From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Scheme for mounting the dashboard and floorboards to insulate them from the chassis frame, reducing noise and movement.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 132\3\ scan0176 | |
| Date | 23th April 1938 | |
| -2- Da{Bernard Day - Chassis Design}/Ev.{Ivan Evernden - coachwork}4/N.23.4.38 Cont'd.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} The benefits of this scheme are that when finally fitted up the dashboard and the front floorboards will be part of the body insulated from the chassis frame. The floorboards, the body, and the steering column will move together, so that no relative movement will be between the steering wheel, floorboards, and the driver. There should be less transmission of road and chassis noise to the body, as the dashboard and floorboards are not rigidly attached to the frame. Because the floatex mounting at the front end of the body has been moved forward to the dashboard as the dashboard support, there has been no increase in cost or weight from this item. In mounting the body, because the dashboard is flexibly mounted, it can always be made to fit up to the scuttle, to which it is rigidly attached, and no packing will be required. Because the dashboard has nothing to do with the bonnet support, the same dashboard can be used on B.III and B.50 or for any other bonnet and radiator that we may desire to fit to this frame. As the bonnet rests on the body at the rear end there will be no visible relative movement between the back end of the bonnet and the body, and the fitting of the bonnet can be controlled by the coachbuilder to give a very neat finish at this point. Because all the floorboards are on the body, we shall be no longer troubled with the relative movement between the body and the fixed chassis floorboards on the frame, such as we are at present, and with the attendant disadvantages of gas tight joints. The floorboards will consist of small pieces of laminated plywood and balsa wood, and these will form part of the body. When bodies with demountable tops such as Coupe or Open Tourers are built, as is our practice on P.III and Wraith III, the body mounting in front of the rear pillar of the door will need to have the floatex replaced by a solid mounting, and this applies equally to the mounting of the dashboard, which is in fact the front mounting of the body. EV.{Ivan Evernden - coachwork} | ||