So I found out about the BobK auction from a post by Fargoguy (Thanks BTW, was the first I'd heard of it) and I spent about 2 weeks getting my money ready and bidding on a whole ton of stuff. My dad got me a loaner van and we packed it front to back and top to bottom with stuff that I had won, some really great bargains in here, but also some mystery items that I'm hoping someone here might be able to help me ID. Some of the auction listing descriptions weren't very helpful. Anyone know what this is? Auction described it as "domed thing". I could imagine it as the helmet pod from some super cool race car, or it could be part of a water heater for all I know. Anyone remember it? And this, the curved piece looks vaguely like it's convertible/roadster related, but the chromed pieces look pretty industrial. I'd feel bad if I trashed this and it turned out to be some amazing rare part, but I'd also feel bad if I'm wasting shelf space on a collapsible hamper or something dumb like that. These bumper guards were cut down in height and very well metal finished but I have no idea what they were cut for, they are clearly a left and right. I did just recently get a big pile of stuff from another custom car/49-51 Mercury guy and I'm having a hard time keeping stuff straight so these may not have even been from BobK. The profile of them doesn't look like it'd fit a bumper, unless the bumper was really square and flat. Last thing I got for now is this grille guard, this definitely came from the Mercury guy and not Bob, but I have no idea what it came off of. Looks possibly aftermarket, but clearly not adjustable width. Anyone know?
Those are customized 1951 Merc rear bumper guards. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...umper-guards-nice-pair-reduced-price.1122033/
The dome thing is what you have out and ask every visitor what it is and keep track of the most ridiculous answers. Post them here.
O.K. I gave you guys 24 hours to figure out the dome thing and you failed so I have to enlighten you all. It's a prototype bicycle helmet without the suspension installed. Really obvious now, isn't it?
I appreciate the responses. @19Fordy I'm going to try to bolt those guards to my '51 Merc rear bumper, they sure do look like they have the right inside profile for it, although the upper bullet is quite a bit longer than the '51 guards I have now, could be a bullet from something else, but I think you are correct. The "domed thing" as a paint test panel is very possible, the tape lines aren't that crisp which would make sense if it was just to test paints.