Kirby Classic III Cleanup/Restore

[techguy189]

Hello all, I have been browsing the forum for a day or so before I decided to join. I am a teen trying to get a taste of the vintage vacuum scene. Today I rescued a Kirby Classic III from a friend who recycles scrap metal. He found this machine on the side of the road for trash collection and decided to hang onto it. When I went over to his house to pick up some computer parts (another hobby of mine) I saw it sitting in the corner and I checked it out. I hadn't been into vintage Kirby's before this, so I was amazed to see that this was in fact a Kirby, as I assumed it would be a Royal or the such. Long story short, I kept thinking about that vacuum just sitting in the garage and after I did some research, I talked to him to see if I could strike up a deal. He told me that I could just have it if I came to pick it up and that it also ran. I picked it up and sadly, until I can clean it up I have to keep it in my garage, but at least it's safe. I brought in the Front Head Assembly to start working on that and I plan on bringing in the rest tomorrow. I will post some pictures of the process so far, as well as along the way. One thing that I have noticed, this machine is missing the Sani Emptor and has either a modified Kirby bag, or a replacement bag with a zipper to be used with it's disposable bag kit. I'm not sure if i will restore it to the original shake out style just yet or not.

Parts that I know it will need include:
Foam Gasket around Brush
Sticker from around Belt Engaging Mechanism
Sani Emptor
Classic III Bag
Bag Hanger
Vinyl Bag Hanger Cover
Hose
Accessories

 

[stricklybojack]

Welcome aboard..

the fix up threads are my favorite. Can't have too many, it's a pleasure to watch an old machine brought back from the dead and back on the job. Thanks in advance.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

techguy189

Good luck on your restoration! I'd love to see what your Classic III looks like.

In the meantime, a British Kirby collector (machineage) shows off his finely restored CIII, and devoted a full thread about it here:
http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?20077

~Ben

 

[techguy189]

Thanks!

Hopefully I can post a few pictures soon. That Restored C III is absolutely unbelievable! This one is pretty tarnished and scratched, but with the exception of only a few deep scratches, all are very light surface scratches. Thanks Again for the Support!

Note: Another Potentially Needed Part:
Suction Release Vent (under the hood)

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

techguy189

The part numbers that you want for your project are:
154870S - Rug Plate (1CR/3CB)
146376 - Belt Lifter Label (2CB)
179978S - Sani Emtor casting (1CR/L2)
186076 - Sani Emtor tray, red (2CB)
186182 - Sani Emtor tray gasket (1CR/L2)
188087 - Sani Emtor round rubber gasket (1CR/L2)
190077S - Bag complete less guard (2CB)
191676 - Bag guard, red (2CB)
223676S - Hose complete, red (2CB)

Good luck finding all of these. Some of them can be purchased new, others will have to be bought used.

~Ben

 

[techguy189]

Awesome!

Thanks So Much Ben!
2 Other Parts, if you could possibly provide P/N That would be great.

Suction Release Vent (under the hood)
Front Assembly Red Bumper

Also, since I'm in a suburb of Cleveland, and Cleveland being Kirby World Headquarters where the do some if not all of the Maintenance, would I be able to buy any parts direct from them? I know I cannot have them rebuild y machine cost effectively as I'm not the original owner, but hey, where's the fun in that anyways.

Thanks, i really appreciate the help.

Matt

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

techguy189

Those other parts are:
140476 - nozzle bumper, red (2CB)
143179 - suction relief vent plate, white (516/3CB)

~Ben

 

[sries]

Welcome

It's nice to see more people joining the forum. I like restoring vacuums too. I guess it's the feeling of knowing that I was the one that got it to look so nice and that I did enough research and had the mechanical ability to fix and clean it up. Good luck on the restoration.

 

[danielsand]

You are in good company here. These guys know everything about vacuums.

There are very few things more satisfying, than restoring/rescuing something neglected, and abused, giving it a "new life", and restoring it to it's former glory (to me anyway, and discounting other pleasures in life,.....like a good woman, gourmet meals, fine cigars, and 25 year old single malt!).

I restore MANY things,.....cars, motorcycles, airplanes, guns, Rolex watches, antique furniture, and as of recently,.....Kirby vacuum cleaners!

