Biographical Data - T

Thomas, Major B. H.

Major B. H. Thomas came to ROVER in 1929 with the Wilks brothers at the request of [⇒ Spencer Wilks] from Hillman. At Hillman Thomas had developed an in-line eight-cylinder engine.
At ROVER he develops from the "10" four-cylinder 1185 ccm engine designed by [ ⇒ Wild] a six-cylinder engine with deviating stroke and bore dimensions due to the RAC tax formula.
In 1931 Thomas is supposed to change the "Scarab" from a rear engine to a front-engine and front-wheel drive solution. However, the project will not be carried out.
During World War II he managed the ROVER shadow factories in Birmingham. He is responsible for the further development of the meteor tank engines (Mark IV as a power plant for the Centurion, type M120 for Conqueror with gasoline injection), for which ROVER is responsible since the exchange of responsibility with Rolls Royce (RR produces the gas turbines developed by ROVER since 1943, therefore Rover takes the production of conventionel tank engines).

Tinling, J. C. B.

J. C. B. Tinling was employed at Whittle Power Jet Limited. Through personal relations with Wilks, he enables ROVER to participate in the jet turbine project at the beginning of World War II. World War II.

Turley, Joe

Joe Turley was head of engine design at General Motors. He knows the V8 well. After several occasions he can be persuaded by ROVER to move with his wife to Solihull and accompany the further development of the V8.
He is amazed at the commitment with which the "Limeys" (=ROVER engineers) work on adapting the engine. Initially he has little understanding of the desired changes, such as better engine "breathing", higher speeds (up to 5,500 rpm instead of 4,500 rpm) etc.
He also feels overpaid. Therefore, one day he turns to { ⇒ Martin-Hurst]. The following conversation develops:
"How many people have you spoken to this week?", asks Martin-Hurst. "With half a dozen, I estimate." "And what did they want to know?" "Well, they asked me why the crank cheeks had a smaller radius than was shown on the GM drawings. I told them that we had problems with the crankshafts after we had built about 50,000 engines. We found that these problems could be overcome by reducing the crank cheek radius." "We don't know anything about V8 engines at the moment. What do you think this kind of information is worth to ROVER? You can't express that in money."
The background to this was that GM's product changes were not reproduced in the original plans and construction drawings during the production phase.

Turnbull, George

George Turnbull works with ROVER-Triumph. During the engine turmoil with Leyland he visited 1967 [⇒ Peter Morgan] and decided to supply him with the V8 for the "Morgan Plus Eight".

Turner, Josiah

Josiah Turner was a sewing machine manufacturer and co-founder of Sewing Machine Company in Coventry in 1861. He leaves the company in 1870.