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The only defect that my recently restored Kirby Heritage II Legend has is that the handle assembly is leaning forward pretty significantly. I think it has something to do with the spring inside of the motor shell but not entirely sure. Is there any way to fix this besides buying a $60 tool...

She'll be back in business in no time... You have a lot of good, knowledgeable and resourceful people on here like Lesinutah, texaskirbyguy, bikerray and many others who will help you on your restoration journey. This is a great find! A few months back I *almost* found a Kirby Classic/Omega at...

That's a "10-4" on the subject of the commutator Thanks for all your input. I guess I was stressing over nothing, lol. I will be putting it back together soon and giving it a final polish then! I wonder what is next in the pipeline for a project. I'm holding out for Classic/Omega or a...

Oh, I forgot to add, I used a commutator stone The pic of the commutator is after I have tried and tried to get the patina to wear evenly with the stone, and also to address the brush arc (one brush has an arc but the other doesn't have one that's noticeable). On the brush with a visible arc...

High speed/hose brush arc...

Low speed/floor nozzle brush arc...

How does my commutator look? For the life of me, I can't get it to have a uniform patina. I'm not sure if it will become more uniform as the brushes (which are new) have been given more opportunity to break in through normal use. Also, one brush seems to have normal, but noticeable arcing...

@bikerray - As I suspected! I was pretty sure that it had something to do with the fan type but wasn't 100% confident in my hypothesis. Unfortunately, in my case, there was no metal fan to replace -- if there was a metal fan in this, I'd definitely keep it (barring significant damage)! I think...

Sorry for the late reply... I've taken pictures of the small ring (which came out of the fan side of the front bearing/plate assembly as I slid it over the armature shaft) and the larger, fluted ring (which is what is typically included in OEM Kirby fan kits). It doesn't make sense to me to...

Hey all, I have been busy for the past couple of weeks and my D50 has been dissected down to the armature while it was waiting for front and rear bearings and brushes to be installed. Well, I installed the brushes and the bearings (the front bearing plate was replaced as a whole, since it...

Are Royal canisters direct-air? ...or are they bypass? I've never seen a Royal canister in the flesh, much less apart.

I'm 26... and I tend to like things that may look outdated, but are proven and time-tested rather than things that are flashy and tech-laden. My wife is the opposite but that's OK. One exception is that my wife and I both wanted to replace the ca. 2004 kitchen original to our house (white...

Sad... I didn't know a whole lot about Royal and had never used one before either. Well, back in January I bought one -- a 1988 884 -- from a thrift store. I almost walked away from it as I had already found a Kirby Sentria a couple of weeks before, plus there was a Kirby Heritage II Legend...

When one door closes, another opens Sorry to hear how poorly you were treated by Tacony. I have heard about the Museum before (like on blogs, travel articles, etc) so it seems like it has gotten a lot of exposure from tourists in the area, and not just vacuum/appliance fanatics like us...

Wow... crazykirbydude's description of his experience with the new RD cleaner made me real glad that I nabbed a Mighty Pro X3! Are they doing away with their traditional machines (blue/red X3 style machines) in favor of this one? I've seen the new ones at grocery stores...they don't look like...

Now that you have the hood off... It's time to track the source of the smell. Does it smell like burning electrical, plastic, oil or rubber in combination to the usual vacuum smell or does it just smell bad? Usually when there is an issue with the motor you'll have odd sounds in conjunction...

Come to think of it... I did see something in the rear of the motor housing. Those might be the washers. I will have to confirm tomorrow. I haven't decided if I want to repack or replace the rear bearing. I ordered the front bearing/plate assembly since there was some roughness in the front...

I acquired a DS50 a couple of days ago from an older couple. They hadn't used it in some time, so it sat in the corner of their basement for a couple of decades. It is in pretty good condition except for the fact that the bearings are a little dry. Anyway, I pulled everything apart and...

Not all commercial machines are screamers... Sanitaire 7-amps (both old style and new style motors) are pleasant sounding. I went from a 12 amp Bissell PowerForce bagged machine to a SC886 7 amp a year after my wife and I bought our house and it is a world of difference in every way, including...

If I was more serious in restoring vacuums... ...or anything else, I'd splurge on a good used pre-DOE dishwasher to wash and sanitize parts. Something like a BOL Hotpoint/GE or Whirlpool/Kenmore. A Hobart-made KitchenAid would be excellent too, but I'd hate to relegate such a good classic...