Guy Cars

The Guy 20hp V8 Car 1919

MOTOR COMMERCE October 25, 1919

An Eight-Cylinder Guy Chassis

A car pre-eminently for the Owner-driver shortly to be marketed by the makers of the well -known Guy Commercial Vehicles.

We were able a few days ago, owing to the courtesy of Mr. Sydney Guy, to examine the new eight- cylinder 20 h.p. chassis which is to be manufactured by the well-known firm of Guy Motors, Ltd.. Wolverhampton, and which is a departure from their normal production. The firm started business in June, 1914, since which date they have flourished exceedingly, and the Guy commercial chassis is now one of the best known of its kind in the country.
Desiring further laurels in the motor field Mr. Guy designed the eight-cylinder car, and for the last 18 months it has been undergoing the most stringent tests at his hands.
From these it has emerged so triumphantly that it has been decided to market it, and in consequence it will be on view this year at Olympia, where it should prove a most interesting exhibit both from the point of excellence workmanship and originality of design. The model which we examined was one of the chassis intended for Olympia, and fortunately for us, was not completely assembled, so that we were able to examine very closely details which would not have been possible in the short time at our disposal, if the chassis had been completed.

A Well thought-out Engine.

The engine is an eight-cylinder of the V type, two blocks of four set at an angle of 90 degrees. The bore and is 72 mm. by 125 mm., so that it comes within the six tax class. An excellent point, is that the two cylinders bolt together and thereby relieve the crank-case of a deal of stress. Detachable cylinder heads are provided, removal of which exposes the valves and piston thereby rendering valve grinding and decarbonizing an easy matter. The valves, which are horizontal, are operated by rocker; working directly on to the valve stems, provision being made for adjustment. The camshaft runs down the centre of the cylinder blocks, and the whole of the mechanism is enclosed by means of a horizontal plate between the cylinder blocks. The exceptionally good clean design of the combustion chamber can be readily seen from our illustration showing the off-side of the engine. That this design is possible is due to the employment of the horizontal valves, which give all the advantages of overhead valves with none of the disadvantages of that type. Another point upon which Mr. Guy is to be congratulated is in providing adequate means for the automatic lubrication not only of the valve mechanism but valve stems as well. This is done by situating the crankcase breathers on the top of the crank-case, the oil vapour therefore forced directly on to the valve stems and operating mechanism, where it condenses. Any surplus naturally drains back into the crank-case. The lubrication engine itself is by force feed, from a gear pump situated in the sump, to the crankshaft, which is hollow, An oil filter of large size is used, which is very accessible for cleaning purposes.

Large inspection plates are fitted to the crank-case and the big ends are designed to bolt together with the nuts on top. On account of this it is very easy with the aid of a special box spanner provided with the car, to undo the big ends and slip the connecting-rod and piston complete out through the top of the cylinder. One of our illustrations shows this being done.

Two Zenith carburettors are employed, one for each block of cylinders. Situated fairly high up on the cylinder blocks, they are fed from a large tank in the rear of the chassis by means of an Auto-Vac. The induction pipes are water-heated not by a special pipe, but by passing through the main water return pipe on the top of the cylinders. In this way a practically constant temperature is ensured, giving perfect vaporization under any climatic conditions.

Transmission Details.

The gear-box provides four speeds forward and a reverse. It is automatically lubricated by oil, as are also the universal joints, which have renewable working parts, the front one

being oiled from the gear-box and the rear from the back axle. Silent spiral bevel gears are used in the back axle, the axle and shafts being fully floating. The whole of the working parts can be dismantled from the axle without removing it from the car. It is only necessary to withdraw the axle shaft, and by undoing the bolts which hold the bevel case on the front of the axle and disconnecting the rear universal joint the bevels can be taken away in mesh. Or, by undoing the back cover, the whole of the bevels and differential can be inspected. The lubrication is by oil, which is pumped through the hollow bevel pinion to the rear universal joint and along the axle shaft to the rear hub and to the rear springs, which are underslung and have small holes drilled through each plate to lubricate the leaves.

The engine, gear-box, clutch, and control are carried on a sub-frame supported by three spherical joints, which prevents any possibility of distortion of the main frame being trans-mitted to the sub-frame or the transmission.

Another advantage of this construction is that in the case of damage to the main frame the sub-frame can be disconnected and the main units dropped out without interfering with them, which considerably cheapens and quickens the work in case of a repair.

The front axle is of H section, and lubrication is automatically obtained by means of two large size oil cups, one of which is situated on each of the stub axles. From these a wick feed to carefully drilled oilways ensures efficient lubrication to all parts.

No "Greasers" on the Car.

With the exception of the two oil cups mentioned above, the whole of the chassis lubrication is by means of an automatic pump feeding oil pipes running to all the parts needing oil. On the drop arm of the steering gear is a cam, which, when an extreme right-hand lock is taken, comes into action and depresses a plunger piston in the oil pump. The action of this is to force about a tablespoonful of oil into the pipe lines. These pipes are arranged as two main lines running down either side of the chassis, with subsidiary pipes branching off at intervals to the parts requiring lubrication, such as the springs, shackles, steering connections, brake shafts, sub-frame suspension, etc.

As we mentioned when describing the lubrication of the engine, the breathers in the crank-case supply oil to the valves and their mechanism, the surplus from which is trapped and delivered to the pump so that there is always a supply available. When the pump becomes full, any excess flows through a separate pipe to the steering box and directly back to the crank-case. In this way the steering box obtains a practically constant supply of fresh oil. The system is, to say the least of it, ingenious, as it is only when a full right-hand lock is taken on the steering that the pump comes into action and delivers a charge of oil. Under normal conditions, this will occur once or twice a day at least, which is ample for all usual purposes. Should it happen too frequently the pipe lines would still be full of oil, and in that case the pressure of the oil in the lines would force the new charge into the return line through the steering box and so back again to the crank-case, thus preventing an excess of oil with its consequent mess.

The steering gear consists of worm and a complete worm wheel having four keyways cut in it. There is, however, only one keyway in the shaft, so that when wear takes place in the wheel, it can be rekeyed in one of the other keyways and a new portion brought into play. In this way the entire wheel can be used if necessary.

Both the brakes are of the internal expanding variety, the foot brake, which is 12 inches in diameter, operating on the bevel pinion, and the handbrake, 15 in. in diameter on the back wheels. They can each be adjusted by hand. The method of expanding thebrake shoes is worthy of note. A sliding tongue, instead of the usual fixed cam type, is employed, and because of this the shoes are automatically compensating and bear on the whole of their surface. Another good point is the method of attaching the film type radiator. This is done by means of two ball joints, so that, no matter how much strain the main frame may be subjected to, none is transmitted to the radiator.

Electric lighting and starting is fitted as standard, and Guy Motors propose to build their own bodies. At present no price can be quoted and date of delivery is uncertain, but there is no doubt that when the car comes through in any numbers it will command a ready sale.

The Guy 20hp V8 was the first production car in the UK to feature a V8 engine.

At the end of the First World War in 1918, there were a lot of ex-military trucks available on the market, and so Sidney Guy drew on his experience working for Louis Coatalen at Sunbeam to make a luxury car. Only about 50 examples were made and none are known to survive. The car had many advanced features as detailed in the press articles reproduced below.