Haley's Comet has an appointment at the Spa.

[aeoliandave]

Cold overcast rainy weekend. Decided it was time to spruce up Mr Comet.

As the before pics show, I got this diamond in the rough Ugliest Vacuum Cleaner Ever Made in filthy bashed & gouged shape - yet I couldn't let it get away..its so peculiar.

Now, she'll never win any prizes but she came virtually intact with the inner cloth bag, hose ends (since replaced with new silver vinyl slinky hose), and one plastic side emblem. Only thing gone is the broken off switch pedal. The hinge arms are still there, tho.

The worst of the damage is the fractured dent in the magnesium body, on the right rear top corner. It appears she was dropped quite hard.

 

[aeoliandave]

After a good scrubbing, the wrinkle textured gold paint is tarnished and badly stained in several large areas along with the usual scrapes. The dent knocked off a large patch of paint but because I want to preserve the wrinkle look I chose to leave it as is.

 

[aeoliandave]

Inside there's enough of the original paint color to establish an 'old gold' match. I found it in the automotive section as gold ceramic high heat engine paint. The speckling inside the lid cleaned off comepletely, leaving the gold and the labels in like new shape. Hooray. no need to paint that section.

Most of the mildew blistering inside the bag compartment bottom cleaned up with wire wheeling. The case was full of mouse droppings and hay bits & spiders.

 

[aeoliandave]

The working bits.

Since the cord was fully out I didn't realize the Comet came with a cord reel. While taking it apart I was contemplating putting one in, since the case is soooo big.

Wonder of wonders, it has one and the original molded plug and cord are in perfect condition! The reel was jammed open with a tree branch fragment. Once free-ed up it sprang back to life. I even found the tiny spring that engages the ratchet...in the pile of dust & mouse poop. I never throw this out until it's been sifted.

The Comet is robustly constructed of the best materials, like a Compact. meaning seriously large bolts, acorn nuts and metal screws.
The motor has it's own heavy phenolic surround funneled back to the exhaust port. Motor filter cage of the same material.

 

[aeoliandave]

Let there be Paint!

A perfect colour match preserving the wrinkle. Since I didn't attempt to finese every little paint chip dimple or the large flake on the back corner it's not to Crevicetool Rick's stellar standards. But Rick, I did hammer out the corner dent and you know what that's like with magnesium. Dang, that's hard metal! Think I'm lucky I didn't shatter the whole corner off...

 

[aeoliandave]

Lower case.

Says I should let this paint set a few days 'tho it's dry to handle in an hour.

Now to clean up the cord reel contact rings and take the motor & fans apart...

 

[camelotshadow]

Magnesium

Cool light & strong & doesn't rust

Quite a unique vac.

Best to let the paint cure
esp if it's damp out.

 

[aeoliandave]

The Haley's Comet Vacuum is a unique oddity that I first saw and read about on Charles Lester's site page for Compact. When one came up on Ebay I pursued it. No one else did. Turned out to be located right here in rural Southern Ontario a mere 2 hour drive towards Windsor, so for $10 and no shipping I got me one.

Charles' excerpt:

"A very bizarre offshoot of the Compact was the short-lived “Haleys Comet” (sic), a strange machine from another dimension that today is as scarce as hens' teeth!

I'd like to thank Jack Wolf and Mary Ellen Little for contributing information to this site. Mr. Wolf's father, Lee Wolf, was a National Distributor for Compact for about ten years. He invented the Haley's Comet vacuum and left Interstate Engineering in the late 1960's. Ms. Little is an employee of Interstate Electronics Company and is the editor of the company newsletter."

And I'd like to thank Charles Lester for making me aware.

Rick Asquith (vac-o-matic) in St Louis is the only other one here to confess so far to having one. As seen in this picture he posted, his is in nice condition with the equally odd 'plasterer's trowel' rug nozzle and floor thingie.

Say there, Rick, what's the underside of those floor tools look like?

Dave

 

[crevicetool]

Dave,

Fantastic job on the 'comet!! You've got got gold-toned Kahunas attempting the dent removal and it came out great!!! That machine will certainly be a star attraction for your collection. It will require expensive high-end real estate in the towers!

 

[aeoliandave]

Thanks Rick. That's high praise coming from you. What I'm most pleased about is comparing the new paint to the old paint and can't see a color difference. Off to get another can and paint the inside of the bag chamber as it was.

