These Will Interest Commercial Operators, too
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Win-iota a Commercial Motor Show this year at Earls Court, the only opportunity in England of seeing the latest developments in vehicle workshop equipment and accessories is at the Motor Show which opened on Wednesday. As usual the sections of the Show dealing with these products are well supported. Most stands are well worth a visit, but because of the amount there is to see time will be at a premium for the majority of visitors, although because of the distance that will have to be travelled foot-soreness will not.
New items are generally the main interest, and therefore only those items which come into this category and have applications with commercial vehicles will be dealt with in this report.
The Transport Service Equipment Section of the Show holds as much interest for commercial vehicle users as it does for car repairers, and here there is quite a variety of interesting new items. The stand of Laycock Engineering Ltd. is worth a visit to inspect the company's new electronic fault-tracing engine analysers and fast chargers which are described on page 58 of this issue, and there are new units of the same type on other stands. Hill Equipment Ltd. is showing two types of Auto Exactor manufactured by the Morrisfield Equipment Co. of Australia. These are small13 in. by 9 in. by 8 in.—portable units which can be used for full checks of vehicle electrical systems and one of them also gives analysis of exhaust gases for carburetter adjustment. The one with the latter feature costs £114 10s. and the other costs £98 14s.
More imported tuner equipment which has recently become available in the U.K. is featured by (Iversen Buyers Ltd., this being Tunemaster equipment made by the Kal-Equip Co. of America. There is a large range of instruments, each of them doing a particular job and, besides being obtainable separately, can be had in a variety of matched sets. As an example.
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one set consisting of five Tunemaster instruments, plus a timing light, a remote starter switch, a compression tester and a set of accessories sells for £145 10s. Other recent introductions from the U.S. being shown by the same concern are Link aerials, including one for commercial vehicles, and Autopulse fuel pumps. French Radiomatic radios are also featured.
Also designed for engine testing, but this time diesels, are the Electrotak and Electrotimer which are introduced by Dunedin Engineering Co. Ltd. at the Show. The Electrotak is a tachometer designed to be inserted in the fuel line from an injector to the fuel pump and, by counting the impulses, shows the crankshaft speed on a meter. The Electrotimer is also fitted at the same point and converts the pump strokes into electrical impulses which are passed to an electronic circuit. This is linked to a Stroboscope which allows pump timing to be checked. Pump phasing can also be checked and when used in conjunction with the Electrotak, advance and retard mechanisms on fuel pumps can be checked. Another use is in checking valve timing on a petrol or diesel engine for which a pick-up is attached to a rocker arm.
A wide variety of battery chargers is to be seen at Earls Court and a firm specializing in these is F. C. Heayberd and Co. Ltd., which is showing examples
from a new range of industrial chargers that give an output of 15A and incorporate many new features, including magnetic circuit breakers.
Two concerns well known for their diesel fuel-injection servicing equipment are Merlin Engineering Co. Ltd. and Leslie Hartridge Ltd. Both have something new at the Show, Merlin featuring its Servicemaster NR.I and NR.2 injector reconditioning machines, whilst Hartridge's latest introduction is a set of t00% for overhaul and adjustment of in-line fuel pumps. Often it is a problem getting injectors out of the engine for servicing and an interesting tool for this job is the Impact Extractor which is shown by Globe and Simpson (Sheffield) Ltd. who distribute the tool. It consists of a steel shaft carrying a sliding weight and having a stop at the upper end. The shaft fits on to an adaptor which is fitted in place of the injector cap nut. To use, the adaptor and shaft are fitted to the injector and the steel weights struck against the stop.
Hand tools have a particular fascination for most people who have ever used them and there are the usual lavish displays of these. One of them is on the Britool Ltd. stand, where eight new lines are being shown. These include, as well as four mechanics' tool kits, a capstan wheel nut set, swivel wrenches, a brake adjusting wrench, and an 0.75 in. squaredrive ratchet unit. C. IL Tipping and Co. Ltd. is also featuring new tools, these being a range of Tipco sockets which
incorporate two sizes in one piece. A new item being shown by Gordon Tools Ltd. is a 0.375 in, square-drive ratchet. This tool is in chrome-vanadium steel. chromium-plated and has a retail price of £1 9s. 6d.
An improved method of fixing number plate digits to back plates is featured by Car Plates Ltd. This tool eliminates the use of clips and other fixing devices—it is a punch which fits round the protruding digit locating peg and when struck with a hammer makes four impressions in the back plate which hold the digit in place.
