Page:Motors and motor-driving (1902).djvu/125

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THE MOTOR STABLE AND ITS MANAGEMENT
93

with soap and soda for use again. A common quality of woolly waste should also be employed, simply for mopping up oil, not for cleaning purposes. It is undesirable to store a large quantity of oily waste for fear of spontaneous combustion. Sponge cloths are a desirable accessory for cleaning and for polishing up. The panels of the carriage should be cleaned with good chamois leather. Inferior qualities will scratch the varnish. The various brushes, &c. required for cleaning are much the same as with a horse-drawn carriage. A great economy is effected by having a separate receptacle for old dirty oil, to be used only for cleaning purposes. Care must taken that oil does not fall on any part of the pneumatic or solid rubber tyres, as it soon destroys the rubber. Boiled linseed oil is an excellent material for getting up the varnish, and petroleum sold under the name of kerosene will work wonders on varnish work and enamelled metal when all other means fail.

To keep a carriage in good order continual touching up is essential, not only where little chips of paint have been broken off, but also on the engine to give it a respectable appearance. No better material exists in the way of general paints than the Griffiths' enamels, which dry almost immediately, and are acid and heat proof and very hard. The black enamel is well suited for the over-heated portions of the engine, since it keeps its colour, unless the metal is brought to a red heat. Many kinds of aluminium paint have been tried for engines, and the majority have been found wanting. The paint which meets with perfect success in all respects is that made by Messrs. Ripolin of Paris. It is expensive, but the material goes a long way. The paint is used extensively abroad for the purpose indicated, and for decoration. With aluminium paint it is always desirable to give a final coat of Griffiths' transparent varnish. This will enable the owner to wash his engine at any time without in any way altering its appearance from that of being brand-new.

It is fatal to fold up the air-tubes and covers of the