Next up, 1CR Omega...

[fantomfan57]

Motor sounds great,
need:
Bag/topper/guard
Brown oval Emptor tray

And what belt should I use?

Thanks in advance.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

fantomfan57

Garry,

The part numbers you want are:
190073G for your cloth bag group
(contains 190073 cloth bag, 191873 bag top wire clamp, 192173 bag top wire and 191773 bag top cover)
186073 for your Emtor tray
159056G for your brush belt

~Ben

 

[fantomfan57]

Thanks, Ben.

I have my eye on the whole bag/emptor rig. In the spirit of "don't count your eggs before they hatch", time will tell.

I checked my attachments box only to discover they are for the Classic Omega. I guess they are the same as the Classic.

The final reno. will involve a Kirby Classic III. I have yet to check the big attachment box, perhaps there are some surprises. I need the back handle insert /part. The cord has a very small outer casing snip. Inside wires not effected.

Also, I plugged it in and it sounded like the motor started slow the went faster.
Any idea what happened? Bearings, brushes?

Have you all seen the Kirby website where you can download lots of manuals for free? Even older models.

 

[texaskirbyguy]

The Classic Omega basic attachments will work with the 1CR, except the hose because the motor safety switches are different. The D50 and D80 hoses will work with the 1CR as they use the same safety switch.

The slow motor start on your CIII means the grease in the ball bearings have solidified - I would not run it much with it like this.
If you plan to use this as a daily driver, or do a real restoration on it (to make it last a few more decades), buy a new set of bearings to install (about 10-15 bucks).
IF for limited use, you could get away with removing the seals from the front bearing and soak both bearings in solvent to rid the old gunk, then repack with new grease if they are not too loosey-goosey.

Enjoy your 1CR - it is an odd-duck for sure (transition to wide nozzle and larger motor right before UL double insulated rule came into play).
I have a 1CR to restore this fall and lots of used parts for these if you need something. I might have the back top and emtor tray - I would have to look.

The CIII is a refined machine that would be great for daily use - I have one in my collection also (and one in kit-form in the garage)...

 

[fantomfan57]

Hey Fellow Texan, Rob..

Thanks for the advice. For the Classic, I did obtain a bag top, bag, bag guard and complete emptor this week. Not sure where I read it, but the bag is vinyl with a patch....a Classic Omega patch. Guess this qualifies as a Frankenkirby.

I need to replace the base plate gasket and do some surface beautification before reassembly.

When I get to the Classic III, I still need a red bag guard and a vinyl bag topper with Kirby Classic III on it. The one I have is horribly faded...the vinyl is.

I will be opening up for my first time ever, the Classic III to see about the bearings.
The Kirby Classic III is the model my Mom persuaded my Dad to buy her from a D2D Salesmen. I vaguely remember him showing her that test to show how much dirt is still in the carpet after the homeowner's vacuum has made a pass.
I remember her complaining it was heavy and kind of hard to maneuver.

 

[human]

I don't own a Classic but I do have a soft spot for them, especially the Classic Omega. That's the model my mom and I saw demonstrated in our living room when I was a kid. We didn't get it but that's where my lifelong appreciation of Kirbys started. I saw a really nice one at a thrift store a few years for $10 with no accessories. I would have bought it but somebody else was already looking at it so I decided to be a gentleman about it and instead of trying to get it away from him, I showed him how to operate it properly. He bought it and I hope he's still enjoying it.

Last year, I was looking for a few missing pieces to complete the tool set for my Heritage 1D and came up with a nearly complete Classic Omega tool set for cheap, so I bought it. My original plan was to keep the pieces I needed and sell the rest either individually or together to recoup my expenses or even make a buck but I couldn't bring myself to break up the set. The plastics are a slightly reddish shade of brown, somewhat different from the original classic tools, which were more of a chocolate brown.

My friend is a little obsessed with Shopgoodwill.com right now and she alerted me to a Classic III with a full set of accessories that was going for $9.99 with one bid. Thus far, I'm being strong and not letting her become my enabler by resisting logging in and even taking a look at it much less making a bid. Oh what the hell, one look won't hurt...right?

 

[fantomfan57]

Great story, I can relate...

About the Thrift Store spotting, that was a kind gesture to show the other person how to use it.

As for the one you are bidding, be sure to check the shipping cost. I have noticed sometimes they require local pick up instead of shipping. Good luck! Let us know how that turns out.

Thanks for posting.

 

[human]

Shipping on that unit isn't too bad—$12.70 plus a $2 handling fee. I'm sure it would have been closer to $50 on eBay. I haven't bid on it (yet) and I'm still not convinced I'm going to. It's still got several days to run, so we'll see what happens. In looking at the photos, it doesn't have a full tool kit as my friend said but it does have the essentials—a hose, hard to find long wand, curved wand, dusting brush, upholstery brush, what I call a car vacuuming brush and a package of two flat Hoover branded belts. Not sure if those will actually work with that machine or not.

