Hot Rod Eureka

[connorthecarguy]

I picked up this 1416 at the local vac shop where it was just waiting on death row to donate its motor.Someone previously replaced the 3.3 amp motor with a 7amp Sanitaire unit and it ran great without any work,but I can't leave well enough alone so I stripped it down and painted it GM Quasar blue with black accents and a chrome bumper.

 

[human]

Holy resto-mod, Batman!

That looks great. It's fun making things look better than new

 

[huskyvacs]

Oh that is very nice, you do not see too many custom-painted vacuums, I dunno why. There's a photo of a modern Kirby in Google somewhere that was custom-painted dayglo yellow for someone.

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e0/7c/88/e07c880094d23562f352af2fb51e2c4e--kirby-vacuum-vacuums.jpg

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Wow!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You don't mess around, do you? You've got some excellent skills there.

 

[kirbyvertibles]

Wow that's awesome!!! I love what you did there.
Also I love the kitchen floor!! I'm going to need you to roll it up and ship it to Kansas for me plz, that would look so cool in my wet bar area!!

Have you painted any other vacuums? If so I'd love to see.

 

[connorthecarguy]

When I do something I like to do it right. I don't know why you don't see more custom vacuums, you'd think you'd see alot painted to update older machines to stay in fashion at least. The kitchen floor is staying where it is for the moment,if we ever decide to change it I'll let you know. First vacuum restoration/paint,I've done other stuff before though.

 

[human]

I've seen pictures of some cool custom Kirbys done by Chicago Mike. The most creative I've ever gotten was when I stripped repainted a scarred up Electrolux PN4A last fall, with a minor custom touch of buffing out the nameplate and leaving it unpainted. At some point, I may buff it out again and clear coat it. I don't really count changing up the color scheme of my Kirby G5 somewhat by using gray replacement parts originally for an Ultimate G as being anywhere in the same category.

 

[texbodemer]

Awesome!

That's awesome! Typewriter shops used to repaint machines all the time--why does it seem like no vacuum shops did it?
Nick

 

[texbodemer]

Awesome!

That's awesome! Typewriter shops used to repaint machines all the time--why does it seem like no vacuum shops did it?
Nick

 

[human]

Kirby dealers back in the day frequently updated the appearance of older machines they took in trade by changing the plastics to give them color schemes similar to whatever the present model was. Electrolux for many years had a factory rebuild program where older models would be refurbished and repainted to match the current ones. There was also an independent company called Metropolitan that did something similar but they used some aftermarket (aka 'bojack') parts on theirs.

 

[lesinutah]

Nice

The vacuum looks sweet. You want to hot rod a eureka. They have a 8.5 or 9 amp motor that fits on this vacuum. I have pulled 143 & 144 cfms on 7 amp motors. If you use a bigger motor the cfms could be through the roof.
Maybe tape it off and make pin stripes.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Hats off to you Sir,

Just a superb job in converting a Rat-Rod into a Resto- Mod. Your attention to detail is obvious.Good for you! "Death- Row Inmate Gets New Lease On Life."