Another Kirby Restoration: Heritage

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As a follow-up to my previous Heritage II restoration, I now present the Kirby Heritage "Before" pictures:

 

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Pic 2

 

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Pic 3

 

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Pic 4

 

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And now for the "After" pictures:

.

 

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Pic 2

Shiny...

 

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Pic 3

 

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Pic 4

 

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Pic 5

 

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Pic 6

 

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The 1980's

Kirby Care Kit: All the chemicals needed to remove those unsightly stains! (just not from the box itself...

)

 

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The Kirby Heritage Product Lineup

A plethora of home cleaning aids direct from Kirby: If you've got a mess, Kirby's got an answer!

 

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Background info:

I obtained the Kirby Heritage off of Craigslist in Port Richey, Florida this summer. It was in a storage unit for a while and needed some TLC. The motor and bearings work fine, but the aluminum was rough from being exposed to weather changes for several years while in storage.


 


For restoration, the cloth bag was removed and hand-washed with Woolite (fyi; Woolite strips the natural oils from your hands, so I'll be using rubber gloves next time). It had a musty odor and staining, but now it's clean and fresh! The trim has been polished as well. Lastly, the aluminum was wet-sanded, then buffed on the grinder for that fresh-from-the-factory look!


 


I always thought this was the ugliest vacuum Kirby ever made, but after working on it and getting it cleaned up, I really like it. Plus, the machine was made the month before I was born, so that was an added bonus!


 


Jacob


 


Update: On the Heritage II restoration from earlier, the new wheel axle came in the mail and has now been installed (Thanks Bill!). Below is the picture of the finished project:

 

[vac-o-matic]

Stunning transformation, great job!

 

[JDrums0789]

ah! its beautiful! I wish I had the skill, time, and space to do this to my Heritage. I would love for it to shine as brightly as yours!

 

[louvac]

Can you explain....

how do you do the "wet sanding"? And doesn't it create fine scratches?  Yours looks good so you're doing something right. 


 


 

 

[briguy]

Wow Jacob, that Heritage is stunning! I have never seen a Heritage that complete with all the attachments & gizmos. Great job on the resto, love that Kirby shine.

 

[alkirbyguy]

Heritage

I, too, bought a Heritage off of Craigslist. Got it for $30 and only bought it because it was complete, not badly abused, and I didn't have an original Heritage. I also thought it was very ugly when I got it home, but like you said, after cleaning and polishing it, I have grown to like it very much. It definitely is a Kirby from one of the company's transitional stages, though.

 

[gmerkt]

I'm fond of the bag on the Heritage. You do very nice work. I bring Kirbys back to life for resale when I get them, but only to a functional, clean level. I can't get enough money for one second hand to justify the polishing; they just get a clean-up.