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).
Investigation into cracked front wings and other issues on a Bentley B-65-AE.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 84\1\ scan0281 | |
| Date | 6th July 1934 | |
| x204 To [illegible] FROM EV.{Ivan Evernden - coachwork} Copy to LHS.{Lord Herbert Scott} Ox. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} [illegible] HVl/IH.6.7.34. re:- BENTLEY B-65-AE - R.{Sir Henry Royce} Summers, Esq. -------------------- As requested by C, I met Mr. Summers with his car at Messrs. Park Ward's Works on Wednesday morning and we discussed the various difficulties he enumerated. (1) CRACKED FRONT WINGS. The front wings had cracked just above the two bolts which are in the middle of the second wing stay from the front. This is the first instance which we have had of cracking at this point and we are not able to give any reason for it up-to-date. The attachment of the wing to the chassis frame is not quite so adequate as at present and the third wing stay from the front is not the Bentley standard, as these were not available when the car was delivered. Apart from these features, the wings are entirely standard. We propose removing the wings and fitting the correct Bentley third wing stay, at the same time examining the other wing stays to make sure that on this car, (which was the first one delivered) there are no peculiarities. We understand that this car is very bad for front end dither. The movement has been so great that the bonnet catches have pulled out choc-a-block, so pulling up the aluminium valance pieces on the top of the frame that they now hit the bonnet. Mr. Summers says that the screws holding these valance strips to the frame repeatedly work loose and he has had to fit lock nuts. We discovered the same trouble on Colonel Margesson's car - B-54-AH - which has just done 2,000 miles in France. We did not tell Mr. Summers that we subsequently discovered (JLE{J. Lee Evans - Chassis Test Manager}) the bolted joints of the tubular cross member behind the radiator were loose, some of the nuts being only finger-tight. Those that were capable of being tightened were attended to, but to do the job properly -1- | ||