Kirby Classic III -- All Finished!!!

[eurekastar]

Well almost . . . I had the day off, so I spent the day disassembling the vacuum, thoroughly washing everything, and polishing the castings. I'll reassemble everything tomorrow and post a photo.

I ended up using the original handle fork. I thought I would be clever and harvest one from a Heritage series vacuum so the cord winder would be on the left, opposite the bag. I cleaned and polished the handle and got ready to assemble it when I discovered that the screw hole for the handle back is in a different place. I thought about ordering a handle back for a Legend II since it's the same color, but I really don't want to wait for it! So I'll just keep it all original.

The fan was a *&^%#%@&@* to get off! But nothing that a vice gripe and a little muscle can't handle! The rug plate needs a new gasket, so that's on order. I'll just use the rug plate from my Tradition until the new gasket arrives.

 

[eurekastar]

And for comparison . . .

This is what it looked like when I got it. It had a Classic Omega handle on it. The bag had a tear, the fan case gasket was missing, and the old aluminum fan was all busted up. No wonder it wasn't picking up anything!

 

[eurekastar]

Bonus

When I unzipped the scraper pocket, I found these things -- an old bottle of Kirby Odorific and a couple of plastic things that look like they are stuffed with cotton. I'm guessing that you'd impregnate those little things with Odorific and put them in the pocket.

 

[eurekastar]

By the way

The old bag is actually in decent shape, except for the tear. Should I fix the tear BEFORE laundering the bag?

 

[kirbykid63]

Nice buffing

I ordered some green and brown buffing compound from my kirby dealer to use with my 1hp sears bench buffer. I was impressed with the way my G5 came out it looks like new.

 

[eurekastar]

With Satellite Service . . .

I decided to go ahead and assemble the belt lifter and put it on the nozzle. This belt lifter assembles in a completely different way than the Heritage and G series belt lifters. And like a dork, I put the hook on upside down and then assembled everything to the nozzle before I realized I had done it wrong. Luckily the adhesive on the label hadn't cured, so I was able to peel it off without messing it up. There are two retaining clips, one on the outside under the label, and the other one on the underside.

 

[eurekastar]

Oops!

That should have said NO satellite service. Thankfully, a repair tech is coming in the morning . . . I hope!

 

[eurekastar]

And here she is . . .

all done! I ended up doing more polishing this morning on the Sani-Emtor. It was late last night when I polished it, so I wasn't paying attention to detail.

 

[eurekastar]

Each machine I've rebuilt has been a learning experience. The one thing I can't quite figure out is how to install this little clip on the headlight hinge pin. It puts tension on the headlight assembly so it stays up. I got frustrated and quite fooling with it. This machine has a new bag, nozzle bumper, headlight trim, handle, handle label, four row brush roll, front and rear bearings, motor brushes, motor brush caps, impeller (fan), Sani-Emptor gasket, and fan case gasket. I had to order a new gasket for the rug plate too. But it's not here yet. So for now, this machine is borrowing the rug plate from my Kirby Tradition.

 

[eurekastar]

Results of its first "test-drive" around the Family Room.

 

[electroluxkirby]

She sure is purdy!

 

[compactelectra]

Those Are Beautiful Machines

One of my all time favorites. Bought mine new in '76 and sent it back to the factory for a rebuild in the around 1997. About time for another beauty treatment. You have inspired me.

 

[kloveland]

Cool

Very nice job. Looks wonderful. Nothing really beats a Kirby

 

[eurekastar]

Sisters

The Classic III with her younger sister, Tradition.

 

[luxg]

Beautiful job Bill, Looks like they have been to the factory for a rebuild!

 

[luxg]

Beautiful job Bill!! Looks like they have been to Kirby for a complete rebuild!

 

[kirbykid63]

I am buffing to

I am working on my buffing technique and hope to show off some of my work soon.

Richard

 

[eurekastar]

Richard

One thing I'm doing is using 4" wheels in addition to the larger 6" wheels. It's easier to get into some places with the smaller wheel. The G series is also good to learn out because they are fairly straightforward don't have all the nooks and crannies that the older machines have.

 

[kirbykid63]

Thanks Vernon

I appreciate all your tips since I get many kirby's in Tucson I can get lot of practice with my Craftsman bench buffer.On utube there is someone using a ryobi angle grinder with polishing wheels also buffing metal. The polishing kit is $10.00 at home depot wouldn't mind giving this a shot for the hard to buff areas.

Richard Groski