My Fabulous new Eureka!

[hoovercelebrity]

Robert called me at work a few Saturdays ago -- from an estate sale... "There's a Eureka here for $4... should I get it?"

I told him to grab it -- for $4, if it wasn't anything I was interested in, I'd just throw it out..

It sat in the garage for a few weeks, and I thought to bring it to Chicago this past weekend for the little gathering that went down... maybe we could clean it up and see what we had.

Pat and I got to work on it on Friday... all it needed was a good wipe-off and bath. We removed scuffs with Soft-Scrub, and polished it with car wax, even gave the bag a bath in some lukewarm water with a *pinch* of detergent. A new motor gasket (same part being used on today's Sanitaires, available at the local vacuum store), a bag and belt later -- and we were in business.

Aside from a few "battle scars", this thing is just mint. It purrrrs, and has that famous "whine" that all Eurekas have. I forget to snap a picture of the original "Disturbulator" agitator -- I'll try to do that tomorrow...

Thanks for your help restoring this, Pat!

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[hoovercelebrity]

Gorgeous!

One of the prettiest Eurekas I've ever seen..

Anybody have an extra set of tools for this laying around?

 

[hoovercelebrity]

Pat!

Giving it a run!

 

[hoovercelebrity]

My Turn!

I even match!

 

[hoovercelebrity]

Fred N. also happened to have a copy of a Consumer Reports from 1961, I believe -- which had a review of this exact model. It was judged "acceptable".

Maybe he'd be able to scan that?

 

[hygiene903]

You're Right Fred!!

That's one beautiful Eureka! And you can't beat the price! Always liked the blue ones from the 50's and 60's. Is it a model 260? Congrats!
Jeff

 

[joe22]

very nice find, congrats

 

[kenmore81]

Its Looks fantastik !!!!

As do you Fred! Robert suce can pick-em' It looks brand new except for the minor blemish on top.
The tools go under the nome plat on that one.Correct?
Congratulations on this one it definatly a keeper!
K

 

[eurekaprince]

This is almost identical to the one that freaked me out as a

Doesn't the head look like a face? A kind of sad, brooding, angry face? The headlight has one long eyebrow, the light is one big eye, and the tool port is a nose!!!!!!

Eventually I came to love the machine, and it lasted in our family for over 30 years.

Why is it that all those plastic tool-port covers ended up cracked? I guess it was because it stayed in place by friction and in order to remove it, you had to "peel it" off the hood. Or someone ended up stepping on the thing while cleaning with tools 'cuz Eureka never provided a neat little pouch in the bag to hold onto the cover while it was removed for tool use.

Time to find a matching turquoise tool box with all the classic Eureka tools!

 

[eurekaprince]

I remember trying to keep our blue Eureka looking perfect...

We also ended up with those famous scratches on the hood - a result of just barely squeezing the vac's powerhead under a metal bed-frame! (I guess it depends on how thick your bedroom carpeting is....) I used to surrepticiously go into the front closet when no one was looking and try to hide the scratches with "white-out" correction fluid!!!!! The results were not the greatest!!!!

I also remember cleaning the bumper with a wet rag and some Comet or Ajax! It worked!!!!

 

[eurekaprince]

sorry for the incorrect spelling - "surreptitiously" - now there's a great Scrabble word!

 

[kenkart]

Great vac!!

I have one of those with a square handle, they clean great!!

 

[vinvac]

Ducks!!!!!!!!!!

Runs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You are so right Hahns...will out a clean a hoover convertable any day!

All joking aside...it is a very nice vacuum. I have her sister in chrome with a brand new brushroll, thanks to Hahns. I will try to add a pic later....unless Fred hunt's me down..back into hiding.

Morgan

 

[kenkart]

Morgan,....

Didnt you get the red one I had also,I cant remember?? Hans

 

[1926700]

I have that same one!

Mines probibly just as nice machine wise but, I don't have the original bag, for
some reason the sateen bags on thoes eurekas and some Hoovers are impossible to find I guess they just wore out that easely, congrats !!!!
Oh p.s. If you have any shag in your house, use this cleaner, just trust me on
that
Jason

 

[vinvac]

No Hans.. I got the brown earlier model with the front mount attatchments with the metal convertor that raises the machine..not good with model numbers and the blue and chrome machine.

You had two new brush rolls in each machine and a spare.

Morgan

 

[vinvac]

Here is my machine...Model 260

Morgan

 

[vinvac]

Close up of the attatchment port...I love the way this looks!
Morgan

 

[vinvac]

You can see the other Eureka in this picture...sorry I don't have another good picture..

