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 to Vauxhall Motors discussing steel sourcing for springs and a hardware problem with door wedges.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 127\4\ scan0014 | |
| Date | 15th October 1936 | |
| Exptl. Dept. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}12/KW. 15th October, 1936. W.W. Appel, Esq., Messrs. Vauxhall Motors Ltd., Luton, Beds. My dear Appel, Thank you for your letter of October 8th. With regard to our source of supply for Silico-Manganese Steel, our wrist-pin spring and road spring material we have always obtained from Firth's. The coil spring for the Phantom III front suspension, however, we obtain from the English Steel Corporation, which we believe is also your source of supply. In our experience Silico-Manganese Steel has always been prone to suffer from inclusions, andfor this reason we use Chrome-Vanadium for very highly stressed parts. In particular, all our valve springs are made from Chrome-Vanadium. We appreciate that the cost of the steel probably puts it outside the bounds of possibility for Vauxhall's: it also requires rather special heat-treatment. I suggest that if you have not already done so you try Firth's for Silico-Manganese. Can you help me over a body hardware problem? For years we have used Ferodo door wedges, which are highly unsatisfactory because they wear and allow the doors to rattle. We have been trying to get our Coachbuilders to use Ternstedt wedges, similar to those fitted on the Buick and Chevrolet, but they say they cannot get sources of supply either in England or from America. Can you give us any assistance in the matter? | ||