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).
Reducing heat on the floorboards and under the scuttle of a 40/50 HP car.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\K\December1923\ Scan79 | |
| Date | 11th December 1923 | |
| R.R. 493A (40 H) (SL 42 12-7-23). J.H., D.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} EXPERIMENTAL REPORT. Expl. No. 819 REF: Hsl/LG11.12.23. To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to CJ. c. to RG.{Mr Rowledge} c. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. to BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} c. to OY. 40/50 - HEAT ON FLOORBOARDS AND UNDER SCUTTLE. We have carried out a large number of tests on a standard 40/50 HP. car with the object of reducing the heat under the scuttle and the front floorboards. Attached herewith are charts which show the improvement we have been able to make. Our tests prove that owing to the direction of rotation of the fan, most of the air drawn through the radiator passes on the exhaust side of the engine. We measured the air passing out of the undershield at different points and were surprised how local the currents of hot air are. The flywheel rotating in the undershield and flywheel guard forms quite an effective air blower: it gathers hot air from the exhaust side and pumps it over to the pedals. We made louvres in the undershield round the flywheel - when the engine was running, there was a steady stream of hot air being discharged from these louvres. It is difficult to make comparisons on floorboard and scuttle temperatures because of the changes in atmospheric conditions. Eventually we found the most successful way was to make all our comparisons with no thermostat or blanking plates and run the engine full throttle at a constant speed with the water boiling. Under these conditions the temperature at various points varied with the air temperature. In the case of the hot air coming through the floorboards, it is not only the temperature but also the volume contd:- | ||