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).
Technical analysis of front-end gear and chain drives in contemporary American cars.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 173\2\ img154 | |
| Date | 3rd March 1934 | |
| -3- Facts about the existing state of front end drives in U.S.A. seem to be as follows. The only people using gears are Ford (Textolite), Chevrolet, Buick and Nash. Chevrolet are flirting with a silent chain. Buick are using chain on their new small job, they are contemplating using it on their other cars next year to save the weight and expense of the doubled wall case which they have to adopt to get silence. Therefore it appears that Nash and Ford will be left to champion the gear drive. To my mind the most significant fact is Buicks, because they certainly make a good job of gear cutting and yet the doubled walled case stands as an admission that, even with the Textolite gear they are using, they have difficulty in obtaining silence. The worst thing about a chain drive is its appearance, which I dislike as much as anybody, but it is another case where so much money has been spent on developing it that it can now be said to be a remarkably satisfactory product. Certainly I have not heard a front end on any car that I have driven over here without getting out and putting my ear down to listen for it, whereas the whine from the Bentley timing case can be heard across the road. The Morse people do not like the roller chain as made by Reynolds and used in England. They say it is more sensitive to accurate manufacture and less silent. The chain used on the Cadillac is shown on page 7, .375 pitch, but for exact particulars as manufactured in England refer to Letchworth. The layout is substantially as shown on the Lincoln and Pierce Arrow schemes enclosed. The Morse people consider that the self-adjuster prolongs the life of the chain enormously, because it never allows it to get slack. The Cadillac people confirm that their front ends stay quiet. With regard to speed, Cadillacs run up to 5000 R.P.M. in short bursts, and 100 hours endurance at 4250 R.P.M. Morse say they are not frightened of 6000 R.P.M. | ||