HERE and THERE By "Camshaft", July 1930

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Scouring the Crankcase.

IT is common knowledge that when a car is new the oil in the crankcase should be drained off and replenished by fresh lubricant after a few hundred miles. The reason for this, of course, is that however ” clean “. a new casting may be, there is necessarily an amount of grit and other impurities which mixes with the oil when the engine is first run and forms a mild grinding paste. If the oil is drained out, most of this abrasive goes with it and after further drainings and replenishments, the engine becomes clean.

The manufacturers of Rolls-Royce cars, I hear, employ a method which removes these impurities in the preliminary engine tests. When an engine is assembled, it is placed on a test bench and is run in, gently, under its own power (it is not ” motored ” in by external power, for this reverses the stresses). Also running of this sort is unnecessary with a Rolls, for everything is built to such limits of accuracy that the unit is perfectly free before it has fired at all. This early test is carried out for two reasons (1) to obtain a surface polish on all the working parts and (2) to scour the crankcase.

The second purpose is achieved by the simple method of lubricating the engine from the “main,” rather than. from its own crankcase. A supply tank containing hundreds of gallons of oil is connected to the engine pump and the lubricant then follows its usual course, finally draining out from the bottom of the crankcase. There is thus a continuous flow of fresh, cool oil.

Riding Manners.

An altogether new note in club life was struck recently by Lt.-Col. C. V. Holbrook, a Director of the Triumph Co. Col. Holbrook, who, in presenting a Challenge Cup to the Rugby Motor Club, suggested that, instead of being given to the successful entrant in one of the more conventional forms of competition, it should be awarded annually to the member who used his machine throughout the year in a manner likely to cause the least annoyance to other road users, residents and pedestrians. He expressed the wish that it should be called the ” Triumph Goodwill Challenge Cup.”

There is no disputing the fact that the motor-cycle, efficient as is its modern silencer, can still be driven noisily if its rider wishes to do so ; and unfortunately there are many small-minded men who appear to think that noise betokens speed and riding ability. The scheme suggested by this Director of one of our most famous motor-cycle manufacturing concerns is an ambitious one and certain difficulties in its operation are apparent. These should not be insuperable, however, and if our younger motor-cyclists—who are usually the worst offenders—became imbued with the desire to

drive quietly, rather than noisily, much of the public dislike towards motor-cyclists would soon disappear.

” Bart’s ” Mascots.

Judging by the number of cars one sees embellished with the new St. Bartholomew mascot, the appeal fund of the famous Smithfield hospital (in connection with which it is being sold), is being readily supported by all classes of motorists. One of the first purchasers was Captain Woolf Barnato, and each Bentley in the Le Mans race carried a medallion of the

Saint Captain Campbell also has one on his car, I notice. These mascots, an example of which is shown here, are very well finished and can be had in a variety of designs for prices ranging from 5s. to 30s. The styles include those for attachment to the dashboard, the radiator cap or the headlamp cross

stay and they are obtainable in pure silver, oxidized silver or enamel finish.