Wow Kenny, what a great ending to the story. You were obviously not going to rest until you were certain that this vac absolutely could not be redeemed. I have to admit I'm a little relieved. I grew up when this model was popular and though my family always had Convertibles, I was always intrigued by the DAM.
And after reading your initial thoughts on this, I have been looking for the Consumer Reports from my grandfather's collection that was very favorable about the DAM and was so enthusiastic that finally an upright could do a decent job at both carpet and above floor. I didn't find it yet, but still looking.