A great new (old!) find...

[eluxomarty]

Jack

Your vacuum is absolutely beautiful! What did you use to shine the motor cover? Congratulations on your latest aquisition!

Marty

 

[hygiene903]

Congratulations Jack!!

That's one beautiful 541. I just got one myself about a month ago. But on mine either the motor has been switched out or it has a special cap for a headlight. Would much rather have the original like yours. Even your replacement bag is nicer--you have a genuine HOOVER replacement, where mine is just a generic. I trust yours runs better than mine, too. Mine just doesn't seem up to speed.
I also agree with you and Ian--part of the fun of this hobby is actually running the vacuums. Actually, I think it's the best part of the hobby!!
Happy Hoovering,
Jeff

 

[vintagehoover]

Marty - The shine was really a consequence of my attempts to remove the big dirt-patch from the top of the motor (can be seen in the earlier pictures) - I think it was made up of motor oil and dust, probably baked on with motor heat! I used WD40 and white spirit, then some ordinary furniture polish once the stain had gone. Took about 10 mins to remove it all!

Jeff - It seems to run fine, although the brushes are quite worn, and aren't really in much contact with the floor. Your motor cap with a headlamp sounds quite interesting, I'd love to see a picture. I know these were available as aftermarket accessories, and were often fitted to Hoover Specials which started life as non-headlamp models. You never know, it might be quite a rare find! Certainly keep the lamp-cap if you do decide to replace it with an original, I wouldn't have thought there'd be many 541 lamp-caps around.

 

[lux1521]

Lamp-cap and Oil Filler

A Hoover 541 with a lamp cap sounds especialy intersting due to the fact that they would have to work around the oil filler on the top of the motor. It must be a very hard to find thing and I have never seen one. The lamp-caps for models like the 725 are hard enough to find, can't imagine how rare one for a 541 is.

 

[hygiene903]

Hoover 541

You guys have a point, maybe the headlight cap is something to hang on to. And with this cap, the light appears to be built in, rather than added on. And the bulb has a screw-in base, rather than the usual bayonet style. And there is a hole right in the top center for oil. I do still have suspicions, that the motor may have been switched out at one point. I'll find out more Saturday, as Tom Anderson will be having a look at it.
And Jack, I know what you mean about the brushes, but believe it or not, yours has much more bristle left than mine!!
Jeff

 

[vintagehoover]

New! Improved!

MUCH better video, done this afternoon...

 

[arh1953]

What a neat Hoover! It sounds great for a little old lady!