Apr. 1, 1012 



COST OF RUNNING A SIX-YEAR-OLD REO 



BY E. J. ADKISSON 



1 have a Reo two-cylinder touring car of 

 20 horse power. It has seats for five passen- 

 gers, but the rear seat is removable by loos- 

 ening two thumb-nuts. A "wagon box" 

 can be quickly put on in its stead. The box 

 is 38 inches wide, 48 long, and 30 deep. It 

 was made especially for hauling bees, hives, 

 supers, and other things pertaining to bee- 

 keeping; but we find that it has many other 

 uses. We use it for carrying any kind of 

 light freight up to four or five hundred 

 l)ounds. Freight shipments of supplies 

 from the depot, twelve miles distant, and 

 pigs from a neighbor's place four or five 

 miles away, may be mentioned as having 

 been carried by auto in that box. It will 

 hold twelve hives of bees without crowding; 

 but when bees are moved in this manner, 

 both slow and careful driving are necessary. 

 The machine however will not " run away, " 

 no matter how many angry bees are flying 

 and stinging. I can hardly say as much 

 for the " shofer," however. 



We have used the old Reo for many bus- 

 iness and pleasure trips to Nashville. While 

 the car is far from being up to date in ap- 

 pearance, it has a good motor, pulling up 

 the hills very nicely, and gives as much 

 speed on the level as the condition of our 

 roads will allow. There are usually only 

 two passengers, in which case the tonneau 

 is replaced by a covered box or deck. The 

 box is ten inches deep at the front, sloping 

 to eight inches at the rear. It covers the 

 whole tonneau space, 35x35 inches. It is 

 fitted with a removable top or lid, having 

 lock and key. We find this box a great 

 convenience in carrying small wares such 

 as eggs, butter, extracted honey, etc., to 

 market, and bringing home small purchases 

 from Nashville and West Nashville. This 

 old car has been in use six seasons, and is 

 still in good condition and in good running 

 order. The upkeep expense to 1910 was 

 about $50 or $55 per year. Of course, this 

 does not include the cost of gasoline and 

 lubricating oil, but does include every thing 

 else — even the tire expense. 



In 1910 I had to have a new trasmission 

 and water-tank put in, and also bought four 

 Kimball steel tire-cases, a driving chain, 

 one new tire, four inner tubes, tire-holder 

 irons, horn bulb, tire-cover, tire-liners, tire- 

 repair outfit, etc., amounting all together, 

 including repairmen's and vulcanizer's 

 charges, to about $200. 



For 1911 my expenses, outside of gasoline, 

 grease, oil, and dry batteries, were practical- 

 ly nothing. 



THE TIRE PHOBLEM. 



VoT l!tl2 the upkeep expense should be 

 very light, as I do practicallv all of my ad- 

 justing and minor repairing. Two things 

 of value that I have learned are that, with 

 acid and cement jiroperly used, an inner 

 tube repair can be made that will hold as 

 long as the tube lasts, and that a few drops 



of sulphuric ether on a sponge placed in the 

 carburetor intake will cause a motor to start 

 on the coldest morning with very little 

 cranking. I have taken an old tire, three 

 or four years old, apparently rotten and 

 worthless, having suffered a blow-out and 

 rim-cutting; had the blow-out vulcanized, 

 put in an interlock inner tire around the 

 tube, a Kimball steel case over the outside, 

 and have run it for fifteen hundred miles 

 without puncture or blowout. New tires at 

 that time were selling at a frightfully high 

 price. Considering the prices at which 

 good tires can now be bought, it probably 

 does not pay to bother with old tires after 

 they once blow out. For some time there 

 has been a discussion in the columns of 

 Motor Age as to whether or not it pays to 

 have tires retreaded and blow-outs vulcan- 

 ized. The general censensus of opinion 

 seems to be that the same amount of money 

 invested in the purchase of new tires is 

 more satisfactory than having old tires re- 

 paired. Of course, there are exceptions. 

 One is that of a new tire, or at any rate a 

 good one. that has been cut by running over 

 a broken bottle. Such a tire should certain- 

 ly be repaired. It all depends upon the con- 

 dition of the fabric of the tire and the skill 

 of the repairer. A poor job of vulcanizing 

 will ruin a good tire, while the utmost skill 

 in vulcanizing can not restore a fabric that 

 is rotten or worn out. It pays big to keep 

 the small cuts in the tread rubber repaired, 

 so that water, sand, and mud can not reach 

 the fabric. There are various compounds 

 sold for filling such cuts; but it is probably 

 best to use one of the small vulcanizers 

 which are made especially for such work and 

 for repairing inner tubes. 



A friend of mine, a commercial traveler, 

 is using, on his Hupmobile runabout, clinch- 

 er tires 30x3 iinches, for which he pays 

 $10.60 each. He is going all the time, mak- 

 ing from 25 to 125 miles a day, and states 

 that these "cheap" tires are giving him a 

 mileage of about eight thousand miles per 

 set. He is a great believer in hard pum] ed 

 tires, keeping them inflated to even a few 

 more pounds pressure than is usually rec- 

 ommended for tires of that size. 



FRICTION TRANSMISSION BETTER THAN 

 GBABS. 



I am a regular subscriber to and reader of 

 two of the leading automobile magazines; 

 and the more I learn about rcotor cars, the 

 more I am convinced that a car having a 

 friction transmission is more satisfactory 

 than one having a gearbox and clutch. It 

 is generally known that the change-speed 

 gears, the clutch, and the propeller shaft 

 with its connections, such as bevel gears, 

 universal joints, bearings, etc.. are a fre- 

 quent source of trouble— especially if these 

 parts have had considerable use and ae 

 pretty well worn. A breakdown involving 

 any of these parts is likely to occur far from 

 home, and with little or no advance warn- 

 ing. The car must be " towed in to the 

 repair shop. lOxpensive new parts '"ust he 

 ordered from a factory which usually tills 



