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).
Starter gear failure on a Marmon car, comparing its Bendix pinion spring drive with others.
| Identifier | Morton\M4.1\ img020 | |
| Date | 17th March 1921 | |
| To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} ORIGINAL HS{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}3/LG17.3.21. X.1692 RE. MARMON CAR. We have had the starter gear fail on this car. The Marmon, although it has a Bendix pinion, there is no solid connection between the pinion and the armature shaft. The drive is taken through the torsional spring. The spring is located at each end by means of grub screws. The failure we have had was caused by both of these grub screws breaking. We do not know whether Mr. Royce was aware of this spring drive connection with the Bendix pinion. After comparing the Marmon car with the other American cars with the Bendix pinion, we find that the Marmon is a much softer drive and is less noisy. The noise, due to the compression of each cylinder, is much less. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} R.R. 285A (100 T) (S.H. 798. 10-12-20) C. 8947 | ||