In 1961, General Motors bought a 1961 Dodge Lancer with an aluminum 225 engine. They pulled the engine, put it in one of their dyno rooms, and did a very detailed analysis of every aspect of its operation and performance. Every variable and parameter was reported, down to the formulation of the fuel used for the test runs. Power and torque, fuel consumption, exhaust backpressure, spark advance, detonation thresholds, volumetric efficiency, carburetor flow, crankcase blowby volume, friction horsepower, etc, were all carefully measured and plotted in a 36-page document. Very much more detailed and realistic information than Chrysler ever published on the subject. Once I learned of this report's existence, it took me about two decades of persistent trying to get hold of it before I finally succeeded—just in time; a few months after I finally got my paws on it, the GM technical archive was decimated. Everything older than 15 years was discarded. Not digitized, not microfilmed, not offered for sale; it was all shredded and trashed.
When I finally got the manilla envelope containing the report, I was overjoyed until I actually opened it. It was a Photostat (primitive predecessor of the photocopy) and it had not aged well. It was barely legible—the letters and numbers and plot grids and lines could be made out, one little bit at a time, by putting a very strong light behind the page and using a magnifier.
Sometimes barely-legible documents have to be restored because there's no other source for information needed for a legal matter or other serious business. So, there are document restoration experts. Their services do not come cheaply (why do dogs lick their balls? Because they can!), but by accepting a lowest-priority status, with my document worked on in dribs and drabs as time allowed, I was able to get a price that was not completely out of the question.
A year and a half later, the result proved worth the wait and cost. This guy brought the document back from the dead—sincerely. Every letter and number, every image, every chart and plot grid and line, all faithfully restored or reproduced, clear and sharp with perfect accuracy and better-than-original legibility (plots of various engine characteristics have different-colour lines for each parameter, so you don't have to guess which plot curve goes with which axis label, for example). Even the images are surprisingly good quality.
My Slant-6 days are pretty well behind me, but this document shouldn't just fade back into obscurity on my shelf. It's nicely coil-bound with front and back covers. Cover and two pages shown here.
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