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).
Investigation into faulty spark plugs and the use of Ethyl fuel in Bentley cars.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 90\2\ scan0120 | |
| Date | 9th July 1936 | |
| +1282 To Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} from Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}7/KW.9.7.36. Use of Ethyl on Bentleys. Referring to Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}3/E.7.7.36, the plugs returned from Professor Dodds' car are undoubtedly faulty: we have reproduced the failure on an experimental car. At the moment we are investigating to see whether the fault is in the manufacture or design of the plug. The history of the plug is that it ran 12,000 miles in France on 5-B-IV on Esso (see report Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/GWH.{George W. Hancock - Head Chateauroux}3/JAB.4.6.35) and since then it has been running on our experimental cars. We have had nothing but Ethyl in the experimental Dept. pumps for more than a year. We have not had the trouble on our experimental cars. It is just possible that continuous traffic work may produce the trouble experienced by Professor Dodds and this we are investigating. It is peculiar because B-56-BN{W.O. Bentley / Mr Barrington} did 5,000 miles in and around London three months ago specially to provide for conditions such as this. In the meantime we are getting hold of typical American sparking plugs as a yard stick for comparison, since there are about 20,000,000 passenger cars functioning on leaded fuels in the States. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||