Two new items in the wide range of service tools shown by J. W. Pickavant and Co. Ltd. are a brake bleeder and a thread restorer. The main part of the brake bleeder is similar to a hand pump and brake fluid is drawn into the body by pulling the handle against a spring. An adaptor is fitted over the top of the brake fluid reservoir on the vehicle—this is connected to the pump by a flexible plastics tube and when the pump handle is released, pressure is applied which allows the system to be bled. The second tool consists of a set of hardened rollers covering a range of thread sizes, fitted to the parallel members of a tool similar in appearance to a tap wrench. Brake servicing and testing equipment is a speciality of J. A. Ryley Ltd. and a wide variety is being shown, but the new introduction at the Show is the J.A.R. Sidewinder. This is a retractable air hose reel different in design and appearance to the type of hose winder marketed by Ryley for many years. The hose and mechanism are fully enclosed and the winder fits flat on a wall or pillar. A 30-ft.-long hose is fitted-0.25 in. diameter bore rubber—and the roller guide prevents wear on the hose which can be pulled out over a wide arc. Net trade price of this new item is £14 14s.
Compressed air supplies the power for the latest version of the Ace tyre tool featured by Harvey Frost and Co. Ltd. The unit is designed for use on opencentre wheels from 10 in, upwards as fitted to cars and light vans. An air-thrust unit fitted to the top of the tool's pillar is fitted with a specially designed beadbreaking shoe and a flexible rim guide. The pillar is fitted with a wheel rest plate and a rim locating stop to position the tyre correctly and a thrust of up to 2,400 lb. (at 150 p.s.i. supply) can be exerted by the thrust unit to separate the most obstinate beads.
Part of the stand of E. P. Barrus (Concessionaires) Ltd. is devoted to a range of brake service equipment, including that made by the Star Machine and Tool Co. A new item here is the Star mobile Refiner Braker Shop Model 1045 which will handle all operations from de-honding or de-rivetting to final rivetting, including shoe conditioning, punching the rivet holes and countersinking. Another new machine from Star is the Fleet Master brake drum lathe which will handle drums from 6 in. to 3 ft. 6 in. diameter with a maximum drum depth of 10 in. A new range of hydraulic jacks is introduced by Applied Power Industries Inc. (U.K.) Ltd. and another important item of new equipment to be seen on the stand of this concern is the Blackhawk SpotRite One Side welder.
An important aspect of maintenance is cleaning the parts before they are worked on and cleaning the hands afterwards. An interesting stand in this connection is that of The Zenith Carburetter Co. Ltd., where the range of chemical cleaners now made in the U.K. by the concern under licence from the Bendix Corporation of America is to be seen. There are four parts cleaners for different jobs and a hand cleaner.
Cleaning floors is the purpose of one of three new machines featured by Progress (Universal) Ltd. This is the Compact. a small lightweight machine which can be used for scrubbing, cleaning, buffing and polishing floors. The other two machines are suction cleaners—the V.90 and V.50— both of which can be used either for water or dust removal.
Two new high-pressure steam cleaners are featured by Kismet Ltd., the MiniCleaner Industrial Model and the Ever Ready Industrial Model. As well as these, Kismet is showing the new TokheimKismet Commercial petrol pump, which is priced at £145, a newly designed portable chassis lubricator and a new four-post lift. The new lift has a maximum load capacity of 2.25 tons, which can be raised in 48 sec. to its maximum height. It is designed for vehicle servicing at two levels with the wheel-free position provided for. It is said that a vehicle can be driven onto the platform and made whcelfree in 90 sec using two operators. The specification includes chain-driven screws, each pair being operated by a 3 h.p. motor with gear unit.
Linked with maintenance are the Hermetite jointing compounds made by The Kenilworth Manufacturing Co. Ltd. A new product featured by this concern —Hermetite Autogel 2--is a non-setting jointing paste and has been developed to meet the needs for a jointing medium which is resistant to mineral oils and motor car fuels in applications requiring gap-filling properties together with easybreak characteristics. Painting can also be classed as maintenance, and until this year there has been very little in the way of major changes in the types of paint available. Now, however, there is the introduction of Acrylic lacquers, and although these are not at the moment applied to commercials, there is every reason to suppose that eventually they will be used on commercial vehicle bodywork, particularly on passenger vehicles, I.C.L Paints Division is featuring its Acrylic Car Finishes which have been adopted by Vauxhall Motors Ltd. for its 1963-64 car models. Finishes based on Acrylic resins have an excellent gloss and colour retention but there is doubt in some quarters of their advantages over low-bake enamels previously used by Vauxhall. LC!. is now also marketing low-bake enamels which require only low-temperature stovine rooms and for re-finishing cars finished in Acrylic lacquer,I.C.I. has developed an air-drying system based on the original body finish. Providing the correct priming and undercoating paints are used, these can be used generally by bodybuilders.
