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).
V-8 engine design, considering bonnet width, valve gear, and comparisons with a Packard 8 engine.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 127\1\ scan0153 | |
| Date | 6th January 1927 guessed | |
| contd :- -3- It appears to me that the major difficulty is to get overhead Phantom valve gear in a reasonable width of bonnet. Overhead tappet adjustment like the Phantom is particularly useful on the V eight because of accessibility, besides all its other advantages. With say 5" stroke it seems as though the bonnet width at the front of the engine would have to be 30", or the full width of the frame, unless we could 'steal' from the length of the valve guides. Would it be worth while to investigate and see whether it is possible to design an intrinsically balanced 8-cyl. Vee engine with 60° between the cyls. instead of 90°? (I have recently found that the Packard 8 from front axle to dash is 5" shorter than the 40/50 HP. It is also a much smaller engine, 358 cu.ins. compared with 468 cu.ins. The Packard also carries its radiator further forward over the axle than we do. This tends to improve the moment of inertia and may be worth considering.) OY. | ||