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).
Performance issues of a car, covering the engine starter, timing gears, ride comfort, and steering.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 83\2\ scan0151 | |
| Date | 10th December 1937 | |
| To Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/IMW{Ivan M. Waller - Head of Chateauroux} from Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}5/AP.10.12.37. 6.B.1V. The starter motor turned the engine of this car cheerfully, but for the first two or three minutes after firing it ran on one cylinder. We should like to know why this was so. The timing gears are very noisy after the engine has been allowed to idle for a little time. They sounded as if they were quite dry. Are they getting any oil.? The clock by the near side door is in a bad position and the glass got knocked off. The ride does not yet appear to compare with a standard Bentley. The dampers seem to be very hard under cold conditions. We should like you to get and up-to-date Bentley from the Repair Department and make careful comparisons. If we cannot get a satisfactory ride on the Gordon Armstrong dampers we should say so emphatically. The efficiency of the brakes is much improved. The steering of the car seems to be very heavy under cold conditions. We should like to know if this is due to the box itself or due to oil in the central lubrication system gumming up the pads on the cross steering tube pivots etc. If it is due to the steering box, we do not see why we should use a thick oil at this point. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||