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).
Catastrophic failure of a No. 2 big end bearing on chassis B.74 GA, and the resulting communication between departments.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 146\3\ scan0264 | |
| Date | 21th December 1936 | |
| Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd., DERBY...................Hd.{Mr Hayward/Mr Huddy} 1245 Sr/VA5/Crn.21.12.36. chassis B.74 GA - Mr. P. le Blan. We are in receipt of your memo. Hd{Mr Hayward/Mr Huddy}/CM3/IB. 16.12.36, the contents of which has had our careful attention. "Sr" has asked the under-signed to write to you, and make the position quite clear. Owing to trouble which has been experienced with Bentley bearings, etc., at the request of the Experimental Department, we have been keeping them "au fait" with the bearings troubles we have experienced, in addition to such items as crankshafts, cylinder bores, bearingwear, etc., etc. Again, the Experimental Department has, from time to time, requested us to carry out certain tests of an experimental nature. As you are undoubtedly aware, N°2 connecting rod, as a result of failure of N°2 big end bearing, came through the upper half of the crankcase of the above chassis, and, as you may well imagine, caused rather a nasty mess. The matter was serious, and apart from the discontent of the owner, Sr considered it necessary to inform Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} by telephone what had happened. In order to save time, Sr gave Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} details of the parts which were needed - the owner was already asking when he could have his car - and we confirmed our request the same day, as per our memo. Sr/VA29/GM.8.12.36 to Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}, with a copy to D/BP to which we attached our official order N° 1224. At the time we wrote the above memo., the engine had only just been dismantled. We were, therefore, only able to send to Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} the crankshaft measurements the following day, as per our memo. Sr/VA28/GM.9.12.36. The reason why we did not write to you was to avoid any confusion, owing to our having been in touch with Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} in the first place. We very much regret if confusion has occurred, especially in view of the fact that we tried to avoid it. Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} has written to us and asked us to deal direct with you and D/BP in the future, when we require standard replacement parts. However, Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} informs us that any special parts we may need, and which are not standard, will be dealt with by the Experimental Department. ..................... | ||