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).
Subframe weights and their effect on car body production and assembly.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 67\1\ scan0176 | |
| Date | 10th May 1926 guessed | |
| (4) SUBFRAME WEIGHTS. India. - - - 98.lbs. Phantom. - - - 112.lbs. We hope, and have reason to believe, that we can redeuce these weights to:- India. - - - 80 lbs. Phantom - - - 91 lbs. DAIMLER WEIGHTS. 45HP. old type with tie-bars. - - - 140 lbs. 35HP. original. - - - 86 " 35HP. new type. - - - - 196 " EFFECT OF THE SUBFRAME ON THE PRODUCTION OF COMPLETE CARS. We have been able to demonstrate the value of the subframe to ourselves and the coachbuilders from the production point of view. It was feared by the classic coachbuilder that a body built on a subframe without the latter being supported by its chassis would settle when mounted. This applied chiefly to bodies without fixed roofs. We have persuaded Messrs Barkers to build a 40/50 cabriolet de ville on a subframe, whilst the latter rested on trestles at its points of support. The body was completed with head leather and trimmings. On loading the body with ten persons as passengers the doors could not be seen to close more than .032" at the top. The body has been standing at Derby for some months on baulks of timber (a very uneven bed). The writer tilted the body up on one corner by means of crowbars, but still the head leather remained taut, and the doors free. We therefore believe that we have demonstrated that there is no body which cannot be structurally fully completed on a subframe before the chassis arrives. Actually, now that the coachbuilder has evolved standard wings and valances, the body could be advanced to the last coat of colour, before mounting. The painting of the chassis is a small item and is dispensed with in under a week. | ||