EQUIPMENT AND ACCESSORIES
With every car are furnished all the things required for operation,
including lamps, tire pump, jack, tire-repair kit, a variety of
wrenches to fit all nuts and bolts, oil can, set of spark plugs
and generally an extra one; hammer, screw driver, cold chisel,
magneto-adjusting wrench, and some other things, varying with the car.
There are any number of additions which may be made in the way of
tools, or of devices which some motorists deem desirable. Some of these
things are a speedometer, a clock, trouble lamp attachable to a socket
on the dash, a mirror to enable the driver to see what is going on
back of him (compulsory in New Jersey and some other States), cigar
lighters, foot warmers, and elaborate lights for the limousine. The
owner is cautioned, however, against loading up his battery with a lot
of electrical devices which use up current very fast. Not so as to
tools; one may err in having too few rather than too many.
While it is true that a woman with a hairpin and a piece of string
can fix almost anything under the sun, the autoist would better not
trust to his wife’s ingenuity, but be a little better prepared for
the emergencies of the road. It does not do any good to know what the
matter is when the car balks unless one has the tools and material to
do the necessary repair work or adjustment.
Every new car is equipped with certain tools, but some owners have no
interest in these tools and lose most of them in a short time, so that
when needed they are missing, while other owners add sufficient tools
to equip a good-sized machine shop.
A wise selection of tools for the car will provide everything at all
likely to be needed on tour, and yet capable of being packed in such
a compact space that it does not become an annoyance through the room
occupied, nor weigh down the car. The special tools furnished should be
preserved with great care, because nothing else fills the bill quite
so well. To these might be added some few tools and parts not needed
often, but when they are, their absence is a source of delay and is
temper-provoking.
Recently the author was asked to go about fifty miles into the country
to bring in a machine which had refused to run and had been stored in a
barn over night. He found that the interrupter points had become glazed
so that no spark was being procured. A special file is manufactured for
the particular purpose of cleaning off these points. As one of these
was not in the car, it was necessary to disassemble the spark timer
completely, take out the points, and then find a piece of flat hard
stone upon which the points could be cleaned. This did the work all
right, but much time could have been saved if the interrupter point
file had been carried in the car.
Likewise no wrench was available for adjusting the points and it was
necessary to go to a nearby blacksmith shop and saw out a temporary
wrench for the purpose. Word has come from France to the National War
Work Council of the Y. M. C. A. that one of their supply cars serving
the huts in the trenches was laid up nine days for the lack of a small
magneto wrench.
Many an owner has had the experience of being caught out on the road
by a storm and having to put on non-skid chains. How often have they
found that, though these chains were in good condition when leaving
the garage and when they were put on, after running awhile over rough
roads at a fair speed, some of the links wore through and began to
thrash against the mud guards. This is not only annoying, but often
does real damage to the guards. Most owners have stopped more than once
to wire the loose ends to the side chains to stop the banging, and it
certainly would be more satisfactory to carry a supply of links and
a chain tool so that the broken ends could be removed and new links
inserted.
Of course, the loose ends can be pried off with a screw driver and new
links pounded fast with a hammer, but you will have to remove the chain
to do it and it takes time, and much exasperation can be saved by using
the proper tool.
A folding pail is very useful, especially when one has to go up very
long hills and finds that the water in the radiator has boiled away.
The cooling systems for automobile engines to-day are very efficient
and it is only in exceptional cases that the water will boil out of the
radiator, and that is just the reason why an occurrence of that sort is
disastrous, because one is not expecting it and is not prepared for it.
In sandy country and on dirt roads one often will have occasion to jack
up a wheel to change a tire, and will find that the jack sinks into
the loose sand or dust instead of lifting the car. A block of wood an
inch thick and about six inches wide and a foot long will be found a
big help under such circumstances. Many drivers also have had to use
a fence rail to jack up a car because some one borrowed the jack from
the car and neglected to return it. Even though tire trouble is not
expected, it is well to make sure there is a jack in the car and also a
handle for the jack. The jack is more often found than the handle.
Working about an automobile means a lot of grease and grime on the
hands, and possibly oil or grease upon parts of the car, so that it is
well to carry a small bag of waste or rags. If the grease or dirt prove
obstinate, a little gasoline, drawn from the drain cock at the bottom
of the carburetor, will cut it and enable you to clean the hands fairly
well.
It is a good idea to have a three-in-one or similar tire-valve tool
with which it is possible to remove the valve plunger, cut threads in
the valve stem so that the plunger may be properly seated, and cut
threads on the outside of the stem so that the cap will screw down
tight. In some cases where the valve stem is battered in changing a
tire, air cannot be gotten into the tire if these threads are damaged.
Many persons object to carrying a tow rope for fear it will be
understood that they have doubts of their ability to get home under
their own power; but in addition to affording a connection to some
other source of power, a tow rope may be used to help a brother in
distress and is superior to chains in very sandy or muddy places, when
wrapped about the tire.
An extra set of electric-light bulbs may save considerable trouble and
annoyance, because the traffic policemen to-day will accept no excuse
when at least one light is not burning.
If you do not take your wife’s first-aid kit—the shoestring and
hairpin—you had better be provided with a spool of soft iron wire, the
ordinary stovepipe wire. It is wonderful how many little temporary
repair jobs may be done with its aid. Some drivers like to have a small
hank of strong twine also.
There are many other things which might be added to the list of useful
things to have along for emergency, all of which may be stowed in the
tool box or under a seat. They may not be needed once a year—perhaps
never—but like the insurance policy, when you do need a tool you need
it pretty badly.
AUTOMOBILE FIRST-AID KIT.
1. Wrench for adjusting ignition interrupter points.
2. File for cleaning above points.
3. One set of ignition brushes. (In box labeled.)
4. Several extra spark plugs, cleaned and adjusted ready to use.
5. Tow rope.
6. Half-dozen valve plungers for inner tubes.
7. Three-in-one tire-valve tool.
8. Tire pressure gauge.
9. Jack and handle. (Be sure about the handle.)
10. Squirt can full of oil.
11. Voltmeter, or hydrometer, for testing battery.
12. Box of assorted nuts.
13. Box of assorted cotter pins.
14. Box of assorted cap screws.
15. Box of assorted washers.
16. Spool of copper wire and one of soft iron wire.
17. Full set of electric-light bulbs.
18. Bag of clean waste or rags.
19. Two blocks of wood, 6″ × 12″ × 1″.
20. Full set of fuses—if fuses are used.
21. Folding pail.
22. Chain tool and several cross links.
The nuts, cap screws, washers, and cotter pins of regular
assortment and packed in boxes are carried by supply stores. These
and several of the other articles may be packed in a cigar box for
stowing away.