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 to the S.U. Company regarding fuel pump positioning to combat vaporisation issues.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 149\1\ scan0240 | |
| Date | 26th June 1936 | |
| X1263 Exptl. Dept. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}22/KW. 26th June, 1936. C.T. Skinner Esq., The S.U. Company Ltd., East Works, Adderley Park, Birmingham 8. Dear Skinner, Petrol Pumps. I know that you want to keep abreast of fuel feed developments. We are coming to the conclusion that, with the improvement in radiators and engine performance, the under bonnet temperature problem on the motor car is steadily increasing. At the same time, particularly on the Continent, the volatility of fuels is improving. The net result of these two conditions is that petrol pumps can no longer be fitted under the bonnet. We recently removed the filter and the majority of the petrol supply lines to the coolest possible position, and thought we should be able to leave the pumps where they were. We now find that we cannot do this, particularly on the Phantom III. On the 20/25 and the Bentley, fuel vaporisation does not bring the car to a standstill, but the pumps are working continuously in hot weather and in extreme cases failure will occur. Briefly, our experiments show that the pump must be placed somewhere behind the dashboard, which means that it should be capable of dealing with about 2' greater head than at present. We are sure that your pump at present gets blamed for a great number of troubles for which it is not responsible, owing to its location. At the present moment on the Phantom III, if you cannot supply us with a pump which will deal with this additional head we are going to be forced to use the French "Autoflux", which is a highly unsatisfactory state of affairs. | ||