Anyone ever seen one of these? Weird.

So I was at a car show a few months back and some dude was walking around with an old cardboard box with this thing in it...he said he found it in his grandfathers garage and had no idea what it was. I didn't know either, but when he said he wanted $20 for it I didn't care...I had to have it. Apparently it's some type of lubricator that works off of the carbs vacuum and draws a bit of oil into the fuel...sounds neat...Anyway, I put it in my 52 Poncho for looks...It's not hooked up but sure gets alot of questions...anyone know anything about these? Did I get a good deal? Anyway, I think it's cool. Thanx

 

an IV for your engine!

Usually called a "top end oiler". Neat looking gizmo, probably worth $20 as art

 

I think they marketed those back in the day for people that were afraid of their engines seizing during winter. I don't know for sure but it an idea

 

yeah for 20 clams who can go wrong.. you could get creative with the explanation and say its the reservoir for the blinker fluid that's regulated by the kanooter valve...

 

Just the box itself is pretty cool. Usually the box is thrown out.

 

ha thats something i haven't seen in a long time! neat to have the box to!

 

They still sell the original Ampco Top Cylinder Lubricators. I bought one and run marvel mystery oil in it.

Kinda neat little gizmo

 

Any idea when these were around? 50's, 60's??

 

postal address suggests before 1964.....looks 40s-50s

 

So back in the day, $11.80 like the box says was a bit of ching...Cool

 

Actually its a "load demand" lubricator for dual overhead cam turn signals.

 

My dad has a similar thing on his '37 Rover.
His is a Luvax automatic chassis lubricator...
feeds heavy oil to spring hangars and othe parts of the frame etc using the motion of the suspension to activate... could be the same thing... looks very similar

 

doesnt matter what it is for cause you wont see another one at your next cruise nite . cool buy

 

yeah iv seen these. iv been into vws as well and these were very popular way back in the day as an acessory. i guess since teh pistons are laying on their side this was suposed to help with lubrication

 

Is'nt that for the James Bond smoke screen ?

 

Theres's something that would make a neat overflow tank (see that thread) if you didn't want to run it for its intended purpose. Well worth $20 in my opinion, cool piece.

 

They were supposed to lubricate the valves and top end of the engine, a lot of the guys used them when running propane because although it burns cleaner, it is a "dry" fuel and these helped lubricate the valves for longer life. Back in the day there were a host of manufactures such as Marvel Mystery Oil, they seem to be the last of the top end oil companies, we still sell a lot of it mainly to the diesel folks these days.

 

Snake oil never goes out of style!

 

Yep, I try to oil my snake regularly.

 

I assume that the company misspelled rhythm in order to use it as part of the brand name. Amazing find, and for $20...you just can't go wrong. Someplace, somewhere there's a guy waiting to pay you $100 for it.

dj

 

I think if you put some methanol in it and hook it to the carb it would be like a 1950's version on NOS.

 

Nitro mate, methanol is for wimps .

Thanks

Hayden

 

Ill buy it from ya,..haha.Realy cool,and well worth your money.Great find and only one problem,,,,i want one...................YG

 

That's exactly how the seller described this thing I bought yesterday morning in the Pumpkin Run swap area. I too felt weird, but I couldn't resist, and $20.00 seems to be the going price. Now, if the photo copied directions (thermo-fax?) folded up in the jar were just legible...

 

It appears it has MMO in it? If so, looks like the Guarantee is void? Ha

 

The company also made an oil additive by the same name. Apparantly many of the engines in the early days didn't keep the top end oiled proberly and this device would mist oil in with the fuel to increase lubrication. Old Popular Mechanics magazines had the oil advertised back in the 40's.

 

Looks similar to the Marvel Inverse Oiler version....

http://vwjudsonregister.tripod.com/oiler_page.htm

 

So what happens to the lubricating properties of the oil mist upon combustion?

 

Turns into the marvelous scavenging mystery gas that cleans out the muffler carbon dust with every pulse.

 

My dad had something similar to this as a kid, but somehow ran it straight to the exhaust so he had a smoke screen when he needed it.