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).
Outlining the progress of the Rationalised Programme and suggesting further areas for review and simplification.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 148\2\ scan0122 | |
| Date | 14th February 1939 | |
| 1260 By. {R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} from Rm. {William Robotham - Chief Engineer} Rm {William Robotham - Chief Engineer} 5/R.14.2.39. The pieces for the Rationalised Programme are now more or less completed with the exception of one or two items. These are as follows:- (1) An axle for the 8-cylinder Wraith Replacement. We think this should consist of the P.III centre fitted into the semi-floating axle, as at present run in France. (2) A servo to suit the hydraulic front brakes. To get the full benefit of the simplification for the hydraulic front brakes they should be completed as soon as possible. (3) Spring drive and harmonic damper for front of the B.60 and B.80 engines. (4) Radiator and bonnet for the 'Cresta',& 6-cyl. R.R. cars. When these pieces are completed, we suggest it would be a good idea to have a general review of the chassis, compared with that of the Humber 'Super Snipe', which we are obtaining to see where we can introduce simplification. We consider that there are still several sections of the Rationalised car which are extravagantly complicated. Examples of these are:- Pedals and Clutch operating mechanism Rear engine mounting Installation generally and Centralised lubrication points. We also think that we have not considered sufficiently carefully the variations which have been introduced. As an example, we already have 3 sizes of petrol tanks, two tracks, two contemplated sizes of half shafts and two different lots of yoke pieces. We consider that all these should be reviewed with the object of seeing how many bits are involved in each variation, and whether they are worth while. When this has been done, there are a number of long distance design projects to which we believe consideration should be given. The gearbox has already been considered, and we are going for the three speed and overdrive. | ||