Page:Motors and motor-driving (1902).djvu/267

Rh To Change a Cover.—Remove the inner tube, then detach the winged nuts and take out the bolts. Pass a lever not only under the detached edge of the cover but also beneath the one opposite, as in fig. 14. Depress the lever, and pull the cover forwards. As soon as about eight inches of cover have been levered off, the rest can be removed with the hands.

Replacing a Cover.—In this operation the beaded edge on the far side must first be fixed, care being taken to have the notch exactly opposite the valve hole, and that the cover does not pucker in one part and stretch in another. Insert the bolts in turn, holding up the cover as in fig. 10. Then replace the air-chamber as ante.

Bursts.—Bursts of the air-chamber, if not more than four or five inches long, may be repaired in the same way as a puncture, using a very wide patch, however, and affixing it with extreme care. A large burst in the outer cover may be temporarily repaired by solutioning to the lining a specially stout patch made of two thicknesses of canvas with an insertion of vellum. The cover may also require to be laced up with a large bandage of leather. As soon as possible, however, the tyre should be sent to the factory.

Watch the winged nuts, and keep them always tightly screwed to the rims.

Wash the tyres occasionally with petrol, and examine for cuts. If deep, insert a piece of rubber and fix with solution. If the cuts have gone completely through, plug with cotton wool, and reline the cover with canvas where required. The older the tyre the more carefully must it be watched, and probable bursts prevented by interior reinforcements.

Never drive with a tyre deflated.

Scrupulously keep all wet from percolating into any part of the tyre. Whenever necessary re-enamel the rim and spoke-heads.