The carpenter who does his work without plans usually is dubbed a “wood butcher.” The inference is that the man who would care for his automobile should learn to do it in a systematic way, according to rule, doing everything always the same way and in the same order. Thus the labor becomes a habit and is performed quickly and easily. At the same time habit must not be allowed to become a rut; the owner must preserve originality and initiative, and native ingenuity is invaluable.
Particularly it is wise to avoid the idea that at the first sign of something wrong one knows just what the trouble is. Probably no one thing has caused more unnecessary work and unnecessary expletive than jumping at a conclusion. Have a rule and go by it. Under the chapter relating to troubles there will be found a rule for locating them. It does not matter so much where one starts if it is followed through when started. Experience will lead one in time to select the starting point, either under the heading ignition, or gasoline, or other heading, the symptoms indicating generally to the experienced ear what is the matter; but there is so much chance of error in this guess that the rule must be remembered and closely followed.
It takes three things to start a gas engine running: gasoline in the proper mixture, compression, and ignition. To keep it running we must add a lubricating and a cooling system. There must also be free exhaust for burned gases. While there are many phases of each, it is necessary for the owner to get these things fixed in his, mind first. Everything else is extraneous.
There is something else to avoid. Avoid giving offense to the policeman on the street, and avoid running away if you have had an accident or are hailed by the traffic man. It does not pay, and will make added trouble, unless you are as fortunate in explanations as was a fellow who was caught by the officer in front of the Automobile School. He had hit someone and instead of stopping as the law provided, he gave a hasty look, saw no policeman, and shot ahead, turning the next corner. He dodged in and out of several streets, not seeing the motorcycle policeman chasing him. When caught and stopped he was asked why he was running away.
“Me running away?” he asked. “I was not running away, I was just trying to find a cop to report the accident.”
It worked that time, but it is not safe to trust the expedient under other circumstances.
CHAPTER III
WHAT AN AUTOMOBILE IS
It matters not whether one call it an automobile, a tin lizzie, a gas wagon, or what not, it consists of a steel frame upon which are mounted wheels, an engine, appliances for connecting the engine to the driving wheels, a fuel supply tank, a system for producing ignition at the right moment, and appliances for regulating the speed of the engine and the direction of the car. A seat for the driver and sundry pedals and levers are needed to accomplish speed and steering control, and sundry other parts have their place, but the above covers in a general way the necessities of an automobile.
An automobile, as the name suggests, is a car which contains its own propelling force and to which it is not necessary to hitch a horse, or steam engine, or something else to make it go. This in spite of the fact that occasionally it is necessary to hitch something else to an auto to make it go.
The assembly, generally speaking, consists of the chassis, corresponding to the running gear of a wagon; the engine, mounted on the chassis; and the body.