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 discussing thermostat-operated shutters, comparing American car solutions and considering a proprietary design.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 38\2\ Scan140 | |
| Date | 3rd March 1921 | |
| X 3456 Mr. Belnap Mr. Beaver. Mr. Nadin. Mr. Bagnall. Mr. Hulley. Mr. Southern. OY4/G3.3.21 March 3rd. 1921. X3563 X3499 X3901 X3456 Mr. Claude Johnson Managing Director, Rolls-Royce Ltd., London, England. Attention Messrs. Royce & Hives. Dear Sir, RE. THERMOSTAT OPERATED SHUTTERS. Summary:- 1. Shutter Control on American cars. 2. Advantage of automatic closing. 3. Our own device should be capable of simple attachment to the present cars. We have read with much interest Mr. Royce's letter of Feb. 15, 1921 (R6/G15.2.21) on this subject. This winter we have had a good opportunity of watching the behaviour of our own and other cars at low temperatures. Undoubtedly, the hot-spot induction pipe, as on the Hupmobile, causes the engine to run well and pull within a few moments of starting, on the coldest morning, but the Hupmobile still gets accumulations of unburnt petrol in the crankchamber. So do the Packard with their fuelizer. Moreover, the Packard induction pipe, with fuelizer and a lot of exhaust heat applied to the induction pipe, "loads up" like our own when the car is accelerated after running slowly on full throttle. As Mr. Royce states several times in recent correspondence, apparently the only way to run an engine even approximately well in American winter conditions, is to keep the engine house warm, while at the same time applying heat to the vital points of the induction pipe. This has been done for some time by Essex and Hudson with hand operated shutters, and is now being done on Lafayette and Lincoln cars and the Columbia car, by thermostat operated shutters. The Winterfront shutter, which is thermostat operated and can be applied to any car, has been tried out by us and works well, while the Galli-ator shutter (which is actually operated either by induction vacuum or oil pressure, controlled by a thermostat) has been in operation for upwards of four years contd:- | ||