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).
Page from 'The Motor' magazine featuring reader correspondence and a technical Q&A information bureau.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 160\5\ scan0168 | |
| Date | 18th December 1940 | |
| The Motor 446 December 18, 1940. Correspondence ... Contd. Another Hint for “Liftees” I WOULD like to add another point for liftees to the code published in The Motor, December 4, namely: Don’t leave your personal belongings in the car. J.G.D. London, N.3. Easy Days for the A.T.S. THE remarks on bad driving of Army vehicles by “Contact” will have been noted by every enthusiast who volunteered (without result) to drive for the War Office in September, 1939. The day’s driving schedule of the A.T.S., outlined in The Motor of November 27, must seem like play to trials enthusiasts who would just love to earn their Army pay in like manner. Let us hope that every woman competition driver has taken advantage of this unrational motoring; or are many amongst those to whom a daily referred to recently as “Slackers in Slacks”? I rather fear so. VINTAGENT. Cove, Hants. Old Jail Now A.R.P. Shelter WHILST motoring through Wheatley, Oxon, recently during an “Alert,” I was surprised and a little amused on noticing that the old village jail was free to be used as an air-raid shelter if the occasion arose. From being a place to be shunned, it is now a haven of temporary shelter. But the thing which impressed me mostly was the fact that the old jail is cone-shaped, proved by recent events to be the safest shape and now universally adopted in the construction of portable steel shelters. This advantage, combined with the facts that its walls are composed of closely knit Cotswold stone some 3 ft. thick, would afford good, but novel shelter, from all but close explosions. AYE 410. Pinner, Middlesex. Tail Ends I AM glad to have the support of your correspondent P.B.-R.{Sir Henry Royce} in my contention that Lautenshlager’s victorious Mercédès was not fitted with a streamline tail when it ran in the 1914 Grand Prix. The short, square tailpiece illustrated in The Motor of October 23 appears to have been fitted not only to Lautenshlager’s car (No. 28) but also to Seiler’s (No. 14) and Salzer’s (No. 39). As far as I know No. 40, Wagner’s Mercédès IV, was the only one with the exposed spare wheels. In Allgemeine-Automobile Zeitung of No. 28 (page 82), 1914, there is an illustration of Lautenshlager’s and Wagner’s cars together after the race. The picture clearly shows the square tailpiece on No. 28 (the winning car). The photograph in the Allgemeine-Automobile Zeitung, page 58, No. 29, Vol. 15, of 1914, which Mr. Pomeroy adduces as evidence that the winner had a long tail seems inconclusive to me as the rear of the car is partially obscured by a spectator. There is a number of illustrations in various contemporary journals which show the square tailpiece. It is true that cars with tails are posed on pages 25 and 62 of No. 29 of the same journal, but it seems evident that they did not run like this in the race itself. ANTONY S. HEAL. Beaconsfield. [L.P. says: This evidence seems conclusive and the car with the short tail as driven was shown in Milestones of Speed last week.—ED.{J. L. Edwards}] Image Caption: Once a Jail, this substantially built conical structure now serves as an air-raid shelter, at Wheatley (see letter from “Aye 410”). INFORMATION BUREAU RULES.—Inquiries are answered by post; a stamped addressed envelope must be enclosed. Advice on car purchase can be given confidentially. Filter Removal Q.—How do I remove the oil filter on a 1929 four-cylinder Meadows engine fitted to a 1929 Lea-Francis?—J.E.G. A.{Mr Adams}—To get at the filter for cleaning purposes, all that is necessary is to take off the cover plate and lift the filter gauze. Quite a simple operation. Jacks Do Not Hold Q.—What is wrong with a 1927 hydraulic jack which, although the ram will operate, is not capable of holding the car off the ground?—E.H. A.{Mr Adams}—Either there is a little dirt on the valves in your hydraulic pump which controls the jacking system, or else the glands in the actual jacks themselves are worn. It is a service job to put the latter right, although you can dismantle the pump yourself and clean it thoroughly. Engine Fires After Switching Off Q.—Auto-ignition persists on my engine. New plugs have been fitted—the recommended type—but after a run of moderate length, the engine gives four or five short bursts, leading one to imagine that each will be the last. I am told this irregularity may throw considerable strain on the crankshaft.—J.G.K. A.{Mr Adams}—Your last paragraph indicating that there is a pause between each burst of auto-ignition suggests that it happens on one cylinder only, the pauses being the period occupied while the engine is turning, with the other three cylinders inert. Any irregularity is, to some extent, harmful, but it seems to us that, in your case, the danger has been exaggerated. Pinking on an Eight Q.—I have taken over a Morris Eight which runs well except for considerable pinking when pulling hard. Is this due to Pool petrol or should the engine be decarbonized? So far as I can find out, it has not been decoked since new. The previous owner had not used it for long.—G.O.A.L. A.{Mr Adams}—If the car has not been decarbonized yet it would be quite a good plan to have this carried out. It would certainly help in cutting down pinking and give you sweeter running. With a small engine running on the poorer grades of present-day spirit, a matter of 7,000 or 8,000 miles before the first decarbonization is about sufficient. Pool petrol certainly makes the pinking worse. Cartoon Text: THEATRE PANTOMIME PANTO ALADDIN and his WONDERFUL LAMP THEATRE ALADDIN and his WONDERFUL LAMP Footer: A30 | ||