Took a closer look at the grinders. I think my powers of observation are slipping
The cleaner of the 2 had a recent partial repaint, the original center band was left with original paint, and basically everything cast iron was repainted. The color isn't original.
This grinder also has a tool rest made of aluminum angle
I guess better than none.
This grinder is also noisier and vibrates more than the other one, but not what I would call excessively so.
Dirty grinder: right side wheel guard is cracked in 3 places. 2 cracks by where it attaches to grinder are filled with dirt and look older. They are also small, maybe 3/8" long. 3rd crack goes from outer edge into the hole where eye shield is bolted on, and isn't dirty indicating a recent addition
This crack is maybe 1.5" long. I'm guessing it fell or got dropped on the eye shield. Luckily this is mostly cosmetic, not sure about smaller cracks yet.
This grinder runs very, very smooth.
Since they were cheap I'm not that upset. They are nice little grinders, just need tlc.