intv1980
Active member
Hello fellow vacuum collectors,
I need your help with the restoration of a family heirloom I acquired last year: an all original 1958 Hoover Model 31 Special upright with Model 64 attachments. Last summer I traveled to my paternal grandma's hometown of Apollo, Pennsylvania (a small town north of Pittsburgh, where my dad's side has lived since the 1750s) and I discovered this early (one of the first 2000 off the line) Model 31 Hoover in the closet of her childhood home. After I showed it to her, she told me that her brother Herbert (my late great uncle) bought it in 1958 and she remembered using it often. I asked my great uncle Ed (my grandma's brother), who owns the house now, if he cared that I took it back to my hometown of Tucson, Arizona so I could restore it and add it to my collection. He told me that he did not mind and I took it on the plane home.
Once I got home and started to restore it, I noticed that the original lacquer on the hood was coming off and a nice shiny layer was coming through underneath (photos below). A fellow collector told me I should place painter's tape over the white lettering and place it in the dishwasher, so that the old film will rinse off and reveal the new layer. Alternatively, my dad thought I could get some type of surface stripper and use that to clean the old layer off (I am worried this would melt the plastic). What do you guys recommend? I know these early convertible hoods (primarily the model 65) had manufacturing issues, so I want to be extremely careful not to damage this one that I cherish so much. Any help would be appreciated.
I need your help with the restoration of a family heirloom I acquired last year: an all original 1958 Hoover Model 31 Special upright with Model 64 attachments. Last summer I traveled to my paternal grandma's hometown of Apollo, Pennsylvania (a small town north of Pittsburgh, where my dad's side has lived since the 1750s) and I discovered this early (one of the first 2000 off the line) Model 31 Hoover in the closet of her childhood home. After I showed it to her, she told me that her brother Herbert (my late great uncle) bought it in 1958 and she remembered using it often. I asked my great uncle Ed (my grandma's brother), who owns the house now, if he cared that I took it back to my hometown of Tucson, Arizona so I could restore it and add it to my collection. He told me that he did not mind and I took it on the plane home.
Once I got home and started to restore it, I noticed that the original lacquer on the hood was coming off and a nice shiny layer was coming through underneath (photos below). A fellow collector told me I should place painter's tape over the white lettering and place it in the dishwasher, so that the old film will rinse off and reveal the new layer. Alternatively, my dad thought I could get some type of surface stripper and use that to clean the old layer off (I am worried this would melt the plastic). What do you guys recommend? I know these early convertible hoods (primarily the model 65) had manufacturing issues, so I want to be extremely careful not to damage this one that I cherish so much. Any help would be appreciated.
