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).
Frame stiffness, body construction, crankcase ventilation, cooling systems, and engine bearings.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 173\4\ img217 | |
| Date | 5th November 1935 guessed | |
| (sheet 7) rely on the widely spread cruciform member, and on the plated floor of the body, but this investigation had got no distance. In the Lincoln Zephyr the floor plate is integral with the frame and gives considerable lateral stiffness. Torsionally, however, frames are becoming stiffer and stiffer. This stiffness is being obtained by spreading the cross fore and aft by deepening the centre of the cross, and by calling in the body more and more. An overall stiffness in the frame alone of 2500 to 3000 is being obtained, but it seems there must be a limit to the really useful amount of stiffness. Many American cars do not use fully tubular members but they become channels towards the rear. The method of building the body structure and frame together is regarded as the ultimate goal on grounds of weight and cost, but it seems to present considerable difficulties as regards Rolls-Royce custom built bodies. Olley suggests however that we might produce a design and then educate the coachbuilders into building their bodies along these lines. (11) Through crankcase ventilation is to get rid of the acids formed by the oils, and is considered necessary to avoid corrosion. The Cadillac people accounted for the corrosion found on our Cadillac by the assumption that some of the ventilation had got stopped. (12) We found no thermostatically operated bonnet shutters at all. The by-pass system is feasible in America because the system is always filled with anti-freeze mixture at the approach of winter. They have improved the cooling properties of their matrices, as reported elsewhere, so that the long narrow radiators behind grilles do not now present the difficulties they did at first. (13) Engine Bearings. In spite of the favourable view given by Graham Paige of Cadmium silver bearings, there does not seem to be a good case for using them, especially as it appears to be possible to make use of lead bronze without the excessive clearances we have hitherto found necessary. An apparent difficulty with these particular bearings is the provision of | ||