Fuel and Filters

This Willy’s Whippet is a 1928 model but is almost identical to the one my dad had that was made in 1927 (although it was a different colour) and I got my driver’s licence in it at 16 with a police man as my examiner. They were great vehicles and anyone could repair them provided they had a screwdriver and a shifting spanner. These army Jeeps were also designed by the Willys company in the U.S.A. they were a legend during the 2^nd World War at the conclusion of which I bought one

that had been manufactured in 1942. It has a side valve motor, very similar to the Willys “Whippet”. Their engines showed signs of wear (like blowing blue smoke out their exhaust) sooner than the modern cars because the Whippet had no air or oil filters at all. Whilst the army Jeep only had an oil bath air cleaner that allowed some dust through

and had a partial flow oil filter that didn’t clean the oil thoroughly either, (like all cars of that era). Whereas this 2017 model Jeep Wrangler (pictured) has an excellent air filter and a full-flow oil filter, as all modern cars now have, and that prevents all foreign matter from harming the engine.

In order for an engine to start (for those who don’t know), the piston on its downward stroke sucks a mixture of air and petrol through the carburettor into its combustion chamber, the valves then close, and the piston on its upward stroke, compresses the mixture and when it is about to go down again the sparkplug makes a spark which ignites the petrol vapour causing an explosion that pushes the piston down, and that movement turns the crankshaft and the engine is started.  Under dusty conditions, and on unsealed roads dust entered these old engines with the air that was sucked in through the carburettor and caused wear, and that dust, together with carbon from the combustion chamber, contaminated the oil in the sump too and it became abrasive, so it was no wonder these engines showed signs of wear sooner than the modern ones that filter out all those contaminants. The modern ones don’t have carburettors either but use fuel injection instead, however they still have to take air into their combustion chambers just as the old ones did. This also applies to diesel engines that have no sparkplugs but ignite their fuel by extreme heat caused by very high compression.

 In a recent article I wrote about how God expects us to filter out of our lives those things that contaminate our minds and bodies (2 Corinthians Chapter 6 Verses 17 & 18 & Chapter 7 Verse 1), or they will degrade us in a similar manner to the way a lack of filtering can damage a car engine, like the Whippet. Even “Partial” filtering (as in the Army Jeep) isn’t good enough, and “partial cleaning” when applied to our lives will not satisfy God’s requirements either, as laid out in the New Testament. A good definition of “clean” would be “a complete absence of dirt” which is something to aim at because anything less is just not clean, and that applies as much to a human mind as to an engine.

Those early cars used petrol containing lead, which helped to “lubricate” the valve stems, However, lead is also a poison that is detrimental to brain development and the exhaust fumes from cars also contain other harmful gases.  Therefore, Governments legislated to ban leaded petrol and make the car manufacturers comply, by fitting catalectic converters and other forms of exhaust filtering, to protect the public and the environment. There is a parallel here to what God expects of us: sure it is great if we clean up our lives by not watching immoral T.V. and D.V.Ds etc. but we are also expected to be pro-active in endeavouring to help others. After all, if we “Love our neighbours as we love ourselves” (Jesus second commandment), then we should spread the good news that Jesus died for us and therefore God offers forgiveness for sin to all those who turn to Him. The more people who hear that message the better, as they may then see the necessity of filtering out the hindrances in their lifestyles, so that they too can inherit eternal life.

Happy “filtering,” good “witnessing”, and safe “motoring”, Best wishes, Tom.