Hoover Model 60 restoration assistance needed!

[kittingerhoover]

Hello All!

As you may or may not know I rescued a Hoover Model 60 "Special." The machine was in deplorable condition and I rescued it based only on it's rarity. I am in the process of restoration and need anyone with a 60 to check the one that they have out and tell me about the orginial paint that is on it. When this unit was reconstructed at the Hoover factory, they must of sand blasted it and painted it generic Hoover dark brown. Everything was painted including the patent label on the rear wheel support. The paint was so poor from years of abuse that I had to strip the machine to metal WHICH I HATE TO DO because I think it hurts the value not to have the original paint. I thought the brown paint was originally a wrinkle finish based on the texture, but come to find that the texture was the metal base itself after stripping the machine. It seems that when it was sand blasted they left the pits on it. The only areas that were sanded were areas I assume had imperfections from prior use.

PLEASE if you would be so kind to look at your model 60 machines and give me the following info it would be REAL helpful:

1. How dark is your paint, and does it have any type of texture
2. If you have the original cord what does it look like? Is it embossed Hoover, etc.

ALSO if anyone has an original brown Hoover dump bag that is perfect that they would like to trade a brand new old stock black pinstripe Hoover dump bag let me know. The ultimate sweeteness would be a bag printed "The Hoover Special" however a dark brown Hoover dump bag would do me justice. I would just hate to put a black bag on this beauty.

You are all the best for looking into this and pictures will be shown once the unit is done!!

Thanks

Dennis

 

[hoovercelebrity]

Hi Dennis-


 


From what I recall, only having seen a few of those in my days of collecting--the original would have had the dark brown wrinkle finish paint.  If it was rebuilt, it would have probably been repainted to be similar to the 61 or 28 paint from the late 40s -- also wrinkle finish, but lighter than what the 60 would have been originally. 


 


Below is a picture of the 60 at the Hoover Historical Center that I took in 2005.  Sort-of low resolution photo, but that was 2005. 


 


The cord would have been just like any other cord from the era, brown with the Hoover embossed plug.


 


Fred


 


 

 

[kittingerhoover]

I see it.

See that has what looks to be a tight napped wrinkle finish in a dark chocolate brown. This machine was a little lighter and had no wrinkle. The wrinkle came from the pits in the paint from sand blasting. There were areas that were sanded for imprfections that had no texture. I could not understand why until I stripped it. I am going to paint it the same as it was when I got it, only minus the imperfections. To get a similar appearance and durability I am going to use automotive paint. The strange thing is that they painted the nozzle area when they restored it. I don't know why they painted EVERYTHING on this rebuild.

As well as the above modifications, the handle was replaced with a 61 type, and a handle release was installed. This unit also had a dump bag originally installed and I know the because of the bag mount. The bag is going to be the difficult thing to obtain. I think the best I can hope for is a brown bag.

Thanks Fred

Dennis

 

[kittingerhoover]

UPDATE!

Well so far so good on the resto track. I have used aircraft stripper to remove the old damaged paint. Came off very nicely. I then sanded the whole machine gently removing scratches and roughing up the surface. I purchased wrinkle paint from the auto store. It only comes in black. I sprayed the finish in three heavy coats, then used a heat gun to make it wrinkle. This looks perfect. The next thing I need to do is fins a suitable brown top coat to make this really pop. I need to find an automotive color that is dark or medium brown but has not metal flake. I will hunt until I find something. It is going to take a few days for the wrinkle finish to harden. After the fumes are gone, I will bake it in the oven to cure it further and make it harder. I will post pictures as soon as I can borrow a camera.

Take care everyone!

Dennis