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 development status of the Spectre model, detailing issues with vapour lock, slow running, and piston performance.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 91\1\ scan0165 | |
| Date | 30th November 1935 | |
| X300 To Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} from Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} c. to Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}1/KW.30.11.35. Present SpectreCodename for Phantom III Position. Referring to Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}1a/KW.25.10.35, the following is the present SpectreCodename for Phantom III position :- (1) Vapour Lock. It will be necessary to test the car with the new Stromberg carburetter scheme under conditions of altitude and temperature before we can say that this feature is satisfactory. (2) Erratic Slow Running. The Stromberg carburetter has shown up better than we anticipated on the road; the slow running is better than the 4-carburetter scheme. Accessibility and ease of adjustment are greatly improved. Unless we run into some unforeseen trouble we believe that with a big effort by all concerned the induction system might be ready in 6 months instead of the 12 months originally specified. We should like to emphasize, however, that though we can reproduce extreme cold conditions by means of a cold chamber, we know of no way of simulating vapour lock troubles except by altitude work under Summer conditions. There is a hill in the South of Spain which may enable us to conduct this test in May of next year. (3) Piston Knocks & Overoiling. We have the die-cast pistons fitted to a test bed unit. So far they are free from knocks, but there are signs of top overoiling. We have handed over a test bed unit to Mx.{John H Maddocks - Chief Proving Officer} to carry out some tests. We have run the steel skirted pistons supplied by S.U's, and so far these have seized up when run under high speed full throttle conditions. Developments are continuing, however. | ||