1970s/80s Hitachi C-V160 Restoration & Strip down

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I snagged this little gem for free back in the end of November, ran beautifully and was almost complete, only missing the dusting brush and upholstery tool.

I don’t have any information on this machine and have only seen a few across here and YouTube, but from what I can piece together these were a budget cleaner sold in the mid to late 1970s up until around 1986, and for its time surprisingly a bag less machine and made in Singapore.

From what I found when stripping this machine down was a suppressor with a date of 1976 so I know mine was made in at least that year or after.

As usual, I’ll start with before pictures and showing the process and transformation, enjoy!

Before clean video

 

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On her way home with me

 

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Starting with stripping down the floor tool and removing the pieces off the hose. Lots of fluff in here as I’ve found is a tendency for floor tools. Was rather satisfying to remove.

 

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Old style pre-sheathing plug and pins. This confirms the age range as the UK changed the laws that plugs must have black sheathing half way on the live and neutral pins in around mid to late 1980s (if memory is correct has been a while haha)

 

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Top half comes off like a numeric Henry etc. serial plate if anyone is able to date these. Started with taking off the rear wheels, the from castors are riveted in so had to stay on. Surprisingly the rear wheels actually have a metal cap on.

 

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Onto the motor now that the bucket has been stripped. Simply two screws holding on the metal motor cover, revealing the motor and lots and lots of dust. Thankfully all of the foam has held strong and didn’t disintegrate.

From here I disconnected the motor, the switch came out with the motor. I do rather like these big solid switches.

 

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Unfortunately the rubber grommet has become very very brittle due to age, so I left it alone in place to prevent any damage.

 

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Now with the motor removed, the handle and check bag indicator can be removed. This machine uses a ball bearing and spring instead of the typical piston. This ball bearing did get stuck but thankfully after soaking and some persuasion taps it came free.

I did attempt to remove the motor foam at this stage but left it as didn’t want to risk ripping it, although the cleaner and warm water during washing loosened it off and was removed during washing.

 

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Foam around the motor and the foam that sits under the motor was removed. I couldn’t wash these as it’s cardboard attached to them and I didn’t want to risk ripping the foam, so a quick vacuum with my Henry and it cleaned up fine.

 

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Suppressor on motor as I suspected. This was later removed by cutting the two wires and rejoining using a chock block/terminal block. These do have a tendency to go bang pop and smoke so I wanted it gone before it gave me a heart attack.

 

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Parts in for washing in a nice warm lemon bath.

At this point I didn’t realise the pre motor filter and furniture guard would actually come off but I think with the warm water and cleaner it loosened off and was removed during its bath.

 

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Parts left to dry, hose in the airing cupboard for a week or more to help it dry. Filters on the heater.

The hose is supposed to be white same as the hose connector, handle wands and tools, however these will be retro brited in summer next year.

 

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With the parts drying, I attempt to start work on the motor. I managed to get the fan case off…aaand that was it haha. I couldn’t get the bolt off of the fan or the two bolts on the motor, shame as I wanted to grease the bearings. I did clean the fans though.

And upon closer inspection, I don’t think this motor has much life left unfortunately. It looks like it either got very very hot once or more in its life or, it’s getting close to burning out unfortunately, as half of the windings are a proper shiny copper colour and the other half there is visual burning/discolouration on the copper.

 

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During washing the parts, I noticed a large stone stuck in the crevice tool, not really sure how but A+ for effort. This was removed with a gentle tap from a screwdriver.

 

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Parts all dried and ready for re assembly.
Motor foam on the sides was hot glued back into place.

 

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Started with the mains cable, handle and check bag indicator. Really pleased how well that cleaned up. Can actually see it now! Then the motor and its foam and gasket all reattached.

 

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Wheels, filter and its cage all reattached as well as the hose connector and flap. Added a drop of oil to all the wheels and they now run smooth again and glide beautifully over the carpets.

Amazingly the rear wheels still have their protective film on them.

 

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Filter looks miles better now and smells nice and fresh. This is an interesting one as it feels similar to a coat/suit fabric but fluffy like Sherpa or wool on the underside.

 

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Gave her a quick wax/polish. I did quickly try to remove some of the marks and paint, some still does remain but I will revisit in the future and try to remove the rest.

 

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For laughs I decided to put her next to my Henry, the size difference is amazing, so tiny haha.

 

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And here she is now she’s all done, quickly reattached the hose for a few quick pictures then it’s gone back into the airing cupboard to dry out further.

To say she wasn’t in particularly bad shape to start with, I am surprised how well she’s cleaned up and looks now.

I also noticed in this picture the hose is slightly misshapen in places.

 

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And the finale…

I will try to remember to re visit this thread once the hose is all dried to post an after video / a video of her running.