If I get time I will take pictures of the machine and tools.

Morgan

 

[hoovercelebrity]

More pictures!

Here are some more pictures that I took this afternoon!

The base.

Glam Shot.

Hood Closeup

Bag Detail.

Switch.

Underside.

Data Plate.

Latch detail... I love these!

Brushroll.

Disturbulator! Isn't this fabulous?

Does anyone by chance have an extra wheel? This one was cracked and ended up breaking through.. :-(

Hope you enjoyed!

~F

 

[swingette]

Lovely machine. I have one of these and i sit here with my Hoovers model 1060 and 1070 and i honestly dont think i could force myself to choose between the Hoovers and the Eureka. Pros and cons on both sides.

Also interesting is the number of variations on the model 260. Ive seen them with square and round handles. Chrome and white motor covers. Metal and plastic headlight trim. Latch and screw on bags.

Fred, yours seems to have a brushroll holder/catch that ive never seen before.

 

[hoovercelebrity]

True, David!

Although, the 1060 and 1070 came roughly 5 and 9 years after this Eureka...
(I'm not 100% sure, but I think this model is from about 1961... it was in the 1961 Consumer Reports -- I'm not sure how
long Eureka made this model...)

I'll try to grab pictures of the brushroll holder tomorrow.

 

[kenmore81]

Thanks Fred, for the lovely detail pics =). I love the way the attacment port looks when the vacuum is on. It looks like it also has a light of its own when the headlight shines through.

 

[eurekaprince]

The version I grew up with must have been from just a bit ea

I think we must have had the 250. Here are the differences:

1. The handle was square in profile. It was also in one piece and must have been shipped separately (?). The newer 260 seems to have the two-piece handle that made it easier to ship in a more compact box.
2. Our two-speed switch was on the underside of the handle above the bag. It was not as "designed" as this one, and was more like the old-fashioned rocker switch. It was also in black.
3. Our wheels were turquoise to match the rest of the base! Speaking of wheels, it's strange that one of the things I remember as a toddler was the unique design of Eureka vacuum wheels, with the multiple "positive/negative" "pie-pieces" like a Trivial Pursuit game marker! I used to love watching how the pattern twirled when the vac was moved back and forth!
4. As I mentioned on another thread, the graphic on the bag was completely different. Imagine a small vertical rectangle at the top of the bag, with a big Eureka "E" at the top of the rectangle and vertical stripes dropping down from the "E". The word "Automatic" was written in vertical letters inside the box as well.

Fred....I think your handle-release pedal is missing a nice, turquose cover!

Friends - this Eureka needs some matching tools! Time to make a trade with the boys in Minneapolis!

BTW, Fred...how do you do multiple pics in one post with tag lines for each pic? I thought you needed to do this in separate posts?

EP Brian

 

[hamiltonbeachbo]

Fred,
Thanks for posting the great pics.
I absolutely loved working on that machine with you.
As you indicated early on, it was covered in a thick layer of dirt that, once washed away, revealed a machine in very nice condition.
I was thrilled with the way all the parts came back to almost new.
You did a fantastic job buffing out the light trim ring ... it shines like chrome!!
That machines does a great job cleaning, and with only a 3.5 amp motor.
Running it is like pushing a platter on a cushion of air.
That beautiful cast metal base really helps to give the machine a substantial feel.
(One of my daily drivers is a Eureka with a 7 amp motor and a 4 brush brush roll .... it lifts the carpet nap beautifully!!)
Overall, very fun project and nice addition to your collection.
Enjoy!!
Pat

 

[rolls_rapide]

Unusual brush design

It looks strange when compared to the likes of Hoover's agitator.

Does it vibrate the carpet well?

 

[dualsanitronic]

That Eureka is fabo, Fred. And it REALLY did outclean ANYTHING in its day!

 

[dial-a-nap]

Love that disturbulator - I didn't see that at Fred's. Beautiful machine, Fred, you guys did a fantastic job -- with a little help from vintage Oxydol? Fabulous!

 

[compactelectra]

OK

Here's the scan of the page from the 1961 Consumer Reports. I found I had a CD with all vacuum ratings from 1958 - 1976. Just emailed them to Fred - hope he got them. What a treasure trove. Ratings of the Electrolux 30 from back in the day. It rated tops in the beginning and then slid as machines were perfected. Ooops, a bit of a sidetrack on the thread. . .

Fred