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 arguing for the necessity of fitting air cleaners to cars due to engine wear from dirt roads.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 135\4\ scan0098 | |
| Date | 7th October 1925 | |
| Oy5-E-10725 October 7th, 1925. Mr. Claude Johnson, Rolls-Royce, Ltd., London, England. (Copy for attention of Mr.Royce " " " " Mr.Hives) Dear Sir: Re Air Cleaners We believe that it will become necessary for us to fit some form of air cleaner on numbers of cars already delivered to persons living in the Southern States or West of Chicago. The general adoption of such devices on trucks and their increasing adoption on passenger cars has started a very definite demand. We have not yet been able to prove that they are necessary as there are few dirt roads in the East, but the experience of the truck makers is that they increase the life of the engine between re-borings, from two to five times. Furthermore road development is not keeping pace with the traffic, so that in the South and West heavy traffic is running in summer time on thousands of miles of dirt road. Under these conditions every highroad is marked by a continuous column of dust. We know that when our cars are run in these conditions the oil becomes black with dirt in 500 miles. It is reasonable to assume therefore that the engines in these parts of the country are being worn out by abrasive. Before we covered the valves we noticed that wear of valve stems was much more severe in the dirt road districts than elsewhere and signs of lapping were evident. | ||