No room at Luxe Towers but with 3 Compacts and this beast we'll have to start erecting the low level drive-in Motel Compact...a nice place with 'show off the side trim' angled parking for whale bodied tanks like Universal Jet Flows, too. haha.

Making up a switch pedal from aluminum plate to bolt to the hinge stubs and I'll cover it in ribbed rubber. This vacuum must have sat a long time with stagnant water pooled in the bottom. Explains the condition of the cordwinder & bottom corrosion, but didn't touch the motor. It's in great shape and stamped Lamb Electric - Division of Ametek, Inc. Has a patent date for 1957 1958. Same fan unit used in Compacts and Filter Queens so it should pull strong. Fingers cossed.

Golly, studying Vac-o-matic's picture of the floor tools and wand end I think it might have had a Filter Queen type bezel at the end of the curved elephant trunk hose handle. Mmmmm...

 

[eluxca]

Nice restoration, Dave! The Hailey's Comet was made here in Cincinnati but you can not find signs of one anywhere. It was interesting example of form over function. Not quite a Rube Goldberg award winner, but a close runner up.

The original hose was gold and very similar if not the same as the gold Rexair model D.

Congratulations on your rare find!

 

[arh1953]

Celestial bodies

Congratulations for the sparkling new addition to Aeoliandave's heavenly collection. You should get a Comet Villager station wagon to carry them in. Paint color is stunning.

 

[vac-o-matic]

You've done an awesome job on the paint job Dave! The wands that will work for you will be Kirby wands if you don't mind the plastic as the ones that came with it are identical, just used upside down, curved at the bottom, straight at the top. You could spray paint them an antique gold to match the hose end. I don't have pics of the tool bottoms but if I can remember how, and get time, I'll post some. Mine too has to sit on the floor in my vac room, I've run out of room for shelving! Nice to see someone else with one and the great interest you're taking in it, they're truly a unique machine, with very decent suction. The rug tool is a whole other story.

Rick

 

[petek]

I can't help thinking how much that vacuum looks like that 50's GM bus of the future.. can't find a picture of it grrrr

 

[aeoliandave]

Ahah! Kirby wands. What a great choice with the flutes along the sides & all. I think I remember seeing some yellowish gold fluted plastic wands in Doug Smith's cellar...or did I? But means there is such a thing out there.

As you can see my wand nozzle has no connector - it just ends. Won't be much trouble cobbling up a wand connection. It came with some stiff cracked plastic bojack hose so this is the hose I've chosen from the parts bin. Yeah right, it was the only one remotely suitable.

Very floppy flexible silver gray vinyl with a single coil, it stretches like a slinky to 9 feet, springs back to 3.5 feet. That'll do nicely. Silver threads among the gold, eh?

There's so much room in the bag chamber I am very tempted to add on a second set of fans but I don't currently have a second spare motor. A bit down the road, tho, I'll see my vac repair guy about it. Adding two more turbine stages would give it suction power to compliment it's bulldog looks. LOL. Suck the plugs right out of hardwood planks....

Oh there I go...dreaming again...

 

[petek]

found it,, the GM Futureliner of the 50's

 

[aeoliandave]

The GM Futureliner!!!

Yes, they do look related.

I saw it and touched it in summer 2005 at the Eyes On Design Dream Car Show at the GM Design Center. All the Concept cars we drooled over as boys were there arrayed around the lawns & reflecting pool, brought in from Ford, Chrysler, GM and many Auto Museums & Private owners. On my webpage photo link I have over 200 pictures of this show.

Go see 'em, Car Guys & Gals...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/89669744@N00/sets/72157602058085823/

 

[arh1953]

I just finished your slide show. You took quite a few pics of the '38 Flying Wombat, I bought a piece of artwork of it once, I couldn't get over the selection of cars. I love the Buick showcars especially, and the '59 Electra 225 four door too, among others.

 

[aeoliandave]

Switchplate solution.

Mulling this over most of the day at work I got down to business over dinnertime.

The original switchplate pedal is a curved phenolic casting with two hinge arms, the piece molded to fit the opening with an inside flange edge that seals around the opening at rest. The switch button acts as a spring keeping the plate snug up in the opening.

The stubs of the missing plate hunges still in place I decided to make up a curved steel plate that wiould match the inside curve of the opening with a small lip to hit the stop bar molded in the body opening. Chose steel as aluminum might tend to develop a dimple over the metal switch button over time.

So, with handy dremel tool and lots of patience here's the plate test fitted and working reliably.