OK, this is REALLY bothering me for some silly reason.

[michigandon]

OK, this is an obscure childhood memory that keeps coming back to haunt me every now and then.



I remember going with my Dad somewhere when I was real little to take the car in for repairs. Can't even remember where the shop was at or what the name of it was, but what I DO remember was this thing on the counter that I believe was supposed to demonstrate the advantages of good shock abosrbers. It had two toy cars on it that sat upon a rubber strech of "road", and there was a crank on the side. When the crank was tuned, the cars appeared to be travelling on the road which also happened to be littered with bumps and potholes. I believe the cars were something along the lines of mid-60's Buick Rivieras or Olds Toronados (Kinda like dealer promotional models, only with full-floating suspensions that acually WORKED!).



Any of you "old timers" happen to know what I'm talking about? It's probably been thirty years since I've seen one of these things. Closest thing I can compare it to today would be those Lucas Oil demonstrators with the gears that seem to adorn the counter of every auto parts store in the nation. I wouldn't mind acquiring one of these contraptions either, that is as long as I wouldn't have to pay out the wazoo for one!



BTW: I tried doing a search on eBay a couple times under "shock demonstrator" or "shock absorber demonstrator" and came up with nothing.



Don

 

[jponder]

You know what you need? One of those old wacky birds that used to did its beak in the water and the evaporation would make it keep going and going. It was filled with a liquid and they made some of the glass bulbs that you could hold and they called them the love meter. It would boil in your hand

 

[michigandon]

Uhhhhhhh, thanks but no thanks jponder.



I do remember going in a barber shop as a kid that had one of those dipping birds though...

 

[jponder]

sorry, i guess I just started thinking about funny stuff I remember from a very young age.

 

[Champane Flight]

The only one

The only shock demonstrator I remember is the one with two shocks with handles, you could push in and out on each.

 

[michigandon]

Well, here's one of those things that CF is describing:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...tem=2484994198&category=39405&sspagename=WDVW



What I described above might not have been from a shock absober compay either. It might possibly have came from a supplier of suspension components?



I'm starting to think I'm the only person on the face of the Earth that remembers this thing. :--)

 

[Eric_77]

Strange my dad found one of those dunking birds about 5-6 years ago. They are filled with dyed freon and cannot be sold because of that anymore.

 

[jponder]

Really, I thought it was methanol but you could do it with colored water. The love metere you just held the bottom of an hour glass bulb and heated the air in the bottom and if forced the liquid up a tube.



Yhe dunking bird used that head bob to evaporate the water around the birds head and create a vacume and pull the liquid up till he tipped over and got anothe dose of water, probably worked great out west, it only worked indoors in Louisiana(Airconditioning). Dont get alot of evaporation there . It could be done with water

 

[michigandon]

Strange my dad found one of those dunking birds about 5-6 years ago. They are filled with dyed freon and cannot be sold because of that anymore.

Horse puckey!!!



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1467&item=5510456097&rd=1



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1467&item=5510133614&rd=1