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).
Findings from a visit to Vauxhall Motors regarding vehicle components and testing methods.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 127\4\ scan0162 | |
| Date | 27th July 1939 | |
| SECRET By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} from Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. All Testers. Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}1/R.27.7.39. VAUXHALLS. The following information was obtained during the recent visit to Vauxhall Motors:- Their rear shock absorbers weigh 16 lbs per pair. Oy. finds that his engine mounting has more effect on front end shake than anything else. The thing to avoid is having the torsional frequency of the mounting equal to the torsional frequency of the front end of the frame. On 4-cylinder engines the vertical mount is so soft that its frequency will affect the frame frequency. The struts on the wheel-bearer from the dashboard increase the stiffness on the frame from 3,000 to 5,000 lbs. ft. degree. They are, however, very bad for noise in the body. The noise produced by the struts is largely dependent upon the volume of air present behind the instrument board. This reduces the level of the noise in the front compartment by 5 decimals if reduced to a minimum. Oy. stated that the worst feature for producing noise in the monocoque construction was a flat floor. He said the Opel was good because the floor was not flat. Vauxhall's do not think that a statically-balanced wheel is satisfactory. They use a Bean dynamic wheel balancer made at Lansing, Michigan. We pointed out that this might be useful for experimental testing, but mis-leading in practice because one would not expect customers to have their wheels dynamically balanced. Oy. states that shot blasting doubles the life of one of their truck road lear springs. They have a steering gear test which they say is very effective in proving the durability of the steering gear under road conditions. They also have a universal testing machine which seems to be capable of testing almost anything from door locks to shock absorbers. We are putting up a big requisition for improved test equipment to Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}, and should like your support. | ||