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).
Letter from Gordon Armstrong discussing the supply and testing of different shock absorber spindles and valves.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 152\1\ scan0220 | |
| Date | 17th December 1936 | |
| TELEPHONE: BEVERLEY 321 GRAMS: ARMSTRONG'S SUSPENSION. The Gordon Armstrong Patent Suspension COMPANY LIMITED OUR REF: GA.WC.4. YOUR REF: WALTHAM WORKS, OPPOSITE ST MARY'S CHURCH, BEVERLEY E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} YORKS. GORDON ARMSTRONG A.M.I.A.E., F.Inst.PAT. N. O.{Mr Oldham} TILL. Messrs. Rolls-Royce Ltd., DERBY. 17th Dec. 1936. For Mr. Leslie's attention. Dear Mr. Leslie, With further reference to my letter of the 8th instant, we have today sent to you one pair of shock absorbers with the same spindles in as the pair that you have broken, with the difference that this pair have spring-loaded valves which are set extremely heavy, probably much heavier than would be necessary on any car that they were fitted to. I would very much like you to test these out on your bumper rig to see what is the difference in the life of the spindles. We are sending you tomorrow a further pair of shock absorbers that are exactly the same as the first pair, with the exception that the spindles instead of being 40/50 ton Tensile steel are made of 60 ton steel, and are being hobbed so that we do not have any under-cut, as is essential with our special method of forming serrations. It would be very interesting to have these tested on your bumper rig and see what difference - if any - there would be in the life of these. We have gone very carefully into the matter of larger spindles, and find that we cannot increase the size of the spindle to any great extent without increasing the size of the shock absorber, for the reason that a lot of clearance is needed for the connecting rods. I am, therefore, enclosing you a sketch of a proposed crank where the spindle and crank are made in one piece. This would necessitate an opening at the bank of the shock absorber to allow for assembly but we do not see that there is any great difficulty in doing this. cont'd.... | ||