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).
Short trial of the 20/60 Vauxhall, focusing on radiator wobble and engine smoothness.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 15\1\ Scan208 | |
| Date | 27th January 1930 | |
| HS.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} FROM E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} C. to SG.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} R.{Sir Henry Royce}(held up) re. RADIATOR WOBBLE X.7250 C. to WOR.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} DA.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} AND ENGINE SMOOTHNESS. X.3995 X.457 Yesterday (Sunday) I made a short trial of the latest 20/60 Vauxhall. You will remember that on my car there is a radiator movement verging on the spasmodic, a phenomenon with which we are somewhat familiar. This has been, so far as my test run shewed, entirely eliminated, and the radiator runs absolutely dead and steady. The difference is most pronounced. The alterations which have been made on the new model consist of a general stiffening of the frame with particular attention to the front end, longer and more flexible road springs, and the use of Lovejoy hydraulic dampers in place of Hartford. The frame side channels are of deeper section and heavier gauge, and a very large tubular cross member has been added between the front dumb irons. The cross members generally, I understand, have been stiffened up, but on the other hand, the engine is now mounted on rubber instead of being rigid. The engine mounting itself consisting of two arms at the rear and the front end of the crankcase bolted to a cross member, (somewhat like the Chrysler), is otherwise unaltered. The engine was very smooth up to its maximum revs. which gave 70 MPH. (speedometer reading) on top, and 50 MPH. (speedometer) on 3rd., with no noticeable periods on drive or over-run. The acceleration however was not wonderful. The history of the 20/60 Vauxhall is that when it was first built a comparatively light frame was used with the idea that extra stifness would be provided by the body, on the American principle. It was found however that the front end of the frame was too flexible and it was almost impossible to keep the front axle quiet, no doubt due to the weight of this unit and the non-damping nature of the tyres then being used. Since then various alterations have been made to the steering, such as friction loading on balls, sort tyres have been standardised, Smith single acting dampers replaced by Hartford, and iron casing in place of aluminium for | ||