 

[texaskirbyguy]

Garry, no problem; glad you found the parts for your 1CR.
I looked and I do have a NOS bag top for the CIII but the plastic has outgassed and is very sticky. I doubt it will be any good, as I have cleaned them before and they often get sticky again.
It sounds like there are some good memories behind that machine - and still in the family as well. Very nice...

 

[lesinutah]

Take

Your time when removing the fan. I know they jam the motors in and there super tight.
They do look good cleaned up.

 

[fantomfan57]

I re-read my post about the Classic III,

This one is not the actual one my parents had. I donated that one years ago to Goodwill. On the other hand, it would be really odd if this is the same one that found it's way back. (insert eerie music here).

My guess is I got this one from Goodwill years ago and just kept it to restore eventually.

Did I mention I have an accessory box that has the basic tools except crevice tool.

The Accessory Box I have for the Classic Omega has much more than basic tools.

 

[human]

fantomfan57 wrote:
On the other hand, it would be really odd if this is the same one that found it's way back. (insert eerie music here).

I reply:
I had a similar thought after rescuing my first Kirby G6 from beside a dumpster and then finding the correct tool set for it at a nearby thrift shop a couple months later. I've often wondered if I reunited them.

It wasn't a vacuum cleaner, but I had a girlfriend a few years ago whose next door neighbor had a nicely restored '67 Mercury Comet convertible. He'd bought it at a junk yard as a restoration project because he'd had one like it that he'd bought new and always regretted getting rid of. What he didn't realize until later was his restoration project was indeed his original car.

 

[fantomfan57]

Wow,

Now that, is a car. It shared a body line with the Ford Falcon. Mom had the coupe version. I would have loved either one, but I prefer 4 door models and most of all, station wagons. I love 60's Station wagons.
I am veering off (vacuum) subject, so I will stop.
Back to the Classic III, I thought about whether it could be the same one, but the only way would have been to check the serial numbers. All the paperwork is long gone to be able to check.

 

[human]

I got the Classic III...

Okay, so my friend is now officially an enabler. That Classic III went all week without another bid so my addictive personality got the better of me and I just had to throw one out at the very end and got it for $12. Even with shipping, handling, and sales tax, I'm all in for about $28.50, which isn't too bad and a definite steal by eBay standards. I guess Shopgoodwill.com is still flying under the radar for some things. The long wand alone can go for almost that much on eBay.

I've included the photos from the listing and it appears to me that other than a dusty bag, it's in pretty good shape. The metal even appears to be relatively clean. I think it's a very pretty machine in its bright red livery but I am totally not a fan of dump bags, I'm toying with the idea of converting it to a Heritage II filter bag setup. I've got the bag, fill tube and the connector for the top of the tube; I just need the mini emptor. Ironically, that one piece would cost me more on eBay than the whole vacuum did. I'm not going to make any major decisions about that until I have the machine in my possession and can make a more thorough assessment. I'll start a new thread at that time.

 

[fantomfan57]

HURRAH, HUZZAH.....

Human!, You did it! I am so glad for you! What a fun new project!

Okay, sorry, got carried away.

Congratulations!

Cheers!

 

[kirbyklekter]

Such a deal

Wow, no way you could go wrong on this buy. I'll bet when you look inside, the motor is going to look practically new. Low mileage for sure. The fan housing on my C-III has a flat raised spot on front with the serial # stamped on it.Not crazy about it being there. Is yours like that? I was thinking next
they'll engrave a bar code somewhere on the machine.

Whoever owned my Classic III before me had a bunch of twine wrapped around the belt pulley, I think it was from the carpet backing where they caught a loose thread and pulled about 20 ft. of it. It rubbed against the little window on the belt lifter and scorched the lens. At first I thought someone put a cigarette out there but...

I think the Heritage bag will look sharp on this model, no droopy bag and with a hepa inner bag, major improvement! When polished this model is a real looker,very flashy.

 

[human]

Yeah, this one was just too good to pass up--especially for the price. The hose alone would go for more than that on eBay. The condition of the metal is what really put me over the edge toward buying it.

That was my first experience with ShopGoodwill. The site is certainly less refined than eBay. Kind of reminds me of eBay circa 2005 or so. I was really surprised not to receive an immediate prompt to pay for my item. I had to go and search it out but I ended up finding the payment page a full half hour before I received an email with payment instructions. We'll see how they do with fulfillment. Hopefully, that will go smoothly.

 

[fantomfan57]

Done, for now....

Here is the picture of the Classic, Classic III and free Sentria II.

The close up is of the Classic Omega bag which makes this a Classic FrankenKirby.

This one is, a shake out bag set up, not my favorite way to go.

 

[human]

I really like the look of the Legend II bag on your Classic III and that Sentria II is a nice looking machine. Cool freebie.