Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/945

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For Practical Workers

���Curing a Noisy Automobile Hood

MANY of the cheaper cars develop an annoying series of noises after they have been in use for a time, and most of these may be entirely eliminated by a little careful attention. The most common cause, outside of the mechanical depreciation, is looseness at the hood, as this rubs against the hood-ledge on

���Diagram showing the use of rawhide to pre- vent hood from rattling

the radiator and dash, and produces squeaking. The hood is liable to rub on the filler-board between the frame and hood side, as the frame distorts due to highway irregularities, and if the hold- down clips arc loose, the hood will rattle. A very simple method of overcoming this trouble is to remove the strip of shoe-lace or light webbing ordinarih' used on the hood-ledge and substitute for it, a good, broad, rawhide belt-lacing. The webbing is not heavy enough to keep the hood away from the ledge and soon flattens out. The rawhide is not only thicker and broader, but it is more enduring. In order to use the lacing, the small holes in the ledge-strip must

��be enlarged, w^hich can be done very easily by making a drill hole on each side of them and then punching out the metal with a chisel.

Another good way to cure hood rattle, which is unavoidable with thin gage hoods, is to run a trunk-strap over the hood as shown. This should have a series of holes for the buckle at each end, the buckles being carried by shorter straps attached on each side of the car, so the hood can be raised on either side without entirely remo\ing the strap. The strap is guided by clips riveted to the hood, the straps carrying the buckles being held down by clips fastened to the filler-boards. Much improvement can be made by inter- posing a thin strip of rubber from an old inner tube between the hood side and filler-board as show^n. The springs regularly furnished to seat the hold- down clips can also be replaced with stronger ones. — Victor Pagh.

A Long-Handled Screwdriver

ALONG-HANDLED screwdriver can be constructed in a few minutes w^ith a block of wood, a piece of 3^" pipe and a dowel K>" x }// . A slot is sawed in one end of the pipe to prevent the screwdriver from turning. The accompanying diagram illustrates the construction. Any length screw- driver may be constructed by the variation of the length of pipe usrd.

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��A screwdriver of any length can be con- structed with a block of wood, a piece of pipe and a dowel

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