Just be careful,....these things tend to multiply, and you end up running out of space (says the guy with 13 rescued animals, six cars, three motorcycles, 25+ guns, an airplane, and three Kirbys!).

Welcome to the forum!

 

[suckolux]

My friend had one with this bag conversion on it, I think it used f&g bags, really cut down on the air flow I felt. Thankfully she still had the old bag!

 

[ronni]

Welcome to the forum, Matt.

Regarding the bag and attachments if you can wait I would recommend frequent 'thrifting'--checking out thrift stores for them as they do appear occasionally at decent prices. You may even find some other Kirbys to begin a collection or for parts.

Another more economical source would be well-established vacuum cleaner stores with basement, back room, or garage storage areas of trade-ins.

Your idea of buying parts directly from Kirby is good, too.

 

[techguy189]

That's a good idea with Thrift Shops. I'm also going to call a local shop that is an Authorized Kirby Dealer (or something like that). I'm also in contact with a forum member involved with Kirby as well. Ben, do you have a part number of the Red Vent suction release cap?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Matt,

That would be part no. 143176.

~Ben

 

[techguy189]

Thanks. I called a couple local shops, and one of them had nothing but could order new in black, and one believes that they have the parts (mostly used) between their two shops and they offered to sell me a "complete" Classic III out of their storage (again if they had one) for approx $50-100 depending on condition. I'm also talking to a member of the forum on prices for these varying parts above. That could then be use for parts as it may have varying issues. Anyways, I would like your opinions on my best bet on getting parts? I feel like if I got another, I'd have to fix it up too as we don't want any neglected Kirby's

Additional Parts Needed:
Red Cord
Red Plasic Trim where the money slot and cord clips are. (cord clips are busted off)

Thanks,
Matt

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Matt,

Cord - part no. 192076
Rear handle cover - part no. 174576
Rear handle cover screw - part no. 174976

~Ben

 

[techguy189]

Hello, here are some pictures of my Classic III including before pictures of the Head Unit and a picture of the mess of a bag left in this machine. I believe that it has a Heritage II/Legend as it is Silver and has the 4 Rows of Bristles. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could sanitize the bristles? I’m not a huge germaphobe, but something just rubs me the wrong way about using this on my carper after being through someone else’s carpet and dust. Also, I adjusted the screws on the sides of the roller as one or both were ticking out from the bottom ever so slightly and I did;t want to scratch any hardwood that this machine may be used on, I hope this didn’t mess anything up.You can see the big mess that the bag made even after sweeping up. (Yes I know its terrible to have this machine outside but I'm glad that i kept it in my garage because of the huge bag that the bag made. I also included a picture of the outer bag with it's clamp to hold it on the tube, and the round spring to hold the disposable bag onto the fill tube. It also looks like this machine was never Factory Rebuilt and that it was last serviced nearly 25 Years Ago! It was most likely at a local store as it has their sticker on the front Ben, Thank you for all of the model numbers, I must ask though, where do you get them? Do you have some kind of service manual that you could scan so that I’m not bothering you?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Matt,

Yes, the double-bristle brush roll was first introduced with the Heritage I (1981-84). It is actually an improvement over the single-bristle brush roll last used on the Tradition (1979-81). But if you desire originality for your CIII nozzle, order the single-bristle ball-bearing brush roll no. 152575 and belt no. 301291.

Besides the Sani Emtor setup, you can also use genuine Kirby disposable bags on your CIII if you use the Legend II Mini Emtor setup and the G4 Micron Magic paper bags.

I do obtain these part numbers from service manuals and other websites.

~Ben

 

[bnsd60m9200]

Matt, with today's kirby part numbering system, with the exception of motor parts, brushrolls and light bulbs. all those part numbers afore mentioned are quite useless as kirby's part numbers change as stuff is phased in and out. if you need classic III parts contact me. if i dont have spare parts you need, i have outlets where i can attain them.

Will Hemb

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Matt,

Here's a complete vintage Kirby Classic III bag setup for you (must still find Sani Emtor with red bottom):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-KIR...AKE-OUT-BAG-UNIVERSAL-RED-OUTER-/161549811379

And a vintage red hose:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-KIR...E-ATTACHMENT-UNIVERSAL-RED-PART-/161549802462

~Ben