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).
The dismantling and examination of a Cadillac 16 Gear Box after an 18,000-mile test.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 125\1\ scan0218 | |
| Date | 15th March 1935 | |
| Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/PJH.4/KW.15.3.35. Cadillac 16 Gear Box. The above gearbox has been dismantled and examined after its 18,000 mile test in France. The general specification of the Box is as follows - Three speeds forward, all helical. Reverse gears straight. Synchromesh on 2nd, and 3rd operated on the oil dashpot system. Box of cast iron in one piece with clutch housing. Central change. The attached prints Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}1817 & Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}1821 show respectively the arrangement, and the cross section of the box. A list of the weights of the box is attached also. The box has run a total distance of 18,000 miles, 10,000 of which were in France. Throughout the running the silence of the gears was very good in all respects. During the early stages of the test top gear worked out of mesh on the over-run, and during the latter stages, second and reverse worked out also. The synchromesh ratios could be crashed; this is a feature of the oil dashpot method of operation. When dismantled, the condition of all gears was very good. The only parts which could be criticised were the ball races on the 1st and 3rd motion shafts, and the synchromesh cones. The ball races had developed a considerable amount of slack and were very noisy when spun round; the inner races had been working round on the shafts. The bronze synchromesh cones had been "picking up" and metal had been dragged round to the edges of the grooves in the rubbing surface. The weight given in the attached table for the shell of the gearbox is calculated and does not include the portion forming the clutch pit. Also the extension shaft and its housing at the rear of the box are omitted. This is done to make a comparison with SpectreCodename for Phantom III as far as possible. | ||