The purpose of this outline of experiments is to provide a progressive series of study-units in three groups which will serve as a basis for the organization of laboratory automobile classes for beginners. The course covers a systematic introduction to the automobile mechanisms and a study of their fundamental principles. It includes practical work, dealing with manipulations, disassembling and assembling of parts, testing for and locating troubles, making adjustments, and doing minor repair work.

The actual school conditions under which automobile classes must be conducted place certain unavoidable limitations upon the organization and the methods of laboratory work. We may assume that teachers must handle at least fifteen or twenty students in a class. It is also assumed that part of the time of the course will be devoted to discussion, demonstrations, and quiz work, using as a basis one of the automobile textbooks. In the teaching of large groups in automobile laboratory work teachers frequently resort to the squad method, in which the students are instructed and quizzed as a group around the apparatus. In the use of this method students are required to answer specific lists of questions or to write reports on the work.

In order to provide for the development of self-reliance, skill, and initiative, it is desirable in the automobile course, as in other laboratory courses, to plan for as much individual experimental work as the instructor is able to supervise efficiently. In the author's classes, students are permitted to work in groups of two, but not in larger groups. Many experiments require two people for the manipulation. Individual work is required in the setting up of illustrative apparatus, in operating mechanical and electrical units, and in disassembling or operating parts of the assembled chassis. Too much emphasis upon the lecture and demonstration methods results in developing a talking acquaintance with the automobile mechanism at the expense of manipulative skill.

In regard to equipment, the course as outlined herein requires a minimum of two automobiles, - the one a Ford chassis, the other the chassis of one other typical automobile. In the author's laboratory the large automobile is kept in running condition at all times and the engine is not used for disassembling. A flexible metal hose carries the exhaust gases from the muffler to the outside of the building. The front and rear axles of both laboratory automobiles are mounted on wooden stands, permitting the wheels to revolve.

A 1 1/2 horsepower gasoline engine mounted on a hand truck is used for preliminary engine study. The laboratory is provided with both gas and direct-current electricity. The gas engine and the automobile engine may be operated either by illuminating gas or by gasoline. The materials used in the experiments of this book should be regarded merely as a minimum equipment. If necessary, automobiles and many special parts may be purchased from a dealer in used cars and used parts. They should, of course, be fairly recent models. Used machines may be cleaned with kerosene or gasoline and painted. The cost of a minimum equipment for the course is between $1,000 and $2,000.

In the author's laboratory a cabinet of twenty compartments is used for storing special parts required as Materials in the experiments. The compartments are numbered and labeled with the titles of the experiments for which they contain apparatus. An index is posted showing exactly where materials for any particular experiment may be found. Students are required to select their experiments with the approval of the instructor and they are required, at the beginning of the period, to give to the instructor a slip of paper containing their names, the date, and the title of the experiment upon which they intend to work. Students are held responsible for returning the apparatus to the proper cabinets when experiments are completed. A complete list of apparatus including cabinets with the names and addresses of dealers and manufacturers may be found on page 177.

Reference work has been included as a prominent part of the laboratory course. This provides for training in the use of the standard sources of information in connection with the manipulative and experimental exercises. A laboratory reference shelf is provided for the necessary reference books. See reference book list on page 175.