Switching Bumpers

[ohio_tuec]

Recently, I received two Hoover Convertible Elites off of eBay. One a yellow model U4063, the other a turquoise U4103. The U4063's bag is ripped in a couple of places and the only thing wrong with the U4103 is that the bumper guard is badly chewed up in one corner. I'd like to swap bumpers from the two machines, so I have the turquoise one in pretty good shape. Is there a way of doing this? I'm a little afraid of breaking the corner of the plastic hood when pulling it off. Thanks.

- Karl

 

[centralvacs1928]

I guess these are full hood models with the bumper attached to the hood. You might try grinding the rivets from the inside of the hood, but then I suppose you'd have to find new rivets. That's not a big deal when you're just fixing a vacuum for someone; you can just use regular aluminum pop rivets, but if this is for your collection you'd probably want something a little nicer looking.

The other thing you could try is heating the bumper with a heat gun (on low!) until it can stretch around the rivet. I've had some success at that, but can't say I've ever done it on a Convertible. Only with Royal and Kirby cleaners. Worth a shot, I think, and less destructive than messing with the rivets.

-Owen

 

[ohio_tuec]

Thank you, Owen. I was thinking of trying a hairdryer. These are the later full-hood models, so I don't wanna warp the base. Actually, if the U4063's base snapped, it would be no great loss. I was wondering if anyone here has tried it?