Two other paint manufacturers are showing Acrylic re-finishing lacquers— Docker Bros. and General and Industrial Paints Ltd. The latter company is showing panels finished in its new Giperyl Acrylic Car Enamel, whilst Docker Bros. is showing, in addition to the acrylics, Flowline (cellulose/synthetic) half hour enamels, new improved refinishing enamels, and Cellusol Bare Metal Stopper, a cellulose stopper.
In general, the major interest in the accessory section of a motor show is in the prospect of developments intended for motor cars which will eventually find uses on commercial vehicles. This is the case with the electronic alternator control —Model 4TR—shown by Joseph Lucas Ltd. This has been developed for use in conjunction with all Lucas alternators and is said to be the first electronic alternator control incorporating silicone semi-conductor devices to become, commercially available in the world. Two transistors and two diodes are incorporated and the advantages of the control are increased reliability, as there are no moving parts; greater stability in output control; ability to operate at high ambient temperatures and that the unit is smaller and lighter than the vibrating-contact electromagnetic devices previously employed for the control of alternators. The action of the Model 4TR is similar to these, but switching is achieved by transistors, whilst a Zener diode provides voltage reference in place of the voltage coil and tension spring system. Internal connections for the control are by a printed circuit Now without the word India in its name, The Avon Rubber Co. Ltd. is exhibiting another item which is likely eventually to be applied to commercial vehicles, this being the New Safety Tyre. The tyre is already available in all popular sizes—this includes sizes for vans—and is made with,a new polymer to give an extra high-adhesion tread rubber. Only the tread is made with this high-adhesion rubber—also called super cling, high hysteresis and low bounce rubber—the undertread and sidewalls being of a highly resilient rubber to promote cool running.
Five new items are introduced by the Slip Group of companies. Of these, one is a grease gun and a remote pump which fits on thc top of standard 7 lb. grease containers. Known as the Mini-Lube Grease Gun, pressure is built up in the container by operating a plunger in the pump and this allows about 30 points to be greased. A maximum pressure of 10,000 p.s.i. is produced at the gun and a larger model, the Super Lube, to fit a 28 lb. grease tin, is also available. Other new products are Slip A11-5, claimed to stop leaks, prevent corrosion and lubricate the water pump; Slip No-ice, which prevents ice and frost forming on windscreens and can also be used to remove ice if this has formed, and Slip Lock Oil, a non-freezing chemical for de-icing door handles and so on. The fifth alteration to the Slip range is the introduction of 1 lb. tins and 3 oz. tubes of Copaslip antiseize compound.
One of the two latest versions of its steering lock anti-theft devices shown by Waso Ltd. is designed for diesel-engined vehicles and incorporates the engine stop control in the lock mechanism, so making it impossible for the driver to stop the engine without automatically locking the steering. This is the Series 300, the other lock being the Series 800 which has a more robust design and is easier to operate than the unit which it will eventually replace, the Series 600_
In the lighting field, probably the most important item at the Motor Show is the introduction of all-glass sealed-beam headlamp units by Philips Electrical Ltd. These are described on page 42 of this issue.
Butlers Ltd. is featuring two new auxiliary lamps, the Clearway matched fog and spot lamps; type 1684A is the fog and type 1684B is the spot lamp. Both have a lens diameter of 5.875 in., whilst the overall depth dimension is 2-375 in. and the distance from the bolt centre to the back of the lamps is 0-6875 in. The bodies are of brass, chromium plated and the bulb with either is a 12 V, 48 w. The retail price in each case is £3.
B50 New auxiliary lamps of a similar size, the Slimline Drive and Fog Lamps, are featured by Remax Electrical Ltd. These have brass bodies, chromium plated, and the bottom fixing bracket is of stainless steel. Retail price is £2 18s. 6d. each. Other introductions by Remax are a reversing lamp and an illuminated reverse-lamp switch, priced at El 9s. 6d. and 9s. 6d. respectively, and the Remax Pheutron flasher unit, in which the flashing action is controlled by an electro-air operation. One model covers 6, 12 and 24 V and the price is 13s. 9d. retail.
