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).
Clutch oiling tests, focusing on the collector ring, Ferodo surfaces, and modifications to floating ball bearings.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 20\1\ Scan049 | |
| Date | 1st November 1929 | |
| -2- the front ball bearing, and that a lot more had to be put in to make it come out at the rear bearing. We also did a test with and without the collector ring for the oil from the rear bearing, and we found that if this is omitted then continuous overoiling of the clutch will cause oil to reach the Ferodo surfaces. When the collector ring is fitted, no surplus oil gets on the Ferodo. We do not think it dangerous to be without the collector ring however, as a lot of Phantom I clutches have run like this. We merely consider it an additional safeguard. The above scheme does not include lubrication of the inner diameters of the two floating ball bearings. It is found on the road that these get dry in time and eventually pick up, particularly the front one. This prevents the free end movement of the driven plate and renders it difficult to stop the clutch in neutral. Therefore we had some ball bearings made in which the grooves for the balls each had a .050" flat at the bottom, giving a total of .100" end float on the bearing. Road tests have only been short unfortunately, but so far no trouble has been experienced with oil on the Ferodo, although we have purposely overoiled the clutch. We are getting the set of modifications on all our cars in time. | ||