My 1955 Kirby 515

[kirbyclassiciii]

Pam (seijun) gave me this one for free!


Minor updated video, after brush roll was cleaned up and a new belt installed:


Serial no. is 101591-WS, which makes mine one of the very first 515s ever built. Hence, this example would have had the black wheels, and the gray bag with the stripes running up and down the Kirby logo. The attachments would also have been gray, with a gray cloth hose with red and silver stripes.

~Ben[this post was last edited: 6/26/2021-14:37]

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Temporary Rear Wheel

Since the one rear wheel on the side of the machine where the cord is was cracked, with a metal hub used on the front as a quick fix, I removed this cracked wheel and replaced it with one of my two tan wheels that came with my 505, and also installed this wheel correctly (inside out, as per parts diagrams).

~Ben[this post was last edited: 6/27/2021-00:01]

 

[lesinutah]

Nice

It looks and sounds good. The bag colors grey and red match the color scheme of the vacuum. It looks to have the original cord handle(maybe) and fan.
I like the belt lifter it has over what came on it originally.
Congratulations

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

LesinUtah

Les,

Some parts are correct, but some of what you mention are not.

* The gray cord with red plug ends is an aftermarket part from the 1960s. The original one was dark gray with a round female plug end, with the 1953 Kirby logo on the male plug end.
* The red wheels are also aftermarket, also from the '60s; the original ones were black Bakelite wheels.
* The bag, once again, aftermarket and '60s; the original one was gray with the 1953 Kirby logo with stripes running up and down it.

~Ben

 

[lesinutah]

The

Cord I believe it's original 517-561. I have a 560 with the same cord.
Well it's not bad and the 4 amp motors are very durable and run great.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

LesinUtah

Les,

Yes, the motor set (11320 armature and 11321 field) used here was also used on most 513s, all 514s, and all 516-517s.

518 would change from no. 11320 (armature) and 11321 (field) to 12062 (armature) and 12062 (field), which would also be used on model 519 as well (the field was the same as model 518, but used the new-style terminal clips to support the new-style carbon brush holders).

~Ben

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Videos Fixed

The original videos I uploaded of this machine on YouTube were taken down and replaced with fresh new 60p edits.

1 of 2:


2 of 2:


~Ben

 

[2011hoover700]

@kitbyclassiciii is this model kirby the first or second model to feature a clip on plug originally? I asked because of when hoover's patent for such feature just expired in 1955.
Enjoy.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

2011hoover700

I think this one was the second.

Here is a molded male plug end (that I think some 513s had) that was rarely seen.

~Ben

 

[vacmadman]

515 cord

Ben,

"The original one was dark gray with a round female plug end, with the 1953 Kirby logo on the male plug end" Is this the 515 cord that you talked about?

Jim

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

VacMadMan

Jim,

Yes, that is correct.

~Ben