Hoover Convertible 66

[beekeyknee]

I got this in the mail a week ago today. I spent about 24 hours total working on her. The lady that sold her claimed she was in very good condition, which is true for the most part, but I don't imagine she is a collector or connoisseur of vintage vacs.

I have a couple of issues with the machine that I would like to solve to bring it back to my acceptable level. If any of you Hoover guys would like to offer suggestions, I would appreciate it. Some pics I will post individually and some I will probably group.

First up is before work begins. This is everything out of the box. I took the bag off the cleaner and disassembled it, as can be seen. I was immediately disturbed by two things. The outer vinyl bag was stiff and so was the bellows.

 

[beekeyknee]

Before restoration pictures.

 

[beekeyknee]

During surgery.

 

[kirbyloverdan]

Brian

What a beautiful Hoover 66 wow now it's in great hands can't wait to see the after pics congratulations in a great find .

Dan

 

[beekeyknee]

The belt pulley didn't want to come off but it finally gave way. Check out the nickle.

 

[beekeyknee]

Speed shift switch uncovered.

 

[beekeyknee]

Here's the outer bag and cord getting treatment with Meguiar's Natural Shine Protectant. I couldn't find Vinylex anywhere. All everyone had was the leather treatment products from Lexol. I hope this is as good of quality as Vinylex. What do you guys think? I treated the bag repeately and put it in the bathroom with the space heater to hopefully help it work, but it's still pretty hard and crackly.

What should I do? Keep treating it. I doubt if I'll find a NOS 66 outer bag. Is this bag original? I thought the word "Convertible" was written horizontally below the word Hoover under the handle. Was there more than one style?

 

[beekeyknee]

This concerns me a bit. The coil on this field laminate has overheated in the past. It seems to work fine though. I wonder what caused this? Could it have been run for too long of a period with the attachments on that caused this burning. There is no arcing on the armature. I haven't ran the machine with the attachment converter inserted yet. Should I be concerned?

 

[beekeyknee]

Well, I don't have a Hoover grease gun and our local vac shop didn't have one. I thought that to be stupid. Hmm.... There's one near Scranton and there's one in Minneapolis but those are too far away. What to do? Hardware store and some ingenuity. Fantastic.

 

[bnsd60m9200]

i use mequairs ultimate protectant for anything plastic, vinyl or rubber. i started using on the woodgrain for my 84 country squire and it translated over to use on vacs. seems to be the case with most of my automotive protectants, solvents and lubricants.... oreilly's and home depot are the only stores you really need to do cosmetic work on any vacuum cleaner. sears will become your best friend when you start to service machines. so will online vacuum supply sites.

 

[beekeyknee]

All better now. Here she is looking much better. The other things that concern me are - this vac seems to have less suction than my 36 that I found at a second hand shop this summer. Could it be that the bag fill tube, which is narrower on the end to allow for the connection of the blower adaptor is restricting the air flow? This is the first fill tube of this type I've encountered. The wattages are the same, but the sound of the 66 is a lower pitch and I can tell it's running slower. The fan turns easily and so does the beater bar, so that shouldn't be making a difference. It makes the normal old Convertible sound. Smooth and low. Secondly, the bellows is old, hard and starting to show a couple of hairline cracks. Should I try and replace the bellows and fill tube as one piece. I took the bellows off the fill tube to clean and condition it, but the conditioner made no difference and it was so hard I could barely put it back together. Had to use a hairdryer. So, in summary: Outer bag stiffness, fill tube (causing lack of suction ?) and hard bellows and burned coil (should I be concerned?) Is there a source for replacement bristles and should I stay with black? After pictures.

[this post was last edited: 11/29/2014-04:17]

 

[vac-o-matic]

That turned out really nice! You're very meticulous with your restorations. It reminds me of watching Fred S. take a Hoover apart. I admire anyone with the patience and know how to do that, I do not have either! Your bag appears to be from a later model 584, circa 64-68, decent color match though. The 66 bag had a different script and has gold lettering, also the original bag was held on to the handle with a spring type latch rather than the spring and the latch type was introduced midway through production of the 66.The colors of the 66 and the 584 are Garland green and pearl white. You got a nice machine for the price. The seller you purchased it from actually does consignments for a posting member here, Rugsucker is his username, and is in the process of cleaning out his store.

 

[beekeyknee]

Hi Rick,

Yeah, I read "rugsucker's post right after I bought it. Thanks for putting the loose ends together for me though.

According to thread # 11425 - And Now.....THE CONVERTIBLE LIST!!!!!!!, by kirbyvertibles in Kansas, the 1958 models had the bag spring and the 1960 models introduced the spring loaded bag latch. As far as where the bag came from, I don't know. Maybe one of the Special models? Can these machines be dated? The serial # is A2793335.

Yes, I see 584 in the list now. That sounds like where the bag came from.

B.

 

[bnsd60m9200]

find a donor convertible motor with two speeds and a headlight. most of the stuff from jimmy's is in terrible mechanical shape.

the photos confirm a burned out field coil cannot be easily repaired without know how to rewind motor fields. the lack of power has nothing to do with the stiff bag. the field coil is damaged and being a resistor to the current to the magnetic field/ armature. all metal based convertibles should run at the same speed(s). maybe sound slightly different due to slightly different armatures and field coils used over the years, but the "sound" a convertible makes in unmistakable. when its not running right its bothersome because the pleasant "hum" is off. find a cheap/ beat up convertible on fleabay or at a vac shop/ estate sale/ flea market, and replace it's guts. sometimes you get lucky and find old motors or nos motors on ebay, but that's rare and usually way overpriced.

as you repair more vintage machines, you'll realize "there is no such thing as too many spare parts"

 

[smow69]

brian

nice makeover on 66, I have an original I like it , need mine cleaned that good though , i noticed in your profile we share a birthday, but your 10 yrs my senior, my 66 has the gold lettered bag with convertible under hoover, and i dont know if its original or not but the hoover emblem on it looks like glass or plastic clear over hoover emblem I also have a 65 the same way.very nice work.

 

[beekeyknee]

OK. I did an experiment. I put a new bag in the 36 and took the whole thing off and put it on the 66. The air flow did increase some, so I think that fill tube is part of the trouble.

Will, I think you're right. That burned coil is slowing the motor down just a bit. Between those two things the 66 seems to have weaker suction. I may have a fix for the coil problem. I'll know more soon. The bellows definitely needs to be replaced. I'm going to my parents house today and won't be back until the middle of next week. I'll approach it more when I return. I'll still be monitoring here while I'm away on my iPad for any comments.

Thanks,

B.

 

[beekeyknee]

Shane,

Hello and thanks. The bag on yours is the original. We'll have to remember to wish each other a happy birthday next year.

 


Brian

 

[vacosaurus]

Grease adapter

Great idea to make the tool to grease lower bearing. I will have to try it. Bill,

 

[vac-o-matic]

Hoover emblem...

That's a great trivia question for a savvy Hoover guy! My 66 is the only one to have that plastic covered emblem and I have most of the two digit convertibles. Were those on the special gold model 65 and perhaps leftover?