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).
Test report on a vehicle's performance, noting issues with brakes, engine cooling, clutch, and oil leaks.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 65a\3\ scan0002 | |
| Date | 24th May 1929 guessed | |
| -2- The brake system functioned entirely satisfactorily, other than that there was a tendency to squeak badly unless a drop of oil or paraffin was used to prevent this. The ferrodo material fitted has, I am informed by Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} to be superseded at once by "Asbesto" - which I am told is entirely satisfactory from the point of view of squeaking. This is certainly important. [Handwritten: Ferdobestos D] The car was driven about half the time by myself and the other half by Mr. Grylls. I sat in the back when he drove and I was not able to discover any serious tendency to boom at all with the cut-out closed. The car was able to run more slowly without unevenness and missing fire than in the case of the ordinary "Phantom". Fortunately the weather was hot, and consequently I was able to note one very important fact which requires the most urgent attention i.e. the inadequacy of the cooling of the engine circulation water. On a day such as yesterday which was fairly sultry, but not unduly so, it was possible when running up from Bournemouth, or when running continuously at a high speed on the Welwyn by-pass road to raise the temperature to boiling point with the shutters wide open, and it is easy to imagine the difficulties one would be in in this respect when motoring fast through France in the summer or when mountaineering. The clutch on this car was quite satisfactory, other than that it had a tendency to slip and was too sensitive to the slightest touch on the pedal. This should not be a matter of grave concern in future cars - the electric self-starter functioned perfectly well during the time I had the car in use. The gear changing could be made without difficulty. There was a certain amount of mess caused by the leakage of oil from sundry joints under the chassis - some of which were tightened by Whyman, the mechanic with me, but the bearing at the rear end of the gearbox caused leakage owing to the fact, I was informed, that the gearbox had been filled too much with oil. The front propeller joint leaked oil, which should be a subject for serious examination; in view of this, with the other propeller shaft joint having had special attention and a new design of oil retaining scheme resulting from oil loss with these parts, with 22-EX in France. | ||