Kirby 505 FB Marketplace find...

[hmc1981]

Saw this on marketplace. About 2 hour drive each way. The guy selling said he was down here visiting and he brought it with him from Wisconsin. His girlfriend was irritated by this and he tried to sell it at a flea market and nobody wanted it. So he listed it on marketplace and I was the only bite. He said he was going to donate it to a theater school for use as a prop - but then he received my message. Welcoming to my Kirby family, 505 number 2. These photos are of how I received the machine. I will of course give it a spa day, but it doesn’t really need too much. Rare to find them in this shape.

 

[johnnyb59c]

daaaaaang dude

all original except the cord and missing rubber cover for the metal slider at the top of the bag-awesome

 

[electrolux137]

~
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WOW! Beautiful!! What a great find!!!


 


 

 

[lesinutah]

Nice

That's a sweet find. The cord looks original to me it's hard to see. The rubber bag topper I believe was an upgrade not stock.
I'm going to mention a couple options that weren't stock. The bag rubber sleeve isn't in the 505 or any manual. The 2 black hard rubber brackets running the wires to the safety switch. The bottom tab on the emtor.
Im theorizing maybe a 3rd had the rubber bag topper sleeve. There is about half with the emtor tab. I'd say 25% have the black l brackets and metal conduit on the bottom.
I have 2 505s and one all original with all the above mentioned. Then I have one rebuilt by kirby in 1961. It doesn't have the bag cover, or tab on the emtor.
It's just my observation but that's a sweet vacuum.

 

[vacmadman]

congratulations

Wow,

What a fantastic find. The cord does look original. It's almost unheard of to find one in such good shape....very nice indeed. The black rubber cuff was not an "upgrade" ....

"Black duvetyne bag (not corduroy as later) with gold and red lettering. Cursive Kirby logo in a circle, and a pair of stripes running down the bag from the left side of the circle and up to the top from the right side. Top of bag closed with a black metal clamp and covered with a black rubber cuff ".

The upper bag clip or clamp is also not mentioned in the manual, but we all know it came with one. If you look at the picture of the parts on page 4 and 5 of the 505 manual you will see the black rubber cuff pictured....at least it shows it in mine.

Side Note: The rubber cuff on my 505, came from a Kirby 2C that I bought for parts. So again the rubber cuff has been around before the 505...not an upgrade. I was told that many if not most were discarded to make it easier to remove the bag clamp, witch I find interesting it should never need to be removed if you empty the bag as instructed in the manual.

Jim [this post was last edited: 2/15/2021-12:27]

 

[human]

Amazing...

Other than a little fading on the bag, that thing looks almost like it had never been used. Great score!

 

[rivstg1]

lucky!!!!!! haha good for you, we are all envious, what a find in that condition!

 

[lesinutah]

Metal

Emtor bottoms are found in model C's and the brackets I mentioned. I'm saying they were not on every machine that rolled off the assembly line. They also didn't all have belt lifters. Belt caps were on model C's. There was this war over 50 million people died. America was the supplier for a majority of the allies. If they had rubber left over wouldn't you think they'd use it during the war

I don't throw stuff on the wall hoping to stick. I also said it's my opinion.
Email me if you want to converse. [email protected]
Otherwise don't read or reply to my posts. Were not kids and if you have a problem feel free to address it.

Chris this could be your daily driver as it's pretty nice but not in the same atmosphere as your other 505.

 

[johnnyb59c]

oh ok- sorry

the cord does look original- when i first saw the pic the other day it looked like one of the later motor ends like came out starting with 516. you definitely are one of the lucky ones. looks like everything is totally original. I don't know where or when I got them but I have 2 black emtor trays and a black 505 cord that looks like it was never used and a 505 belt lifter- but I never had a 505! hang on to that gem. did you do any polishing or was it like that when you got it? i'd love to hear it run.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Holy Moly

Was this guy a restorer and did he collect before the girlfriend damage? That serial plate looks like new.

 

[hmc1981]

Hey everyone!

Thank you for the comments!

I’ll try to answer some of the questions...

The person who sold it to me said that he got it from the original owner (who had passed) the daughter had an estate sale and said that her dad worked for the Kirby company. That’s as much as I know. The seller isn’t a collector, he just thought it looked neat but never used it. I haven’t done any polishing to it, I haven’t even wiped it down yet! I plan to do a full spa day, but that won’t be until this weekend (damn work gets in the way)! Before I take anything apart, I’ll certainly do a video and you can hear it. It sounds perfect. There’s zero bearing noise.

Thanks again for all of the comments. I couldn’t believe when I saw it on marketplace - I wouldn’t let the seller go until I had an address!

 

[vacmadman]

Rubber and the war effert

According to Wikipedia : "Kirby Model Names start with the C (1935), followed by the 2C (1937), 3C (1939), 4C (1940), 505 (1945, introduction of Magic Finger Belt Lifter for Carpet Nozzle removal)" We entered the war after the attack of pearl harbor Dec 7th 1941. So what does that tell us? From 1941 untill 1945 Kirby like many other vacuum company's "may have" focused on the war effort since there is no record of any new Kirby's being introduced between the Kirby 4C and the Kirby 505.

