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).
Faults with door locks on B.V bodies, comparing existing and new Wilmot-Breeden types.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 117\3\ scan0226 | |
| Date | 14th November 1940 | |
| To Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} from Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/EAG. Copy to Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/Wyn. Handwritten: Bentley chassis general Handwritten: 1021 LOCKS ON B.V BODIES. On examining the door locks on 9.B, we found that, in parts, the plating had worn off and that the face of the metal had roughened through wear. There was also a small amount of rust present, due to water, which made the doors very difficult to open. After smearing the worn parts with oil, the doors opened quite easily. The new type of Wilmot-Breeden lock fitted to this car had the same fault, the door to which this lock is fitted being even more difficult to open than the others, which is probably due to the dovetail portion of the lock having a larger bearing surface. After oiling, the trouble entirely disappeared. The fault is undoubtedly serious and could cause a lot of trouble in certain circumstances. We do not think that this fault would become apparent until the locks have had a certain amount of wear, so that the plating was removed and the surface roughened. If the wearing surfaces were to be kept in an oily condition, there would always be the danger of clothes being soiled when entering or leaving the car. In our opinion any lock that has a solid dovetail is always liable to suffer from the same complaint as those in question. Regarding the Wilmot-Breeden lock, they have arranged to change the angle of the dovetail on their lock from 14°, as on the Experimental lock, to 20°, which may overcome the trouble. The second sample lock which they have recently supplied to us has been returned to them for this modification to be carried out. Our experience is that the ordinary slam lock with spring loaded dovetail is the most satisfactory and trouble free, the main disadvantage of this type of lock being noise in operation. We have asked Messrs. Wilmot-Breeden to modify the second sample lock as quickly as possible, so that we may get it fitted to 9.B, which will help us to decide if it would be advisable to arrange the Myth body to take the Wilmot-Breeden lock, and if found satisfactory we should then consider standardising throughout the range. Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/EAG. | ||