Another very rare bird goes for peanuts

[crevicetool]

In this shot you can see the "false bottom" that directs the airflow to the bag chamber. Also shown is the top rubber motor mount.

 

[crevicetool]

Bag chamber attached. Again a little picture. Must have been with my old camera.

 

[crevicetool]

In the Atlas.....

And the Whirlwind (whoops - a name I forgot about) - the motor sits conventionally, and there is duct-work for the inlet to the bag chamber. The gasket at this end is also the motor mount. The rear mount (cheap in my opinion) also prevents the motor from turning. There is a gasket at the top end of the bag chamber where it seats against the bread-box top cover. There is also a gasket between the two halves. NO baffling NO insulating blanket. The entire body is filled with exhaust until it finally exits at the blower port.The machine is quite loud.

 

[crevicetool]

Completed machines: After......Jet99

 

[crevicetool]

And the Atlas.

 

[crevicetool]

This is a picture of me when I was 18 with my 1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Sport Sedan after I brought it home.

 

[crevicetool]

yeah I know, what does that have to do with vacuum cleaners...

 

[akabent]

John Denver!!!

Works for me!
RB

 

[midcenturymike]

Wow Rick! Great work on both machines!

and, Thank you for the tutorial and slide show!.

So, as I understand it now, the Jet 99 was better built, more quiet, and less expensive than the Atlas?

That's a great car! Do you still have it?

Michael

 

[electrolux~137]

ALL TOGETHER NOW:


Take me home, country roads
To the place I belong
West Virgina, Mountain Mama
Take me home, country roads

 

[westingman123]

ummmmm

Personally, I think he resembles Elijah Blue. Rick, do you have a famous Mama?

 

[crevicetool]

That was my school hair cut. In the summers it was past my shoulders. I was also 6' tall then and 168 lbs. As to whether or not I sill have the car let me put it this way....

1. Car gone.

2, Hair gone.

3. Blondness Gone.

4. Now 5'11" so height gone.

5. At 187 lbs cute figure gone.

At least still I've still got a great memory.

Michael, what was your question?

Oh yeah. Jet99's were less expensive than Whirlwinds, Reginas, and Atlas.

Rick

 

[luxg]

Rick, thanks for sharing those great pictures! The finish on that Atlas is fantastic! Did you also restore the 41 Chevy?

Terry

 

[crevicetool]

No Terry, that car was a money pit back when I had none. I did finish the body work and the interior for the most part, but never painted it beyond primer. My Dad gave the car away after I was no longer interested in it.

Funny story about the radio in that car. I brought the radio in the house to fix it. We lived next door to a TV repair shop and I got the tubes tested/replaced and a new vibrator.

I was at the kitchen table with it wired to a six volt car battery charger. I said to my Mom, when I get this working, wouldn't it be funny if old music came out of it.

Well, the vibrator fired up, the tubes lit up, and Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy was the first thing that radio played after who knows how many years....

Bette Midler....NOT the Andrews Sisters. My Mom just about fainted though.

I used to be able to sing (full voiced)falsetto and sound just like Patty Andrews BTW.

so,

6. Voice gone too.

Rick

 

[westingman123]

So, did you name the Chevy Christine?

 

[portable]

Hey Rick -

Love the old picture - I'd say the resemblance is closer to Jackson Browne, but just my opinion.

And, sorry about your loss of #s 1 through 6, but you have other charms...........

 

[midcenturymike]

Well! Now these are just getting down right common!

Another one? Its missing it's rubber bumper and original tools. With all these deeply closeted Atlas'are coming out now; I don't know what to think!

Michael

 

[crevicetool]

OK, - ya caught me......

I've been crankin' these puppies out in my garage. I bought the original dies and foundry molds from Landers in 1964. What you are seeing come up on EBay so often now are machines that I am building in my garage then scratching them up, giving them an acid bath and hittin' 'em with a ball-peen hammer just a little to make them look vintage. Once a year I trek across the country with 18-20 them in the van, and drop them off in peoples front yards at night. Somehow they make it on EBay.

So, you're welcome in advance if you should happen to win one.

Mine are the ones with New Britain spelled incorrectly. That way you can tell an original from the knock-offs.

Rick