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).
Visit to the Bentley Service Depot at Kingsbury, discussing issues with petrol pipes, clutches, and brake thumps.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 82\4\ scan0027 | |
| Date | 26th November 1934 | |
| x4553 BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} WGT. Hd{Mr Hayward/Mr Huddy}/SB{Mr Bull/Mr Bannister}2/HR.26.11.34. VISIT TO BENTLEY SERVICE DEPOT AT KINGSBURY. ------------------------- During a recent visit to Kingsbury the following matters were pointed out to us and discussed:- 1. FRACTURE OF PETROL PIPES. Kingsbury have had three cases of fracture of the petrol pipes on Bentley cars. The fractures have occurred where the pipe is bent to a fairly small radius - for instance, below the hand brake lever - and examination of the fracture shows that it is obviously due to the pipe not being annealed after bending. We do not know whether it is made sufficiently clear to the Works that this annealing operation is most important after bending, but it occurs to us that possibly the Works have occasion to bend the pipe during erection on the chassis and this may harden the pipe without there being any subsequent annealing operation. Owing to the extreme difficulty in removing and re-fitting these pipes on complete cars we gave Kingsbury permission, for the time being, to cut away the fractured pipe locally and solder a sleeve in its place. 2. CLUTCH. Trouble has been experienced on one or two cars owing to the heads of the countersunk screws which clamp the spring drive assembly fouling the ends of the crankshaft bolts. This gets worse as the clutch liners wear, or if the friction plate buckles. Additional clearance at this point seems necessary. 3. BRAKE THUMPS. The majority of these complaints, which, incidentally, are fairly frequent, are due to insufficient damping at the hub of the swinging arm of the servo. Our experience, and Kingsbury confirm this, is that the damping does not stay consistent even after proper adjustment. This seems worse than the 20/25 HP. although the design is the same, and is probably accounted for by the increased use of the brakes on the Bentley. -contd- | ||