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 Cadillac detailing the composition of a white bearing metal (babbitt) used in connecting rods.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 125\1\ scan0297 | |
| Date | 10th November 1936 | |
| 1020 CADILLAC MOTOR CAR COMPANY DETROIT, MICHIGAN CADILLAC AND LASALLE MOTOR CARS November 10, 1936 Handwritten Note 1: SWD? Please note & let me have a tabulated analysis of these and all other bearing alloys we are trying. RM{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} Handwritten Note 2: 92% Magnolia Metal, 8% Pure tin. Mixture required - Rolls-Royce Ltd., Derby, England. Attention: Mr. Robotham File Re: Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}19/KW. Gentlemen: Mr. Maurice Olley has handed me a Cablegram he received a few days ago and requested that I give you the detailed information which you mention in the Cablegram and also in your letter of October 8th. The babbitt to which you refer is probably the material which is going through General Motors Research on a project at the present time and is in general the S.A.E. #14 Babbitt. This G.M.C. #14 is not a babbitt metal but is a white bearing metal of approximately the following composition: Tin 10% Antimony 15% Lead, Minimum 74.25% Copper, Maximum .10% Arsenic, Maximum .10% Bismuth, Maximum .10% Zinc Nil Aluminum Nil Total Impurities .25% Maximum This material is being cast directly into the connecting rods by the centrifugal method, and the only care necessary is that a rather heavy lining of the metal be put in and then machined out. It is bonded to the steel connecting rod forging by means of 70 lead 30 tin solder. | ||