Three of four new items introduced by Wipac Group Sales Ltd. at the Show are in the concern's range of lighting equipment. These are the Wipac Space-lite interior light for cars and vans, the Search Knight mobile hand lamp and the Wipac Mini parking lamp, which is a gutter-mounted unit designed for the B.M.C. range of Mini vehicles. The fourth new product is the Battery Supercharger, which can be used on either 6 or 12 V batteries and gives a charge of 3 to 4 amp. Barnacle Ltd. is also featuring a new parking lamp. It fits over the top of the window glass and is available in two sizes—one 2.875 in. overall, costing 7s. 6d., and one 4 in. overall, priced at 9s. I ld. Also introduced by the concern at the Show is the Barnacle MultiOutlet Connector Box which has five outlets suitable for fitting with standard push-on spade connectors. The price of this item is 6s. 9d. Switches are the new items featured by D. H. Bonnella and Son Ltd., these being Bonne two and three position switches.
Still on the electrical side of vehicles, Oldham and Son Ltd. is making a feature of its new Red Top and Lively-0 batteries and Park Bros. Ltd. is showing its batteries with an improved design of container for the more popular sizes. To prevent the theft of batteries, V. C. Saunders Ltd. has a new battery lock. This is a simple fitting which fits in place of the original retaining clips and there is a bar running across the top of the battery cover. Models suitable for all light vans are available and the retail price is 10s. 64
Aeon Products (London) Ltd. is showing for the first time in Europe the Aeon Mallory Transistor Ignition kit. This is suitable for any coil-ignition system (it is available for 6 or 12 V) and the advantages claimed for it include greater input current and higher constant output volt
age, long life for the distributor contacts, easy starting and trouble-free operation under all conditions and that it is simple, compact, easily installed and provides a low-cost ignition system. The full range of products made by Bosch Ltd. is featured, including 'the Bosch K 1 alternator, which will shortly be available as a replacement for many vehicles at about £40. Output is 35 amp.
Not new, but of interest, will be Autolite sparking plugs and accessories which are now fitted as original equipment on Ford vehicles and are being marketed in the U.K. by the exhibitors, Autocar Electrical Equipment Co. Ltd.
With winter coming on, there will be interest in the new Warnomatic icewarning device shown by Kenlowe Accessories and Co. Ltd. This is designed to be fitted to the front of vehicles to indicate to the driver the presence of probable icy road conditions. The unit incorporates the Kenlowethermal temperature switch and is priced at £4 17s. 6d. Also for the winter is a product shown by Trico-Folberth Ltd., this being Trico Dc-leer, which is sold in a 16 oz. aerosol can or 6 oz. plastic squeeze bottle and will clear windscreens, windows and locks of ice and frost. Trico-Folberth is also showing anti-freeze solvent for windscreen washers to prevent the formation of ice on the screen, and SR-12 AntiSmear, which is suitable for cleaning traffic smear from windscreens and is also suitable for cleaning windscreen wiper blades. Another interesting item is the Neiman Lock, for which the concern has taken over the U.K. manufacturing rights. In Germany, insurance companies are said to offer reduced premiums to those who fit the lock.
Singleand twin-bowl filters from its new FH series are featured by Simms Motor Units Ltd. On the single-bowl model, the element is a high-density paper, impregnated with a plastics resin _ and compressed into a pleated cartridge. The-twin-bowl version is similar in design to the single-bowl model, except that a common head casting carries the two bowls, the fuel flowing in series through the two. The first removes fibrous and coarse particles before final filtration in the second part.
On many stands in addition to those referred to there will be items of interest. This applies in the case of the Triplex Safety Glass Co. Ltd. stand where the company is showing for the first time its recently developed "bonded windscreens ". Instead of being fitted in the usual maner—in rubber mouldings— the screen is placed directly on to the metal of the vehicle body and bonded to the metal, using a form of polysulphide rubber said to have great strength and flexibility. There are also interesting items on the stand of Firth Cleveland Fastenings Ltd., where a new range of Cleveloc self-locking nuts is featured, and that of Farnborough Engineering Co. Ltd., where exhaust valves in a new material —21-4N — are shown. Farnborough has been granted an exclusive licence to make Tranco valves in 21-4N.