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).
Deteriorating accuracy of Borg & Beck clutches for Bentley and 25/30 models.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 129\1\ scan0026 | |
| Date | 17th October 1936 | |
| X 1110 To By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} & Sft.{Mr Swift} c. to Mx.{John H Maddocks - Chief Proving Officer} c. to Roy.{Sir Henry Royce} Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Smth.4/KW.17.10.36. Borg & Beck Clutches. We understand that there has recently been a deterioration in the accuracy with which Borg & Beck set the operating fingers of Bentley and 25/30 clutches. It will be recalled that shortly after the introduction of the 4 1/4 litre Bentley, when complaints of jagger were general, we made Borg & Beck take special precautions to hold this setting to within .005". This step resulted in an immediate improvement in the performance of the clutches, and complaints have been practically non-existent on the improved units. It appears now that Borg & Beck are easing up on their inspection, and that amongst the latest deliveries of 25/30 clutches were some of which the fingers are .020" out of truth. Owing to shortage of stock, these have been fitted to cars, and it is almost certain that sooner or later they will jagger to some extent. It seems to us a peculiar state of affairs that after 10 months' production we should still have difficulty in obtaining 30 clutches a week from a firm that is producing 4,000, and to be forced to fit material known to be faulty as a consequence. In any case we wish to emphasize that if we persist in fitting clutches outside the limits laid down, we cannot expect to be immune from jaggers. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/F.Ll.Smith. | ||