Okay kids, get the smelling salts and fainting couch handy...

[eurekastar]

Adhesive?

A other things to note: 1) It appears that the fan case is from a D50/80; 2) There is no safety switch in place (but I guess there would be no need for one); 3) What appears to be paint and/or oxidation may, in fact, be some kind of sealant or adhesive.

All that, coupled with the fact that the belt lifter/cover seems to be professionally riveted (no vacuum shop would do that), leads me to believe that this is a unit that Kirby was experimenting with before creating a production model.

 

[cb123]

Alex

Well, everyone knows that England was a southern ally. You couldn't have asked for a better fair-weather friend. They were kinda like...when you need a loan from a bank, and Oh yeah,they will finally lend it to you...only when you don't need it NO MORE! "I must say" some "Stars and Bars" would really look good on that Kirby.

Cheerio!

 

[cb123]

Just one more thing, Alex.

For at lest a week or so, my language will be a semantic study in logic. I just found this LP, and I have the upmost confidence that my friends at the local astronomy club....are going to seriously, I mean seriously GEEK OUT! Forget the smelling salts, IT'S TIME TO GRAB THE MACE!

 

[electrolux137]

~
~

Well, this thread certainly has wandered all over the place.

To bring it back on-topic:

I went over to the vac shop today to see about getting a brush roll for my mystery Kirby, which I have dubbed the "Super Janitronic 560."

The 18-inch Royal brush roll doesn't work. The end caps are hexagonal shaped and way too large to attempt to whittle down narrowly enough to fit into the rug nozzle.

The Kirby Classic brush roll is only 16 inches long. I thought about getting one anyway and seeing if I could insert inch-long wooden pieces in each end of the rug nozzle to take up the extra space, but that would be "iffy" and most likely wouldn't work. Without the end caps being secured inside the slots, the brush roll would probably wobble and vibrate all over the place and ruin the brush-roll bearings and maybe even the front motor bearing.

I poked around their multiple "back rooms-o-junk" and didn't find anything that even came close to fitting. (I did, however, find a couple of other treasures that I'll post about after I clean them up and make them presentable -- a Hoover turquoise Convertible and a Eureka "Vibra-Groomer" upright that's really beautiful, with a brushed-aluminum motor cover.)

So I'm pretty much stuck right now, unless someone can come up with a Super Sweep nozzle for me.

[this post was last edited: 8/2/2014-16:36]

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Charles,

That is one rare Franken-Kirby! I never imagined one could transform an American-Lincoln Super-Sweep or Kirby Janitronic into something like this!

~Ben

 

[electrolux137]

~
~

Ben, as far as I know, this is not a Franken-Kirby. It was found just like you see it. The jury's still out on just what it is, really.......

(Did you read all the preceding posts??)

 

[kirbylux77]

Charles, I have an idea for getting a brushroll to work in your Kirby. Why not go ahead & buy both a Kirby brushroll with ball bearings & removable end caps, & a commercial Royal brushroll, & transplant the Kirby bearings & endcaps to your Royal brushroll? They look similar enough that it should work fine.

Rob

 

[DesertTortoise]

That is a very smart idea kirbylux.

 

[DesertTortoise]

As far as painting a Kirby, just as with cars and motorcycles I think there has to be room for both restored original vacs of any brand, and highly customized ones. Sometimes the customized ones are more interesting, a window into the mind of the customizer and often a hint at what could have been had different engineering and styling compromises been chosen by the manufacturer. I have a personal fondness for clean "restifications", where an older something, car bike or vacuum, is both restored and modified to bring it's performance up to modern standards.

 

[electrolux137]

~
~

Rob, that's a great idea. I have several spare Kirby brush rolls; I'll take one with me to the vac shop and see if the ends are interchangeable with the Royal. Thanks!

 

[gsheen]

I was just about to post the same thing as Rob did, even if you have to do some engineering its possible. You might need to either bore a bit out of the kirby brush roll or add a sleeve to it or fit larger bearings. I have done something similar to get a vintage machine working  

 

[speedqueen]

2 Years Later...

I stumbled upon this thread while searching for the keeler self propelled mechanism and am wondering if any new information has come up on the "Super Janitronic 560"?

Also, did you ever get a brush roller?

 

[3rdgenvacguy]

wide brush roll

I saw this resurrected thread and went and looked at some odd brushes that I have. They are wider than the 1CR - 3CB brush rolls. They measure just over 16.75". The wood is not stamped Kirby, but they also do not have the CWP stamping either.

 

[william]

2 Years and 2 days later...

Charles,

I have to say you are a terrific story teller! I have never read a more gripping story than yours...ever! It had me sweating with anticipation every step of the way on the edge of my seat! Way to go!

You should write novels. Excellent!
Bill

 

[KirbyCollector01]

It would be so cool to find more of these Janitronic kirbys. I wonder how rare they are

 

[huskyvacs]

Kirbys like this are what I like to call "clones". Just like rare cars get fake clones made of them - as do Kirbys, due to the universal fitment of their parts and pieces in wide arrays of colors. Cloned Kirbys will usually have every single part replaced on it to match the model they want it to look like, even down to the power cord and headlight bulbs. That's what differentiates them from just bojack parts specials. Clones are deliberately made to look exactly like the newer model from a old model. Even if they had to be physically painted over to accomplish that - like in the case of Charlie's vac.

These clones I believe would be what vac shops - official Kirby dealers or otherwise - would do to sell their old models that are lingering around unsold as brand new models and get them out of the shop to some unbeknownst buyer who doesn't know any better. All is well and good if they never claim anything on warranty to Kirby themselves I suppose and the serial number issue would be discovered.

Clones aren't really bad and work just fine, but for collectors going after specific models and having complete lines, you just know that what they are dressed up as isn't what they are and it kills the joy of finally finding your missing model just to find out it's a fake.

I myself have been duped by old clone jobs. A 1CR thats been transformed into a Classic III and a Sentria 1 that was transformed into a Sentria 2 (and the transmission is shot to boot!). Both of these I got from Goodwill and of course they don't research what they sell and have no obligation to.

I had no idea about cloned models being a thing until I got one, and then I got hit again with a double whammy and got another one. I make sure I look close now before buying any Kirby from now on and look at everything and make sure it's not a clone before bidding.