X-ray of a 230SL

[Jack the Knife]

Think you've seen it all?

Think again!!

[AdelaidePagoda]

Radiology porn!

Interesting that it is two images ‘stitched together’.

Looks like it does not have a soft top?

Early 230 with the angled spare tyre.

[Jack the Knife]

Radiology porn!

Interesting that it is two images ‘stitched together’.

Looks like it does not have a soft top?

Early 230 with the angled spare tyre.

This is from a 1963 book on advances in imaging tech. If I'm not mistaken, aren't the faint outlines of the soft top there between the wheels? RHD, too.

[66andBlue]

Hmm ... why do you think it is a RHD?
The steering wheel is on the same side as the spare tire as it would be for a LHD.
Where is the spare tire in a 1963 RHD 230SL?
I searched around a bit and found a well documented (including an invoice from Colin's shop) 1964 230SL (VIN 113 042 20 005696) that has the spare on the left side - opposite from the steering wheel:
https://www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1964-mercedes-benz-230sl-pagoda-4oo2V4#&gid=1&pid=37
A 1965 RHD 230SL also has the spare tire on the left:
https://borderreivers.co/portfolio/mercedes-benz-230sl/

However, there is the proverbial monkey wrench that Alex Manos sold some time ago, supposedly a 1963 RHD 230SL:
https://www.beverlyhillscarclub.com/1963-mercedes-benz-230sl-pagoda-right-hand-drive-c-7202.htm
It has a horizontal spare on the right side! Original or repaired after a rear end collision?
Personally, I don't put much stock on the originality of any car sold by the "beverlyhillscarclub".

Perhaps Colin can enlighten us.

[Paul & Dolly]

Interesting ,is the x-ray taken from below ?
Is the rear compensator spring in its correct location.

Paul

[JamesL]

This is from a 1963 book on advances in imaging tech. If I'm not mistaken, aren't the faint outlines of the soft top there between the wheels? RHD, too.

LHD - the spare wheel on an early car is on the left side of the vehicle (it's on the right on a horizontally mounted spare), and in this case, so is the steering wheel

[AdelaidePagoda]

The more I look the more I find. Yes the image is definitely in reverse so it is a LHD with the spare in a LHD position. The exhaust system is on the correct RH side.
In addition you can see the front Star emblem,  in the trunk the Jack, tire wrench and the wheel alignment tool are all visible.
Anyone else see anything!

[MikeSimon]

The battery location also says the image is taken from below or reversed. It is a LHD

[Mike Hughes]

It has headers, rather than cast iron manifolds, and the x-rays reveal how many baffles are in the center and rear mufflers.

[Jack the Knife]

I stand corrected!

I had assumed RHD because of the location of the wheel thinking it would have been x-rayed from above. But it makes much more sense that it would be x-rayed from below or the image is flipped.

[rwmastel]

Interesting that it is two images ‘stitched together’.

Looks like 5 images to me, taken from below.

[mdsalemi]

Think you've seen it all?
Think again!!

A few years ago out of the blue, I got an email when I was living in Michigan. Some testing lab wanted to do some specialized infrared imaging of my car. I never knew how they found me or my email. But, they were doing some expert witness information on a lawsuit that they couldn’t tell me about other than the fact that it had something to do with another similar car of the era with, the top of the gas tank being basically the bottom of the trunk. They had me bring my car over and they did a full set of imaging and gave me a set. Click original link, and you’ll see see the images if you scroll through the replies. The imaging was quite interesting but of course the best part was they gave me $500. Not bad for a couple of hours one afternoon.

https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=23175.msg165678#msg165678

[roymil]

Do you happen to have specific info on the 1963 book that image came from?  I've worked with industrial imaging tools and I'm just really curious what kind of equipment they were using to generate high energy X-rays way back then...and the film they must have been using!   They had to have some pretty advanced technique for managing contrast and uniformity and it sure didn't involve computers, so pretty impressive engineering for sure.   Cool image! thanks for sharing.

[Jack the Knife]

Do you happen to have specific info on the 1963 book that image came from?  I've worked with industrial imaging tools and I'm just really curious what kind of equipment they were using to generate high energy X-rays way back then...and the film they must have been using!   They had to have some pretty advanced technique for managing contrast and uniformity and it sure didn't involve computers, so pretty impressive engineering for sure.   Cool image! thanks for sharing.

https://archive.org/details/photographyastoo0000unse_k6z7/page/140/mode/2up?q=230sl

By all means!

[roymil]

Holy cow, Gammas, not X-rays at all!   Gamma's penetrate about 100-1000X more than X-rays so that explains it.   I've used Co60 before and you can hit lethal doses in minutes depending on distance.  Our small source required >1ft solid lead shielding all around.  That source could probably expose your dental X-rays from a block away so they must have been inside a tunnel or cave someplace to be able to hang a big source 17' overhead.  What a cool experiment.   Thanks for satisfying an old radiation test engineer's curiousity.