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 from the Cleveland Graphite Bronze Co. regarding the design and material for flywheel and pressure plate friction facings.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 129\1\ scan0290 | |
| Date | 18th August 1937 | |
| COPY OF LETTER FROM THE CLEVELAND GRAPHITE BRONZE CO., CLEVELAND. Mr. W.A.Robotham, Chief Engineer, Rolls Royce Ltd., Derby, England. August 18th. 1937. Dear Mr. Robotham, Pursuant to your request of June 25th, we shipped you, on August 12th, 52 metallic facings for insertion on your flywheel and pressure plate. Your assembly drawing C-54793 shows an assembly in which a bare steel driven member operates with the friction element fastened to the flywheel and pressure plate. Our experience, over here, shows that with the friction elements fastened to the flywheel and pressure plate, we must re-design the driven plate in order to avoid warpage. I am, therefore, enclosing a blue print showing the type of driven plate we would recommend for your use. The samples now being shipped to you are of powdered metal, but we believe that we can do a very much better job with what we call our "Clevite", which is a cast material (not powdered metal), in which we make indentations filled with the friction material. I have instructed our Research Department to make another shipment to you of our Clevite material, - not that the material we have already sent you will not be successful, but that the new material will be even still better. We have just completed a test at Chrysler with our Clevite material, the results of which have made us very happy. With my very best regards to you and to "Bob" Coverley, and with many thanks for your entertainment for "Tony" and me at your Club, and still regretting that "Tony" proved to be a better shooter than all of you, thereby saving my reputation, I am, Very sincerely yours, THE CLEVELAND GRAPHITE BRONZE COMPANY, Ben. F.{Mr Friese} Hopkins, President. | ||