gmerkt
New member
I've run across lots of Convertibles in my travels, but I'm not often tempted to pick one up. Usually, it's a matter of condition as the ones I see are mostly ratty. A few days ago, I was in a local vac store that takes in lots of trade-ins (as well as does their own dumpster-diving) and saw this thing for sale for $10.
This is a Model 707. I believe it has a later bag on it, as the one on it isn't the green plaid. It's probably a replacement unless someone can tell me differently. The weird color of this machine is what got my attention.
My dad was an air force officer and when I was a kid, I used to go down to the flight line once in a while on weekends. I've been kicked out of a few planes on those visits, and crawling around in old WW2 vintage places, this color was seen a lot. It's called zinc chromate, which was applied as a preservative for the insides of the aluminum skins.
So the green color on this Convertible looks quite a bit like zinc chromate.
This vac is in pretty good condition, with some wear and tear and scratching on it. No corrosion, minimum of filth, outer bag was clean, and I like that this one takes a disposable top fill bag unlike the older Convertibles which take the bottom fill bag.
After I graduated from high school, I shortly moved into my own apartment, the first place I had on my own. Nice one bedroom, $85 a month. One thing I needed was a vacuum, and I barely remember buying one, but it musta been a Convertible because it had the fat O-ring drive belt and a spring doughnut which held the bottom-fill bag in place. I didn't have it long, because less than a year later I was in the army and had to vacate the apartment. Most of the contents I gave away, including the vac.
Well anyway, this is the only Convertible that I have in my line-up and it will probably be just a representative piece. I won't go out of my way to find more, but if a good one comes my way I won't turn my back on it.
This is a Model 707. I believe it has a later bag on it, as the one on it isn't the green plaid. It's probably a replacement unless someone can tell me differently. The weird color of this machine is what got my attention.
My dad was an air force officer and when I was a kid, I used to go down to the flight line once in a while on weekends. I've been kicked out of a few planes on those visits, and crawling around in old WW2 vintage places, this color was seen a lot. It's called zinc chromate, which was applied as a preservative for the insides of the aluminum skins.
So the green color on this Convertible looks quite a bit like zinc chromate.
This vac is in pretty good condition, with some wear and tear and scratching on it. No corrosion, minimum of filth, outer bag was clean, and I like that this one takes a disposable top fill bag unlike the older Convertibles which take the bottom fill bag.
After I graduated from high school, I shortly moved into my own apartment, the first place I had on my own. Nice one bedroom, $85 a month. One thing I needed was a vacuum, and I barely remember buying one, but it musta been a Convertible because it had the fat O-ring drive belt and a spring doughnut which held the bottom-fill bag in place. I didn't have it long, because less than a year later I was in the army and had to vacate the apartment. Most of the contents I gave away, including the vac.
Well anyway, this is the only Convertible that I have in my line-up and it will probably be just a representative piece. I won't go out of my way to find more, but if a good one comes my way I won't turn my back on it.
