the cuts with a hacksaw and squeeze the bead a little mere.
After refitting the needle and nut. screw the needle as far as it will go and then withdraw it one and a quarter turns. Another way is to start the engine, run it at a good speed and then screw the needle down until the engines begin to slow down, after which back the needle for a quarter of a turn.
571.—Reconditioning the Ford Front Axle.
In a letter from a reader he says :— "In paragraph No. 566.in your page entitled 'Making Best Use of the Ford,' you give a fairly comprehensive account of the above repair, but there are a few points on which I should. like to give My experience. "Concerning the wearing of connecting7rod yoke-ends, I have found that the insertion of a washer between the bead of the spindle and the top of the yoke-end enables wear to be taken up, with the added advantage that subsequent wear can be taken up by tightening the spindle, giving a nicety of adjustment. I have the original yoke ends in use on a Ford, nearly six years old, by adopting this method.
"Before replacing the spring, I recommend the fitting of a new pad (No. ,823, price 8d.), old pads being the cause of upper-leaf breakages, "Owing to the radius rods continually working loose, in spite. of new spring perches and nuts, I fitted new radius rods and perches,. as used on drop-frame models, the parts required being: One only No. 2,733 D.F. at 10e., one only No. 3,818 D.P. at 3s., one only No. 3,819 D.F. at 3s., and two No. 2,507 at 6d., since when I have had no trouble whatever.
"Below is a recipe for curing slight leaks in radiators at a cost of 111. per radiator.
" Obtain a tablet of Colter from a chemist, or the maker, F. MeClellau, 100, Cromer Street, King's Cross,. W.C., at a cost of 344., which is sufficient for four radiators. Full instructions for use are given on the carton."
572.—Useful Scrapped Parts.
A flywheel magnet, from a set that has
been discarded for one reason or another, can be made useful in a variety of ways if it has been "flashed up." • It is excellent for retrieving small steel . parts that have been dropped in awkward places, a rule laid along one of the arms making a handy extension to get into otherwise inaccessible places. For picking up filings or drillings it is ideal. Small steel screws, washers, nuts, etc., from a magneto, or similar small parts can be held safely, without risk of loss if they be hung on to the.
magnet. .Split-pins, washers, ball • bearings, etc., which sooner or later get turned over an the floor, can be picked up quicker with the magnet than they • can by hand.
The soleeoid coil frem a scrapped coil unit is another useful part to keep handy. Coupled to a battery, prekrably with a lamp in series, it becomes a fairly pewerful -electric magnet,, and dropped parts, in otherwise inaccessible positions, that will not respond to the pull of the permanent magnet will generally respond to this.
Owing to its different shape it can be introduced to places impossible to the permanent magnet, and can often retrieve an accidentally dropped part.
Old spindle bolts and valve stems can be converted into serviceable punches, etc. Scrapped road and drive shafts make useful pinch bars for heavy work. It should be remembered that Ford steel is of very high quality,, and that road shafts and similar parts will provide useful stock for turning up small bolts, pins, etc., that may be required for odd jobs.