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).
The issues found during a 3 1/2 litre Bentley test in France.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 82\1\ scan0139 | |
| Date | 20th July 1933 | |
| To "Wor{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager}" From "Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}". x45/3w Sèvres. Re: 3 1/2 litre Bentley test in France. I daresay that Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} has reported the result of our meeting with "Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}" and Sales officials in London. The appearance of the car was approved, and it was agreed that all the cars, including the first fifteen, should have the radiator stone-guard similar to those fitted to this car. The finish of the engine was approved, and it was agreed that we could retain the R.R. type of nuts on the valve and tappet covers, so as to avoid producing a special more expensive type for this car. We had serious trouble when "Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}" was on the car with a vapour lock in the petrol pump. The fact that the trouble disappeared as soon as we had some low grade petrol, confirms that the trouble was due to a vapour lock. This is a trouble which is always a difficulty on systems which employ a petrol pump. I find that the latest French makers are using electric petrol pumps and are fitting them half way along the chassis, in order to get rid of the heat effect under the bonnet. I have written to Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} about this, but it is a problem we have got to seriously tackle because when it occurs, the car is broken down completely. On the way down from London to Southampton, the exhaust pipe came adrift between the junction of the front expansion box and the pipe leading to the rear silencer. When it was dismantled here to-day, we found that it was broken right away, and the cause of it was due to the silencer being too rigidly mounted. The silencer mounting, as fitted to this car, is something new, and this is the first time that it has been tried out on the road. We consider that the fixing is very much too rigid. The rubbers are much too hard. We are refitting our silencer and doing away entirely with the bracket at the front end near the out-cut, and slackening off the rear bracket as much as possible. We think that we may have been persuaded too easily to accept this new type of fixing, and we ought to have insisted on carrying on the arrangement which we know has worked. The thermostat on this car was also stuck wide open. We have had this apart, and we think that the clearances are all unnecessarily too small. On the ride from Havre to Paris, the front seats came adrift, and the screws holding the floorboards pulled through the wooden boards. This is a very serious fault because it usually happens when one applies the brakes. On the final coachwork, precautions should be taken so that this cannot occur. | ||