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).
Personal letter discussing the standardisation and comparison of different types of Jeavons gaiters.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 154a\4\ scan0268 | |
| Date | 23th June 1923 | |
| X3745 ROLLS-ROYCE OF AMERICA, INC SPRINGFIELD, MASS. Oy3-W-62323 June 23, 1923. PERSONAL To: Mr. Hives From: Mr. Olley Jeavons Gaiters Have received proposed standardisation of Jeavons gaiters. I have these on my car, and we have fitted a local version of them, the Menard, on a large number of cars. We have pretty well made up our minds about gaiters after trying them all, including Wefco, and a brief summary is as follows: 1. Material Rubberized canvas covers like Jeavons or Menard, are superior to most leather gaiters because most leather oozes oil, and absorbs rain and washing water, sometimes rusting springs. There is the possibility that leather will better resist the cutting action of ice and snow in Canada, but this is not proven. The sectional metallic gaiters on the market, which imply the removal of the spring clips, have been used by customers in Chicago. We have not tried them but we think they will have difficulty in accommodating variations in spring dimensions, they will show rust where the paint is rubbed off between the sections, and we think they will cause mysterious squeaks and rattles. 2. Packing We like a felt or fabric packing, because it implies the use of fairly thin oil, which we find is best able to really get between the spring leaves, and make the use of grease impossible. Grease oxidizes and rusts the spring leaves, also dries up and fails to enter between the leaves. In fact it is worse than useless. The packing should be slotted along the top to form a reservoir for easy filling with oil. Kerosene or old dirty engine oil held around the spring with | ||