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).
Suitability of different bearing materials for a 4¼ litre Bentley.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 88\1\ scan0249 | |
| Date | 19th August 1936 | |
| W/S - Bly.{B. W. Bleaney - Bentley Sales} X del Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}16/KW.19.8.36. Guy A.{Mr Adams} Vandervell Esq., owner of B-147-CW. Replying to Bly.{B. W. Bleaney - Bentley Sales}13/SM.18.8.36. We could not guarantee that strip lead bronze bearings would stand up in the 4¼ litre Bentley. In saying this we do not suggest that these bearings are no good, rather that we could not be sure that the engine is suitable for the bearings without a lot of tests, which we are not in a position to undertake. We have had a lot of experience on our own lead bronze bearings, which are made by the Allison process and which we have no reason to believe are inferior in quality to the Vandervell product. We turned these bearings down in favour of the aluminium-tin alloy we are at present using. We say emphatically that our experience indicates that on the 4¼ litre Bentley the aluminium-tin alloy bearings give better results than lead bronze. You will of course appreciate that white metal bearings are fitted to the 3½ litre, and that these are not in the same class as our latest bearing material. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||