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).
Report discussing performance issues with aluminum components compared to cast iron.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 14\3\ Scan047 | |
| Date | 27th December 1929 guessed | |
| -2- They experienced considerable trouble with corrosion in the Southwest, but not so much in other sections of the country and this, in itself, would not have been considered sufficient cause for the abandonment of the aluminum head. They tried various kinds of protective coating in the water jacket, but they did not find anything sufficiently worth while to bother with. They had trouble with blocked radiators, but as they use the straight tube type, with fins on the outside, it was not such a serious matter to clean them. They found sulphuric acid quite useful for this purpose. The aluminum head gave slightly better performance on the dynamometer test when new, but after having been in operation for a period of time, due to the sludge and carbon, the motor knocked readily so that the spark had to be retarded and the results were not much better than those obtained with the cast iron. They have also given up the use of aluminum pistons as they were unable to make them stay put. The service manager recognised the difference between the operating conditions of a Mack truck and a Rolls Royce and admitted our trouble would not be comparable with theirs. He felt however in the long run we would probably be back to cast iron. I am inclined to think Mr.------ was somewhat prejudiced against aluminum from the start and consequently did not minimize their troubles. I hope to talk with Mr.Masury, their engineer, and Mr.Day, their metallurgist, within the near future. Mr.------'s remarks are to be considered as confidential. (Signed) R.J.Allen. RJA:BM. | ||