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).
The unsatisfactory performance of Lucas P.100 headlamps and requested modifications for Bentley and Phantom III chassis.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 61a\3\ scan0254 | |
| Date | 6th May 1936 | |
| To Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} c. to Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. to J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} c. to Hy.{Tom Haldenby - Plant Engineer} c. to Cx.{Major Len W. Cox - Advertising Manager} c. to Roy.{Sir Henry Royce} c. to Hx. c. to R.{Sir Henry Royce} c. to Hly. 86116. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Est.9/JH.6.5.36. Lucas Headlamps for Bentley and Phantom III Chassis. Owing to the extremely unsatisfactory performance of Lucas P.100 headlamps on our chassis, particularly the Bentley, we requested Messrs. Lucas to provide us with modified improved headlamps for experimental test. The modifications we asked for, based on the failures experienced, were as follows :- (a) Removal of the bulb from the front tripod to the rear of the reflector. (b) Glare shield over the bulb. (c) More accurate centering of bulb in reflector. The Removal of the bulb from the front tripod is the fundamental improvement. A lot of trouble has been experienced due to bad contacts developing at the plunger connecting the bulb on the tripod to the feed wire in the lamp. This modification also enables Messrs. Lucas to make a more accurate reflector as there are no fittings fastened to it on the new lamp. Several pairs of these lamps known as P.100.R have been running on experimental cars including B-50-BN{W.O. Bentley / Mr Barrington} in France without any failure and we propose issuing a standardisation sheet for the same as it is important that we stop fitting the ordinary P.100 lamps as soon as possible. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Est. | ||