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).
Investigating an overheating issue with Mr. Glixten's car.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 47\1\ Scan133 | |
| Date | 1st June 1925 | |
| H.R. 488a (50m) (D.B. 175 25-9-24) J.H.D. EXPERIMENTAL REPORT. Expl. No. L4117 REF: Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}6/LG4.6.25. To CWB. from Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} 66-LM - MR. GLIXTEN'S CAR. +4117 x766 We tried this car to see if we could account for its reputation for over-heating. We found two points which had some bearing on the subject. (a) The fan belt was not absolutely tight. This affected the critical temperature of the car to the extent of 2°C. (b) The Cambridge thermometer reading was somewhat erratic when the radiator temperature approached boiling point. It actually appeared to read 2.5°C high at 90°C. Allowing for these two factors however, the car is still below the standard we have given you for the 'Silver Ghost' type car. Actually the discrepancy seems to be in the neighbourhood of 6%. We have had variations up to 3% on our own cars. We cannot account for the behaviour of this car. We checked all the obvious points such as Ignition Timing, thermostat operation, exhaust butterfly setting but could find nothing definitely wrong. Unfortunately the car was fitted with a singularly luxurious body which prevented drastic investigations. We intend to try a number of cars and find what the limits of variation are likely to be. Mr. Glixten's car from our tests could be expected to boil full power at 30 m.p.h. if the atmospheric temperature contd :- | ||