Rob's basketcase Kirby 505 restoration!

[texaskirbyguy]

The finished unit!

While certainly not color-correct, I do have to say it looks great in red. I love the red glow of the headlight shining through and onto the red parts! I am going to visit my Kirby shop next month to search through his 'treasure trove' of vintage used parts, to see if I can get a complete set of black trim parts. I will see what I can find and if prices are reasonable.

Test run!
I waited a day for the bag caulk to dry. I hit the switch, the motor spooled up, headlight came on, bag inflated perfectly, and I vacuumed some carpet. The whole living room in fact! It certainly lacks the power of my newer units but it ran as smooth as could be. It was much easier to push, too - almost like a toy compared to my larger Omega and Tradition! But it did great at grooming the carpet. I took it to the rug runner in the hall which collects black lint from my socks like velcro. The little 505 got it all in just a couple passes - nice! Current draw was 3.2A, just a bit more than rated with the brush on the carpet.
Now after a 10 minutes or so of use I noticed a slight electrical smell but nothing major. Current was still in normal range and plenty of motor cooling air flow. I am convinced this is from the normal, slight brush sparking. I am surprised the motor was not already burned up, as clogged with dust and dirt as the motor had been!

Now to fix some residual problems...
I layered some JB Weld on the nozzle hooks and will shape them later to the bar. It needs a day to cure and I will give it a few extra days before I go grinding on it.

The emtor contacts the rear wheel. Is this because of incorrect wheels or is the emtor rotating around too far? Or is this the wrong emtor? See picture... For now I inserted a 1/8" plastic scrap in the lug slot to keep the emtor from rotating all the way around.

Need to figure out the belt lifter issue as well. I either need to replace the whole lifter unit or replace the missing tab somehow (but is is riveted on). See picture earlier in this thread...

The handle spring is not broke but the handle falls down from its own weight. Can these be tightened like on the newer models? I see no way to do this so far...

Any suggestions on these from the vac experts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[kirbykleankarpet]

Your nozzle

That nozzle is correct to the machine. Check the tension on the nozzle lock. If it has any play at all, it is bad or stripped. That is actually what is wrong with my 517. It can actually pop off during operation because it is held on too loose, at least on mine. Mine's stripped, so I need to figure out just what to do about it. But if you compare your nozzle to mine, you can see the difference in the front. Your nozzle went from the 505 thru the 515. 516 is when the nozzle changed. I posted the same pic from the "NOS Kirby Bumpers" thread to show the difference between the later nozzles and yours. Your nozzle's "beauty lines" extend from the top almost straight down, whereas mine's "beauty lines" curve out from the top and wrap around the nozzle. BTW, if you have a spare headlight bumper and nozzle bumper, I'm interested in them.

 

[kirbykleankarpet]

I'll answer what I know.

The Sani-Emtor looks to be correct, but the cup at the bottom of yours appears to be chrome, whereas even the earliest examples I can find have the black phenolic plastic. Not sure what's going on there. The shape appears correct for it, so I'm not 100% sure.

Wheels are supposed to be the black narrow ones. Should be the same all the way around, if I remember. (KR-7104 is the part number.) This might be why the Emtor is contacting the wheel.

Can't say too much about the belt lifter. But you're quite creative!

I have no knowledge about the handle spring. I don't see why it would be much different to fix than later ones. Probably needs wound tighter would be my guess. I'd wait for Ben to chime in on that one, though.

Beautiful machine!

~Tim

 

[texaskirbyguy]

Thanks Tim!

If the black wheels were more narrow then the ones on there now, then that is probably a cause. Not sure about the aluminum emtor bottom - even my Kirby guy is stumped from it as he thought the only the narrow ones were available in aluminum.

I fixed the nozzle fit today. I had added JB weld to the front of the hooks and the bottoms (was too deep), then filed it out slowly and carefully to match a 1/4" diameter rod. I used a screwdriver shaft first, then tried it on the vacuum. Worked out great!

Now to fix the belt lifter....

 

[kirbykleankarpet]

That's Brilliant!

I figured out that my nozzle lock screw hole is stripped, so that's why mine is loose. It still holds in the case though, just doesn't tighten, so I might do something similar to get things to clamp down. Thank you!

~Tim

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

texaskirbyguy

Rob,

Yes... I am still trying to find a picture of what the very first 505 (this one also with just a cover plate - the "Magic Finger" lifter wasn't introduced until 1946) looked like, to verify whether or not the black plastic Emtor bottom was original (or if it retained the polished metal Emtor from the 3C/4C), but I remain convinced ALL 505s in fact used the plastic black Emtor bottom.

~Ben[this post was last edited: 4/14/2017-11:25]

 

[kirbykleankarpet]

Ben,

That's what I thought. I can find nothing on it with it having the polished bottom. Even the ones I've seen with the cover plate instead of a belt lifter didn't have a polished emtor bottom.

~Tim

 

[texaskirbyguy]

metal emtor bottom

Do you know when the emtor changed from the narrow one to the wide one? My Kirby guy here believed the metal bottom was only on the narrow ones but I sure have a wide one and it is metal.

In the end, I can bet the emtor is from an older machine, just like the nozzle was likely from a 508 (given the lifter design).

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

texaskirbyguy

Rob,

The 3C was the first model to use the widebody Emtor.

~Ben

 

[texaskirbyguy]

Looks like I never finished this thread!

So back in May last year I finally fixed the broken belt lifter. I had visited my local Kirby shop to see if he had a replacement lifter. He told me the lifters from the floor polishers can be removed and used on the rug nozzles. Swap the lifters and have the polisher for a display/conversation piece. He had a variety of polishers. They are also easily available on ebay for 15-30 bucks, often in the original boxes.
However, my 505 had a 508 nozzle lifter on it - a very odd-duck design, offered (from what I have heard) only that one year ('48). I really wanted to repair it. My Kirby guy dug through a bin of dusty parts and found replacement belt lifter tab pieces that were used on later models that used screws to secure the tabs. I compared those with my lifter and it really looked like it would work! So I bought two of them from him for 5 bucks.
First step was to find some tiny short screws to thread into the old rivets. I found two that were just right and one I had to cut down. A dab of oil in the rivet holes is a must for threading the new screws!
Next, was to CAREFULLY (and slowly) drill out the heads of the rivets. I used a 1/4 drill, upping to 5/16, and finally finishing with a 3/8 by hand. I kept this up until a very gentle prying gets it apart. Never pry hard or the plastic will break. Make a note at how the tabs and metal finger are positioned - it must all go together a certain way and tabs are all different sizes.
Now I was able to clean it up well and compare the old tab piece with the new. Appeared to be a perfect fit!
So now the tab piece was placed on, then the finger, then the screws, complete with lockwashers. Secure the screws well, but make sure they are not stripped.
I applied a dab of silicon grease to where the plastic runs on the nozzle exterior. I assembled the lifter to the nozzle and tried it out - PERFECT!
These new tab pieces are made of a thicker steel, compared with the thinner copper original. This should last me a long time!!
I love it when a plan comes together...