"Blue" Kirby Classic III?

[kirbyclassiciii]

Does anyone here remember any Kirby Classic IIIs rebuilt in Tradition blue? Yes, I understand these were bojacked.

These rebuilds would have occurred between 1979 and 1981 (the period in which the Tradition was then being sold). Some rebuilds involved the Classic III's original belt lifter being painted blue (being careful enough as not to obscure the Vis-A-Belt window), while others just used the Tradition nozzle.

I suspect the ones with the painted belt lifter were 1979 rebuilds (while the Tradition was being made with the headlight safety switch).

~Ben

 

[jfalberti]

Retrimmed Kirby models

I've never seen a Classic III re-trimmed to look like a Tradition, but have seen plenty of Classics and Classic Omegas that were.


 


When I worked for Kirby selling the Tradition, there were two local vacuum stores that were advertising "brand new Kirby and attachments"for $299. At the time the K and A sold for $569 The RR and HB were $100 each so a full boat Tradition was $769.00  We went to check them out, and what they were displaying was either a Classic or a Classic Omega that was re-trimmed in blue  with a blue Eureka style paper bag adapter.  If a customer came in asking about them, he would try to switch them to a Royal.  A lot of the time he was successful.  If the customer stuck to their guns and wanted a Kirby, he was conveniently out of them. 


 


Here is a picture of a re-trimmed Classic I saw at a local Thrift Shop last year

 

[kloveland]

Kirby rebuilds


I’ve seen many Kirby rebuilds that were rebuilt by independent vac shops. Tracking every rebuild would be impossible. Figuring out their reasoning for using multi-colored bojack parts is beyond me. Some of the Kirby rebuilds that I’ve seen look really ugly.

I’m sure many vac shops back in the day rebuilt Kirbys to look like the current model being sold at that time. A couple of weeks ago I saw a Classic III with a Heritage II style rug nozzle. Some vac shop must have shaved down the rug nozzle.

I'm not a Kirby expert by any means. I’m not sure if any documentation exists on the Tradition rebuilds by non-Kirby dealers.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

The example I'm referring to, I'd last seen it at the defunct Complete Vac and Sew independent distributor in Gladstone, OR, in 1990-91. The other bojack thing about it was the common Eureka F/G disposable bag setup.

Of course, the real Heritage II nozzle will not fit on the Classic III. I tried doing so, getting the Legend II nozzle to jibe with the Classic III safety switch, and the operation didn't work.

~Ben

 

[IL-Kirby-Fan]

Kirby Rebuilds

The Kirby Company used to carry trim pieces for older models in a variety of colors. So the Belt lifter of the Classic III's weren't painted blue, Kirby had blue Classic III belt lifters made and the different color parts were available from Kirby until I want to say mid 1990's. I have seen Classics, Classic Omegas and Classic III's rebuilt in Red, Blue, Green, Brown, Black and Maroon. Kirby themselves would offer to change the color of a previous model to whatever the new color when they would do a rebuild. The owner had the choice of it being rebuilt all original or to the newest color at the time.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Blue Classic III Belt Lifter

A colored-pencil drawing of the Classic III's painted belt lifter.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Joe,

It should be known that the Royal 880 and 888 (the latter with the removable head) were not very strong in suction with their 3 amp motor (that was the motor size for these two back in '79) while the Kirby still had the 6 amp motor and, consequently, better suction. They only got more competitive with the Kirby, motor-wise, after they got stronger 4.5 amp (1980) and 5.4 amp (1985) motors.

~Ben

 

[KirbyCollector01]

Wow again

 

[rainbowd4]

The rug nozzle on my heritage 84 (original) fits perfectly on my classic III. I've tried it many times just playing around. Yes, the safety switch is different, but the area of the nozzle casting, where it connects to the attaching bar, it has the little square piece that depresses the safety switch on the cIII, perfectly. I guess when they changed the part of the casting that meets the safety switch, the simply added whatever was needed to fit the new model, and left the older one still in place. My 13in heritage II nozzle also fits the cIII. Maybe they weren't all like that, but mine were.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

RainbowD4

Chris,

My 13" Heritage II nozzle (serial number dates it to September 1985) does not have the lug that would correspond to the Classic Omega-style speed switch so I suspect that change was made pretty early in the Heritage II run on both nozzle sizes.

~Ben