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).
Review of design and cost recommendations for the radiator, fan, frame, engine mounting, and crankshaft.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 6\6\ 06-page125 | |
| Date | 11th February 1937 | |
| -2- (2) Radiator & Fan. In Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/Std3/JH.1.12.36. we gave our recommendations for reducing the cost of the fan assembly. As far as we know, no detailing work has been done on this as yet. With regard to the radiator, our recommendations for re-design of this were contained in Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/Std.6/JH.19.1.37. but as far as we know no design work has yet been carried out on these lines. The Design have, however, inspected the Cadillac radiator. The present Wraith radiator costs about £7 more than the 25/30. We believe that the scheme outlined above should cost slightly less than the 25/30. It should be remembered that very recently we have decreased the 25/30 radiator assembly cost by about £3/10/-. (3) Frame. The frame, of course, is an absurd price, and we should recommend that Ll. Smith has the job of co-operating with the manufacturer to get something that is easy to make, and which does not interfere with any of the parts already designed on the chassis. In our limited experience with Wraith chassis, the only other item we have so far quarrelled with is the front engine mounting, but this is not so bad that we would say it is imperative to re-design it before the chassis goes into production. All we say is that we believe in spreading the centres of the front rubbers this mounting has been handicapped, and is not now quite so good as the standard 25/30 mounting. The mounting we should recommend is one of the type fitted to 6.B.IV now running 15,000 miles in France. Two other items on the engine unit which could, with advantage, receive attention whilst the front suspension is being completed are the - crankshaft damper, which we still think is an extravagant piece to manufacture, and the crankshaft. We attach a list of the fitting costs on the crankshaft which are rather illuminating. In view of the fact that the crankshaft is balanced twice, we feel that the question of integral balance weights should be once more reviewed. | ||