I wanted to add this old photo to the other photos of this 1923 RR 20hp Barker barrel (car no 66H3) originally with the Maharajah of Bharatpur but given as a gift to The Maharajah of Udaipur. I think I posted them already but can't even find them now, lost in the threads somewhere.
This was a lengthy restoration, which went on for about 5 years in between other work as all the wood was very rotten, had been partially replaced previously but one side of the car was completely out of line. The front aluminium mudguards were very misshapen and corroded. The crankcase was cracked and virtually everything in the engine was completely worn out. The crank main bearings were not central so it was not in line with the gearbox input shaft causing the pilot bush to be completely worn out.
Work on Rolls-Royces takes time.
Crankshaft was reground and main bearing liners re white metalled connecting rods were re white metalled directly as they have no liners. Later models have liners, this is a very early 20hp. The original delivery specification document copies were obtained from the Rolls
Cylinders were relined and bored to suit new pistons from UK. Camshaft was reground in UK valves and guides replaced, cam follower rollers renewed.
Cam balancer rollers were renewed. The upper crankcase crack was TIG welded prior to line boring of the main bearings. The crankcase must be fitted with the cylinder block and head fully torqued down when line boring the main bearings otherwise they won’t stay in line. In fact a Rolls engine is always best stored all assembled and tightened as when they are apart for any length of time the castings start distorting. So head and block facing is done at the last moment before assembly. All pre-war small hp Rolls engines suffer from their cylinder block and head’s water passages becoming blocked with sediment and rust particles causing localised overheating and cracking. I must have spent at least a week unblocking all the passages, which has to be done manually by scraping and chiselling. They also all suffer from most of the coolant only passing through the front of the head and block and straight back to the radiator. The trick is to block a few of the front block to head water passage holes so as to force the water to pass through the rear of the block and head, unless this is done the rear cylinders have a tendency to overheat. This also the case with the Bentley engines.
I remember having to make up a whole set of main bearing and con rod shims which on Rolls Royce’s are about 1/8 inch thick and are coated on one edge with white metal and form part of the bearing they must be absolutely perfect or you loose oil pressure in the bearing as the oil leaks through the gaps. This has to be tested by forcing oil through the assembled crank assembly and checked for leaks. If there is one crank journal leaking then all the others get less oil. Not good.
I always fit new lock washers and a Rolls engine has many dozens of special lock washers. Just a set of lock washers costs about RS 20,000 there are lots of them and they are important.
I always had to insist on imported parts for Rolls Royce or Bentley engines as it is the only way of achieving a reliable result. Most parts are designed down to a minimum in special materials and attempts to make them locally generally fail and you can end up spending more than importing the right part.
This car ate a fortune in imported parts most things luckily are available from specialists.
The Clutch was relined and a new driven plate was fitted. Gearbox and differential bearings and bushes were replaced including the very expensive differential pinion thrust bearing.
This engine was in a real mess all the external oil pipes had to be remade, luckily the timing gears were good but the crankshaft balancer plate surfaces had to be ground and new cotton braid fitted and new springs. Brake drums were reground and the shoes relined. The car was rewired with cotton braided wire and new RR terminations. The chassis was blasted and lightly zinc metal sprayed.
Even after so much effort these cars have to be looked after and correctly stored. Just putting them in a dust blown garage, to be heated up to 45 degrees in summer, is not good enough and they will quickly deteriorate again. With glass doors and no air conditioning they will get even hotter with the greenhouse effect. Roast your Rolls Royce!
Time for a cup of tea.
Here is an old photo of 66H3
The dent in the radiator from the bosch horn was still there
Look at the state of the mudguards then!!
Moderator's note: Image deleted per user request
I am reposting these following photos because I can't even find the last ones now and it avoids all that imageshack and thumbnail drama.
Body half way through.
After completion
Poser with stupid look on face.
Picture Source : The B/W Rolls-Royce 20 hp photo is from The Rolls-Royce Twenty by John M. Fasal