A wierd streamlined thingy that might stump you.

Bought this at auction recently and it was advertised as
"Atomic Hood Ornament with light". Saw the ancient wiring and
just could not resist buying it. Well, shock and horror when I
opened it up and found a heater that looks like it's made
with asbestos. Went into emergency mode washed hands and cleaned
up the mess etc. When the panic subsided I took a good look at
it and it is positively weird. Firstly there is this heater
sitting inside a tube with a hole at the front(?) maybe.
Then there's this weird structure on top that sits at an angle
and may represent the letters "OAP". Is something meant
to be shoved in the hole and when heated removed? Why is it
streamlined? I was thinking automotive but it may be aviation.
Something like a wingtip heater to break the ice. It is made of
aluminium and is approximately 19cm (7.5") long by 8cm (3.2") wide
by 13cm (5.1") high. Any ideas???????????
cheers
Stephen

 

Possibly a heater for a carburetor ???

 

Hi,
I would venture a guess. Perhaps a cigar lighter?
greg

 

I'm with Greg on this one. (Cigarette)

 

I have seen similar (though not for decades) mounted on the bridge of boats and once on the dashboard of a Rover (BEFORE they had upholstery and air conditioning!) to light cigarettes as well.

 

Couple of problems with the cigar/cigarette theories. Firstly the heater coil is insulated (remember the asbestos) from the metal tube that pokes out the front so I doubt it would get anywhere hot enough. As a fagger I know it takes a lot of heat to light one. Usually metal has to be close to glowing before it works. Secondly the metal tube touches the aluminium so the casing would also absorb heat as well. No cigar so far gang.
Cheers
Stephen

 

Another curious problem. There doesn't seem to be anyway of mounting it. I think the hole at the back is for the wiring and there is nothing underneath to hold it. It certainly meets the requirements of a "thingy".
Cheers
Stephen

 

Just a passing thought - are there any signs of paint residue on the crested connector mounted on the top? I keep seeing "letters" in the way it is formed, as in a logo such as OAP, etc.

Back to its purpose - without some sort of fan or air propulsion mechanism I don't think it is a defroster of any kind.


AND

I just went back to re-read something in your original post and saw that YOU mentioned the possibility of lettering on the top - first - DOH! Second, if two persons "see" it it MUST be true. There may be a clue there, but I don't have a clue what that clue is..........


jeeze is this reply a waste of typing time or what????????????

 

Don't give up. This things driving me crazy too. OAP "Old Age Pensioners" association??
Cheers
Stephen

 

Probably a heater for a curling iron.

https://www.google.com/search?q=vin...#hl=en&tbm=isch&q=vintage+curling+iron+heater

 

With my WAG I thought there was a hole in the base possibly for sending heat down a tube to a carb. If it was mounted open side to the back then low pressure would push air down but the carb would suck its own air down anyway and 'backwards' mounting would reduce the cooling effect of moving air.
There may have been another part or parts/clips it mounted in.

 

There's a problem with that idea. The back end of the tube buts against a bunch of that asbestos stuff. There is no airflow route through the tube. So the way I see it when the heater lights up all the heat radiates to the wall of the container and depending on how much power the heater has will determine how hot the container gets. I'm thinking it's low power and warms up the aluminium but what for is the question. Heater for a chicken farm??

Cheers
Stephen

 

Might be but the heater coil is insulated from the tube. The casing would get massively hotter than the iron.
Cheers
Stephen

 

Well, even if the mystery is ever solved, I WOULD use this as a hood ornament. Mounted on a Ford F-1 truck, with the hole pointed forward and a small engraved plaque engraved "Beware of Death Ray".............take THAT Bubba...........

 

Are F1 trucks popular in Australia? And I wonder what the equivalent to bubba is

 

You talkin' to me? Huh? You talkin' to ME? Well if you are (and I hope so!), I have to say that I have no idea..............I'm in the States these days, and have never spent more than a fortnight at any one time in Australia. I was actually channeling my Cracker past in Florida. And during THAT period of my life F-1s were not considered all that old or rare.................

 

Put one of those (((Zinggggg))) whistles in it.

 

Holman maybe.

 

Well you're one up on me, I've never been to Australia (though I'm currently watching Miss Fisher mysteries). I was trying to imagine this on the front of an old 1930s truck with OAP standing for Overland Australia something or Outback Australia something with a little red light on the nose end of it. Boy that's really helpful LOL! I have googled a bit but without results.

 

early car warmer.........humm...