Kirby 505

[hank]

Picked this up from the local habitat for humanity store. Was in the back hidden with the other vacuums. Bought it for 10 bucks. At first I didn’t realize how old it was until I did my own research but it appears to be from 1945. It doesn’t look good cosmetically. I’m pretty sure I will have to replace the outer bag, the brush roll and maybe some of the trim pieces. However and very surprisingly the motor runs well. It makes no bearing noise at all. I should be able to restore it. Looks like the most difficult part will be cleaning it up and buffing the metal, my bench polisher is going to be busy.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Hank

Hank,

This 505... has the foot switch and most likely the nozzle casting used on models 513 to 515, as well as the handle fork from a 514 or 515!

So yes, this 505 has been rebuilt over the years! All 505s originally had black trim throughout (including the plastic Emtor bottom), but the very early 505s did not have the nozzle with the belt lifter feature.

I want to say this 505 also has a 10-blade fan.

Good luck restoring this!

~Ben

 

[human]

That'll buff up nicely. I look forward to seeing it when it's gleaming like it was meant to.

 

[electrolux137]

~
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Here are a couple of photos of my 505s to show the bag and trim.

 

[hank]

Thanks for the info. Yea I realized pretty quickly the machine isn’t original. The bag was the first to give that away and maybe the sound of the motor too. There is no way a machine this old and in this condition should sound as good as this one does. Anyways for the hell of it I contacted Kirby about their rebuild program. $350 not including shipping and taxes. I wonder if that’s just the labor fee or if it includes everything it may need. The machine being as unoriginal as it is I figured Kirby will end up using all new parts anyways from whatever they have on hand. So In the end if that’s the price for all of it. It may be worth it.

 

[human]

My understanding is that's a turnkey price, covering both parts and labor. If you do it, It'll be interesting to see what they send back.

 

[kirbyvertibles]

That is the price for everything. I had a Classic Omega rebuilt and I was very happy with it.

 

[texaskirbyguy]

Great score - it will shine up just fine.

Take a look through my 505 resto thread to get yourself ready for yours.
http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?34158_27

And if you have any questions, ask away. It will be easier than it looks, trust me. Mechanical parts are all still available for the most part. I do have some extra new red headlight trims if you need one.
Looking forward to reading about your adventure!

 

[hank]

Thanks for the input rob. I’m not too afraid to tackle this myself of course though I do know Kirby would do a far better job buffing it up than I can. What I will be doing is taking it apart this weekend and seeing what needs to be done with it. If the price on parts starts approaching rebuild territory I may change direction and send it in to Kirby. That’s worse case though. Between a new bag and brush roll we are already around the 50$ mark. Managed to find a similar bag for about 22 bucks on partswarehouse

 

[hank]

Tore it down this morning, was going to start buffing and hitting with a wire wheel the steel parts that are rusted, but there is alot thats going to have to be redone, the wiring is all but shot, still has the fabric sheathing on it all but its falling apart, as soon as I disconnected the switch the wires pretty much just fell off... I don't know how this thing even turned on!

As seen in the pics all the metal needs a complete restore. All soft parts need to be changed, gaskets, trim, wear items like the belt, brush roll and bag, the emtor needs all the seals replaced and an acid bath and bead blast, it had a brick of dirt and grime in it. All the fasteners need to be replaced as they are rusted, I was able to get them out easy enough though. I talked to Kirby Rebuild Dept again this morning, the $350 does in-fact include anything and everything it may need. Factoring in my time alone needed to buff and restore this machine it looks like its going to be more worth it to just have Kirby do it. I'm guessing it needs about $250 in parts assuming I can get everything I need, not including things that don't need replacing like the wheels. As far as I can tell Kirby would replace worn parts like the wheels, belt lifter and cord etc, so I guess that's a bonus, If I was to replace everything Kirby would replace, I'm guessing I would probably be over 350 in parts alone. The lady I spoke with said that I would recieve a letter in the mail detailing where to ship it to, she estimated it would take about 35 working days to have it back to me. I'm going to send them everything, the handle, the outer bag, all of it. Hopefully they replace it all!

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Hank

Hank,


 


I hope you can keep that 10-blade metal fan even though it too is rusty!



~Ben

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Hank

Hank,


 


I hope you can keep that 10-blade metal fan even though it too is rusty!



~Ben

 

[hank]

Same here Ben! I think that fan should be ok, I will include a note with the machine whenever they have me ship it out that I would prefer to keep the original fan, other than the rust there is nothing wrong with it I can see. They should be able to take care of that though and be able to reuse this fan I dont see why not. 

 

[texaskirbyguy]

I hope you like tan...

...because I am pretty sure that will be the color of all the replacement plastic and rubber parts. The red has not been widely available for some time. The black is pure history. The white corrosion should some off easily with a brass brush or fine sandpaper. The rusty bearing plate would be replaced with a new one (with new bearing).
According to some previous posts I had read on the rebuild service, good metal fans were often replaced with plastic ones. If you were to send it in, consider installing a cheap plastic fan from ebay and save your metal one.

 

[huskyvacs]

I would do your own rebuild with original parts if I was you, since you seem handy enough to strip the motor anyway. The rebuild program doesn't make it a 100% original museum piece, only functional. You will have mismatched parts, mismatched colors, and it may look worse than it does now. They don't cater to collectors.

I have a 1927 Hoover that was rebuilt (in 1956). Even back then with that rebuild, the original bag is gone, the scissor bag hanger is gone, the original on/off switch is gone, the original cord is gone (and the wrong color), the original triangular emblem has been replaced, and the original bumper guard is gone.

 

[hank]

texaskirbyguy all the parts I have been able to find are either tan or green. Red and black are long gone 

 

[broomvac]

Sweet Kirby! It should be very interesting to see how it looks when it comes back from their factory. I wonder what they do to replace NLA parts?

broomvac

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Hank

Hank,


 


You can also paint some of these trim parts black... it is required, though, that you find the right kind of paint that will last.


 


~Ben

 

[hank]

Got it back from Kirby. Took about 8 weeks which was accurate with what they told me originally. Sure enough they did in fact replace every non metal piece on this machine. All fasteners are brand new as well as the machine has been completely rewired. Without even factoring in my time if I had rebuilt it myself it was cheaper to have them do it. Plus unlike some have said the machine matches aside from the bag and emtor swivel door. When I was looking for parts it most surely would have been miss-matched as not every website had these tan parts, some had the green parts others had red or tan. I would’ve had to buy parts from two or three different sellers in order to get everything I needed and they would not have been the same color. They replaced the switch, fan, brush roll, outer bag, power cord, wheels, ALL TRIM, COMPLETELY REWIRED, belt lifter and the motor armature as well. I also did not include the long handle but they gave me a new one with the machine anyways!!! All in all I'm very happy with the job they did. I have a bag converter on the way that actually matches the new color scheme now that converts to FG bags.

Now that I remember I think they replaced the fan chamber as well! It had a small crack in the bottom of it maybe from something hard being flung into it, thats gone! I bet they replaced the chamber!

It purrs like a kitten. Enjoy the pics.