Kirby Dual 80....for my birthday!!

[vacuumkid47]

Well I love my mother who gave me this awesome condition dual 80, which I cleaned and restored every bit of parts on this. The following I did on this *perfect* condition machine:

-Cleaned and polished all metal parts - For some reason when the person last polished it they used a wire wheel that pretty much pitted the metal something fierce, but I sanded the metal and the majority of the pitting came out. Polished it with a buffing wheel with scratch remover and white rouge.

-Washed all plastic parts, including the rubber trim. Also washed the bag, which smelled like wet basement

-Cleaned and repacked the bearings, as well as the brushbar which was seized because it might have been sitting in a damp basement without oiling or grease drying up.

It came with all of the attachments! Everything on the Kirby is original from the brushbar to the power cord. The attachments are virtually unused except for the crevice tool, the only tool that seemed to have been used pretty frequently. However, it does not have the original hose, so I had a replacement for it which works.

Overall I am happy to how it turned out and I love how it works in general! Sorry for the side photos....Iphone lol

 

[vacuumkid47]

Some more pictures

 

[huskyvacs]

It looks great! Out of all the Kirbys, this is one I still want to find. Did you need any kind of tool for the bearings or did it all snap together? I heard some bearings you need special tools to remove them or get the seal off to oil it.

The polishing job looks top notch! I still need to learn how to polish eventually - not there yet - but have the supplies so far just need the right buffing pads (I have a bench grinder I can outfit to a polisher).

I also heard there's some wax you can put on metal that acts like a sealant so that it does not re-oxidize so rapidly - but I don't remember what it was called.

 

[vacuumkid47]

Huskyvacs

Not necessarily, they are very similar in design of the Classic and Omega I believe, where it has a bearing (Unsealed on one side), a little fabric grease thingy and a shield for the bearing. On both sides there was no cover on one side. I used Mobil XHP 222 and the stuff works wonders.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

vacuumkid47

Logan,

That is so awesome you would find this Kirby Dual Sanitronic 80 and almost all its original tools in such immaculate shape for your birthday!

I too have a great condition D80 plus all its basic tools! Its hose is not all original - the hose tube swivel has the bleeder holes.

Did you know the very first Kirby Classic 1CRs produced in 1970 had the exact same fan case as the D50 and D80?

~Ben

 

[huskyvacs]

Cool, thanks! That's a relief, because I'm scared about my hand slipping or ending up sneezing or something and losing all the ball bearings out all over the floor. lol

Also it looks like we had the same idea in a good grease to use - I have had Mobil Polyrex EM bookmarked personally that I found from motor repair techs (made for electric motors and bearings). It looks like XHP222 is something more heavy duty that is waterproof and made to be immersed in water for boating and marine application and farm equipment use. They might be similar concoctions tho, just the XHP has some kind of formula in it to make it waterproof so it won't wash away in wet applications.

 

[vacuumkid47]

Huskyvacs

Oh! That's what I should get then because I couldn't remember what to get lol. And I use it as a general purpose grease anyway, not really used for anything else except vacuums.

KirbyClassicIII - I did not know that. Are these rare? I might have one, but I feel it may be a revision.

 

[suckolux]

Nice Job! Happy Birthday too

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

vacuumkid47

Logan,

Yes, they are. Here is one example.


Kirby redesigned the fan case during production because people were complaining of the machine shutting off when adjusted to a lower height, so what they did was redesign both the fan case and the part of the nozzle where it attaches to reduce such a chance. Mine thus has the revised fan case. They also revised the front wheel bracket shaft to allow the machine to sit up higher for the then-trendy shag carpeting, which also led Kirby to develop the Shag King accessory that first came out for this machine at the tail end of its run (February 1973).

~Ben[this post was last edited: 5/28/2020-15:16]

 

[justjunque]

Logan,

Looks great!
I went and checked out the video from the show you were on. Great segment!
I don't know if it was the whole thing or not. It's like three minutes long.
You have some great, supportive parents, and I think it's wonderful that you've turned your hobby/passion into a business! Are you still doing that?
And, belated happy birthday!

Barry

 

[lesinutah]

Nice

Happy birthday.
You did an excellent job on the restore. You couldn't ask for a better present.
Les

 

[vacuumkid47]

JustJunque

Yes! and thank you for the nice comment. I actually still run a repair and sales shop, and business has been booming a lot lately. I've been running it since October of 2012, and I have been, not to toot my own horn, getting better at my restoration projects and repairs, with improving my cleaning and repair processes, compared to my first times I repaired machines for people.

Huskyvacs, I have that one! I can't take pictures, but it might be that model.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Belated Happy Birthday Logan!

First I wanted to say that I was surprised when I saw your picture. You write so well that I had you pegged a bit older, like a "seasoned" adult! Good for you. I've got four d-80's that came my way all within a 6 month period. Wasn't even looking for a d80, but sometimes that's how it happens. Two were from the same house. They were purchased new, together , and one was for the first floor and the second for the top floor. So I call them the twins. The other two came separately. The twins are in excellent shape, didn't even need polishing, they had an easy life. The other two, not so much. These 80's are the last of the smaller size Kirby's and benefit from all the improvements made throughout the years, mature design and engineering.I was about to order a tube of Mobil One Polyrex EM (electric motor) high temp synthetic grease designed for ball bearings in high speed electric motors. I was glad to see you and Huskyvacs talking about that and the one you use that is waterproof also. Here's a tip for you that I got from fellow members at Vacuumland. It's best to avoid using the newer style belt on 5xx models through d80's because the belt is so stiff that you could damage the belt lifter over time. I had the lifter on a 561 come apart in my hands. Too much tension on those older styled lifters. Rough on the bearings also I've heard.Take care, Billy

 

[vacuumkid47]

Kirbyklecter

Thanks! The belt on this one is the original belt, believe it or not. When I got it, the belt was off the belt lifter so it did not stretch. Still holds up too!

 

[rowdy141]

Huskyvacs, Are you thinking of Caranuba Wax, to prevent metal oxidation? Automotive wax (high in caranuba content) does the job.

Logan, Buy your dad some car wax for Father's Day, and borrow it for your Kirby?

 

[lesinutah]

Wax

If you use any chrome polish wax for example chrome wheels. They a should work very similar. I do know turtle wax makes one.
Husky if you want to make a grinder to a polisher I'll give you advice. I have a black and Decker grinder and a harbor freight grinder too. The black and Decker I put buff/polishing wheels on both sides. I went to polish and when I touched the buffing wheel with aluminum and the wheel would stop. It is only good as a grinder. The harbor freight I switched the setup and it worked great.
Huskyvac I'd recommend 2 setups. The first is a 3 inch bench grinder on one side and a flex shaft on the other side. I got min at harbor freight for $35. It works pretty good.
The second setup would be buy a $10-$15 grinder at harbor freight or Walmart. I had a old harbor freight one it died. I got the hyper tough cheapest 4in to 6in grinder.
Harbor freight has a kit for $10-$15 everything needed to sand. I also think it has a polish wheel too. This setup would be $30-$40.
I only mention the ones that sand and polish it does both fairly quickly.
Les