 

[johnnyb59c]

?

I guess I was wrong. I thought a model C was 1935 and 1C was 1937 and 2C 1939.
interesting. there must not have actually been a "!C" and that must be the reason the model plate on mine just says C on it. so the C went 2 years? 1935 and 36?

 

[lesinutah]

Yes

We all know everything on the internet is true.
I asked kent oyler kirbyneeds on ebay the person who sold Chris the 505 he had on ebay for 2200-2500. It's the nicest kirby I've seen. Kent had 3 brothers who were kirby distributors. Kent iirc did auto body work. I asked him if the 505 came with the rubber boots as you call them. He was not sure as the 505 (has 2 manuals the belt cap version and belt lifter version) it shows them on the manual. The machine In the 505 manual is a 4c. If a vacuum made in 1941 is in a 1945 first edition and the second edition 1946 and 1947 is a 1941 pre war vacuum.
You can believe the manuals that show a pic of it the 4c is the vacuum in the pictures.
I also asked about the L rubber brackets and conduit housing and he wasn't sure. Why would a man who sold the nicest vacuum I've ever seen, sold tens of thousands of kirby parts, his 3 brothers were kirby distributors wasn't sure. Kirby never really had never been open door to the public on their vacuums.
I showed him my kirby embroidery bag and he really liked it.
The bag boots, the black l brackets, double prong hood, the nipple tab on the emtor, the 2 additional metals in the handle pin, rivets in specific locations, the grain of the metal from the casting, actual square socket for headlight etc. Kirby doesn't have n open door.
If all these things can't be explained by Kent, or 2 other people who know kirby history well weren't positive. That's why imo they didn't come on every model 505.
Texaskirbyguy has a 505 which has a 4c all metal emtor. The brackets on the bottom have screw holes where they mount. You see them in all the manuals but there are models that don't have the screw holes for the brackets. There in the manual so why are there no brackets or holes for brackets.
When you deal in just facts why is the model 4c 1941 kirby in a vacuum manual through 1947?
Do all your old Kirby's have brackets and or holes for the wire conduit?
It's in the manual and the manual contradicts itself.
Yes your right you just deal with the facts. The flawed manual and Wikipedia is your validation.
Caligula could chime in tom could and what's on the vacuum that rolled off the assembly line is a grey area.
I do agree they all were suppose to have boots, brackets, sockets, metal tab on black plastic emtor.
I really don't see a need to be correct. I believe there is no correct definitive answer.
If you think my logic is flawed that's okay. If you think everything is black and white when I provide proof of flaws.
Talk to some kirby experts and I'm pretty sure it's grey to them as well.

 

[lesinutah]

Pics

The lines across the top of a black bag?
My 2 all original 508s don't have black bags.
The black bag was a test bag. The other is an original 508 bag.
Those bags don't look like the picture in my 508 manual.
The manual can be downloaded from kirby app too. Why is a 3c-4c bag in a 508 manual?
Kirby manuals don't lie.
They do lie and you too should say touche bobby boucher.

 

[vacmadman]

Kirby 1C ID plate

Jason,

If you look at a Kirby poster that shows the generations of Kirby's, On mine they show and call the Model C with the light a Model 1C but they did not change the ID plate. So even though many, even Kirby call it the 1C it was never updated on the ID plate itself. Just another odd thing that Kirby did.

Jim

 

[vacmadman]

They do lie?

Les,

If you look at the picture on page 4 of the 508 parts list they show the 508 with it's wide wheels, but if you go to page 6 they reused the picture of the Kirby 2C with the narrow wheels, Kirby reused some pictures in the manuals instead of updating all of them, just another odd thing that Kirby did to save money.

They did update the parts pages, but not all the instruction pages throughout each manual. I find it fascinating that one minute your saying "show me in a manual" and then the next minute your saying they lie.

Side note: I know Kent, and have been doing business with him for years. One thing I love about him is if he's not sure about something he's not afraid to say I don't know.

Jim [this post was last edited: 2/17/2021-10:36]

https://www.kirby.com/Manuals/Old-Manuals/Model_508_Manual.pdf

 

[lesinutah]

Your

Basing your knowledge off the manual and the pictures. My point is with the vacuums like manuals they don't update parts as they have prior models in stock. It's basically the same concept.
Yes your correct on the pics.
You need to post more videos on you tube.

 

[vacmadman]

This go's out to everyone here.

I found this to be a good source of info about the Kirby 500 series. If you have a problem with anything you see or read here, please take it up with the web page creator. He updates from time to time.

Sadly I think it's safe to say that no one has all the answers about the early Kirby's. I'm still learning, that's why I joined this group to learn what I could from those who share a love for these old machines.

Sometimes finding the truth can be like searching for the holy grail itself. We all share a common interest, and in a way that makes us family.

https://web.archive.org/web/20101106173003/www.1377731.com/kirby/