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).
Comparison of Delco-Remy standard ignition outfits for well-known British and American engines.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 163\7\ img043 | |
| Date | 16th June 1922 guessed | |
| of U.S.A. which have their headquarters at Panton Street, London, W., and a “Service Station” at 75-23, Fulham Road, S.W. a few outside details may be noted in passing, expressed as pointers:- Battery and coil ignition is not, as many suppose, a cheap substitute for an h.t. magneto, if the comparison be made with a combined generator and timer for the modern car and lighter (air-tyred) truck. The competitive quality—i.e., the superiority of battery and coil ignition—is associated with (a) improved working of the engine, especially in the case of multicylinder motors; (b) greater controllability by means of a self governor (this class of device fitted to magnetos did not justify the cost and was a source of early backlash and noise); and (c) longer service and reduced wear if only for the fact that the battery and coil ignition timer is rotated at less engine-shaft speed than a magneto, by reason of the latter’s inability to fire more than twice per revolution of the armature-timer. The defects as to wear and backlash causing mis-firing, and lack of synchronization which formerly characterized the mechanical lay-out of a battery ignition system have long been removed by such factors as accurately cut spiral gearing for the drive, improved housing of the timer shaft in a long sleeve bearing, or ball bearings, and placing of the l.t. and h.t. circuits controllers super-imposed, so that excepting inertia, there can be no scope for the sort of trouble—e.g., out-of-step firing, etc.—referred to. Group of Delco-Remy Standard Outfits for well-known British and American Engines. 1. Delco Twin Six distributor fitted with automatic and manual advance, as used on the Packard. 2. Remy 6 cyl. magneto replacement unit for any 6 cyl. engine. Used during war on Siddeley-Puma engines. 3. Delco 8 cyl. distributor with automatic governor as fitted for automatic timing sets. 4. Delco distributors with automatic and manual advance used on Cadillac. 5 & 6. Simple Remy combined low and high tension timers for any make of “four” or “six” engine. this being for double plugs with synchronized firing and single manual and automatic timing control. It is agreed that there is a gain in power and liveliness in firing simultaneously from two sets of plugs, and this set is for that purpose. Nos. 1 and 3 in Fig. 1 show respectively the Delco self-governing ignition sets for the Packard “12” and the Cadillac “8,” while No. 4 in Fig. 3 shows a Delco special distributor with the coil moulded in the top. This type or pattern was designed for the “Liberty” engine, and supplied in thousands; we believe also it was used in British aircraft engines precisely as are and were some others of the numerous sets illustrated. No. 2 in Fig. 1, and Nos. 7 and 10 in Fig. 3, are sets combining coil and condensor and timer-distributor on a base which is dimensionally interchangeable with a standard h.t. magneto base. No. 4 in Fig. 1, and No. 8 in Fig. 3, show respectively the types of Delco and Remy self-timing governors. Both operate centrifugally, but the one mechanism’s movement is an oscillatory-sliding one, whereas the other is radial. Combined, Not Rival, Interests Next as to the Delco-Remy manufactures. Formerly these pioneer names represented more or less rival products, the outcome of opposed ideals. The Delco interests favoured the single unit motor generator, whereas the Remy [illegible] ideal embodied the two or separate units construction. Ultimately about 1914—both interests were combined, and are centred in the immense field of the General Motors Corporation of U.S.A. Besides the half-score or so of [illegible] of U.S.A. Representing and covering districts, cars, trucks and tractors. | ||