Wheatcroft Collection Rolls Royce

[Armortek]

Fantastic Silver Ghost build by Chris for The Wheatcroft Collection (http://www.wheatcroftcollection.com/)

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Superb!

Best regards

Dave

[Robert Reid]

Who made the gaiters???

Awesome!

Cheers,

RPR

[Robert E Morey]

Beautiful! Curious as to why the leaf springs are wrapped? Was this to try and protect them from moisture?
Bob

[Vince Cutajar]

Very nice presentation. From where can one obtain that wire mesh used in front of the headlamps?

Vince

[florian rudolf]

What an awesome build. Great work realy!!!

[simon_manning]

that's a lot of work to get the vehicle that sharp, very nice finish, regards simon.

[Robert Reid]

Beautiful! Curious as to why the leaf springs are wrapped? Was this to try and protect them from moisture?
Bob

Hi Bob:

The leather wraps were standard on the Rolls-Royce right into the post-war period. They stopped fitting them in 1964 when the coil-sprung Shadow replaced the (rear) leaf-spring Cloud III. I suspect the later Phantom V and VI, however, both made use of gaiters.

Made by Wefco of England (they are still in business!) the idea was to keep oil in, grit and moisture out. And also to 'dress up' the visible springs a bit, probably. They are made of soft leather and inside have a layer of engineers felt and, depending on whether new production or old, have a layer or linen or canvas or, today, a light nylon. Some variants also had screw-off lubrication fittings attached and/or Enots oil fittings on them. Otherwise, they were lubricated by putting the tip of an oil syringe under the lip of the leather and squirting in oil every now and then. Typically 600 Weight oil. They were stitched across the bottoms, much like a boot.

Each set was custom-stitched to fit the springs, taking into account the position of the spring clamps and the thickness of the spring pack. Spring packs were all custom-made for the expected coachework, so a light roadster body would have light (fewer or thinner leaves) springs and a heavy Limo or Landaulette (or Armoured car) had a thicker spring pack. There is a whole measurement form that is still in use to this day!

My question above, about who made the gaiters, reflects what a great job someone did on them! Hope some of us other RR builders can get a set made... Or at least a play-by-play so we might be able to try and take on a pretty complex sewing job!

Cheers,

RPR

[Robert E Morey]

Hi Robert
Thanks for the history lesson! Those crazy Rolls Royce Engineers! LOL. Who would have dreamed that leaf springs would need leathers, which in turn need oil! Well they probably don't squeak much - which may be why they did that in the first place! No one wants a squeaky luxury car! Anyway props on a beautiful model - I love the wire wheels.

As for the model's "gators" - they may be simply heat shrink tubing. That's how I would make them. Unless you have the patience, skill and very thin leather to sew them up. Heat shrink will be durable and conform to the spring set - and look just like the model does.

thanks for the information!

Best regards!
Bob

[Armortek]

As for the model's "gators" - they may be simply heat shrink tubing. That's how I would make them. Unless you have the patience, skill and very thin leather to sew them up. Heat shrink will be durable and conform to the spring set - and look just like the model does.

That's exactly what Chris used - some black heat shrink. Works a treat.

From where can one obtain that wire mesh used in front of the headlamps?

We had some lying around in the factory from one of our older models Vince. Can buy wire mesh from a few places like this one:
https://www.meshdirect.co.uk/wire-mesh- ... ess-steel/

[Robert Reid]

Hi Robert
Thanks for the history lesson! Those crazy Rolls Royce Engineers! LOL. Who would have dreamed that leaf springs would need leathers, which in turn need oil! Well they probably don't squeak much - which may be why they did that in the first place! No one wants a squeaky luxury car! Anyway props on a beautiful model - I love the wire wheels.

As for the model's "gators" - they may be simply heat shrink tubing. That's how I would make them. Unless you have the patience, skill and very thin leather to sew them up. Heat shrink will be durable and conform to the spring set - and look just like the model does.

thanks for the information!

Best regards!
Bob

Thanks! Heat shrink... great idea!

BTW, wasn't just Rolls-Royce. Most cars of the era (at least good ones) had Gaiters. And they were a popular accessory for even lower-priced cars.

Very functional and, yes, squeaky or locked-with-rust springs were not acceptable. And the gaiters worked perfectly in that regard!

I remind people who own the 1:1 versions of these... when they were new, they cost as much as four median-priced houses of the day. If you bought a car that cost four-houses worth... would you put up with a buckboard ride? Springs that squeak? Unreliable brakes? Ignition failures? No more then than now... if you bought a 300K pound Phantom with all the frills... would you accept any excuses for the vehicle?

Thanks again for the heat shrink tip! Beautiful model!

Cheers,

RPR