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).
Progress report on various automotive components including springs, crankshafts, valve springs, and gearshifts.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 178\2\ img043 | |
| Date | 30th March 1940 | |
| Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} - page 2 Serial No. 60 OF 1/D/Mar.30.40 Brudner thread miller seems the best bet. Eaton Have finished four sample rear springs, shot-blasted, grooved-steel, liners, and are putting them on their cranking rig next week. Regarding spring breakages on Proving Ground cars on 25,000 mile tests, these springs were cheapest possible type, probably costing less than four cents a pound, fabricated. Crankshafts Must get in touch with Ellwood City again. Crank machining is progressing O.K., but nothing finished yet. Valve Springs Nothing started yet with Barnes-Gibson-Raymond. Am still not clear whether you are sending me Vulture drawings for samples or not. I have sent you Series Nos. 37 and 40 with queries from Zimmerli about the tapered car valve springs. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} G.M.L. 2.3.40 (a) Gearshift We know that Vauxhall, Austin, Morris were all working on steering column shifts. Naturally, they will not offer them now. I do not believe they represent additional cost. The size of the mechanism and weight of mechanism is reduced and interference with coachwork is reduced as compared with your present "secret" gearshift on the right hand side. However, I believe the steering column shift will rank historically as a means adopted by American manufacturers to compete temporarily with automatic transmission. This is historically true because Cadillac and Pontiac put the lever on the column the year that Olds came out with their first automatic transmission. It was thus possible for salesmen to persuade simple-minded customers that all three cars had the same device. You will have got my note on Walter Griswold's ideas of Cotal being potentially better than Hydramatic, and his work on magnetic clutches. His magnetic operated multi-plate clutch uses all steel plates (low carbon, I suppose) running in oil, the plates nearest to the magnet being punched out in big windows like watch gears, so that the flux circulates round through all the plates. If we are thinking two or three years ahead, I can see no use in spending time on a new design of synchromesh box unless used for trucks, also. It looks as though the automatic with fluid drive will have the field here in 1945 at latest. (b) Road Noise | ||