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).
Use and testing of different lubricating oils, specifically Price's Oil versus Castrol XL.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 144\1\ scan0276 | |
| Date | 5th April 1937 | |
| 1225. W/S. - C. from Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/Gry.{Shadwell Grylls} c. By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/Gry{Shadwell Grylls}2/R.5.4.37. re: Price's Oil. We also had a recent visit from Mr. Brooker, and considerable correspondence with him. We had intended to run 35-EX in France on Price's oil, but owing to a misunderstanding supplies of the oil were not available at Chateauroux, and the car has run its mileage on Castrol XL. What we actually told Mr. Brooker was that we normally run our French tests on Castrol XL, because we are interested in the behaviour of the engine bearings, and do not want to introduce a new unknown factor, such as another lubricating oil. We never led him to believe that we did no testing on the other oils mentioned in the Instruction Book; on the contrary, we have done considerable testing on Vacuum "Arctic". As Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} told you in his memo on this subject, we for our part are trying to make the engines so that they will run on any oil. This will be more or less achieved in the case of the P.III when we have deleted silent tappets and their fine mesh filter. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} is also of the opinion that Price's are behindhind in improving their lubricating oils, and do not keep pace with the other oil companies. We shall make a point of running the next 10,000 miles P.III test on Price's oil, but until then, according to our tests, it would not be wise to recommend Price's on P.III cars. Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/Gry.{Shadwell Grylls} | ||