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).
Improvements and standardisation of car radiator matrices following a visit to John Marston Ltd.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 150\3\ scan0104 | |
| Date | 31th December 1936 | |
| To Hs. {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to E. {Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to Da. {Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. to By. {R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} c. to Roy. {Sir Henry Royce} 81280 Rm {William Robotham - Chief Engineer} /Std.7/JH.31.12.36. CAR RADIATOR MATRICES. On Wednesday Dec. 23rd., we visited Messrs. John Marston Ltd., Wolverhampton and discussed with them the question of improvements to be obtained by changing the type of matrix in use on our cars. At present we use Marston Mark V matrices on our 25/30 H.P. and Bentley chassis and Marston Mark VI matrices on the Phantom III chassis. In the case of both the Mark V and Mark VI matrices the waterway strip is made of .006" thick copper strip tinned all over and the airway strip is made of .004" thick copper strip tinned all over. Tests which we have run on the Mark V and Mark VI type of core show that by changing from the Mark V to the Mark VI type, the weight and size of the radiator matrix can be considerably reduced, while retaining equally good cooling. Further, by omitting the tinning of the airway strip, reducing its thickness to .003" and reducing the thickness of the waterway strip to .005". A further considerable saving in weight and cost can be made. (This is identical with the American Harrison matrix construction). In view of this it is obviously desirable to standardise on the Mark VI type of core with .003" untinned airways and .005" tinned waterways as far as possible, provided that this construction proves reliable. However, Messrs. Marston's production facilities for the last mentioned type of matrix are such that they are able to supply us with these matrices for our Phantom III and Bentley cars (where cooling and weight respectively matter most) but they are not able to supply 25/30 H.P. matrices to this specification. Further the administration of Messrs John Marston's Ltd. have decided to select the best American matrix obtainable (from stand points of cooling, weight and reliability) and obtain the manufacturing rights in the country for the matrix in question, purchase the necessary manufacturing machines from the makers in America and then make the identical product in this country, instead of making matrices such as the Mark V and Mark VI which are at best copies of American products. In pursuance of this policy Mr. Dunn (the manager of the radiator and sheet metal departments of John Marston Ltd) visited America recently and inspected all the important radiator plants | ||