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 Cadillac requesting information on crankshaft dampers for 12-cylinder engines.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 132\3\ scan0061 | |
| Date | 10th November 1936 | |
| (Experimental Dept.) 316 Gy P3 Crankshaft Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/Gry{Shadwell Grylls}8/R.{Sir Henry Royce} 10th November, 1936. E.W. Seaholm, Esq., Cadillac Motor Car Company, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. Dear Mr. Seaholm, We are wondering whether you could give us some help with regard to the crankshaft period on our 12 cylinder car. We have not yet evolved a means of completely eliminating it. The type of damper we use is a Lanchester friction one running inside of wheelcase, and, therefore, under oil. We think you will probably have had so much experience of 12 cylinder engines that you can tell us whether the type of damper you use is superior to ours. We should be very grateful if you could get Arnold to send us a drawing of your damper, together with figures of the rating and inertia. I do not know whether Olley told you that we had tried a flexible flywheel on one of our Bentley 6-cylinder engines; in case he did not, we send you a photograph of the result of trying to run through the master torsional period. Since that episode we have broken another flywheel in exactly the same manner, but without over-running. We hope this information may be useful to you. We believe that you have not standardised this flywheel on the V.8., and are wondering what troubles you have run into. We think it is about time one of your people came over to England. Yours sincerely, | ||