madman
Well-known member
Hi everyone! First post here.
I'm a car mechanic from Chicago, and I dabble in a lot of things. I'm more into antiques in general, than vacuum cleaners, but luckily there are some vacuums that fall into that category.
I thought I'd share my current project, and probably ask for some advice here and there.
When I was about 12 or so, my dad used to take me to the Maxwell St. flea market often. One day I saw this old vacuum. I'm 29 now, and I've had it ever since. The motor has always worked, but the whole thing's seen better days, and the time has finally come for it to see good days again.
The vacuum in question is (as far as I can divine) from 1938, Cadillac model 122F, from Clements Mfg. Chicago. The replaced cord and its general worn appearance makes me think it was used well for many, many years. It was missing the center cap as long as I've known it, I'll bet it was retired when it got lost or broken. After which it must've been left in a basement... that flooded and left standing water inside it that corroded the fan blade.
I'll be youtubing the whole restoration project, check the URL for the first vid. I have, up to now, totally rebuilt the motor assembly (working on the vid). Someday soon, I'll be going to my friend's machine shop to make some new plastic wheels for it, and hopefully a new cap. I've already sewn up a new bag, for practice, but I need to find the correct color fabric. And finally, I'll need to re-nickel plate several parts, still doing my homework on that.
Thoughts? Advice?
http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNm4D4k759k

I'm a car mechanic from Chicago, and I dabble in a lot of things. I'm more into antiques in general, than vacuum cleaners, but luckily there are some vacuums that fall into that category.
I thought I'd share my current project, and probably ask for some advice here and there.
When I was about 12 or so, my dad used to take me to the Maxwell St. flea market often. One day I saw this old vacuum. I'm 29 now, and I've had it ever since. The motor has always worked, but the whole thing's seen better days, and the time has finally come for it to see good days again.
The vacuum in question is (as far as I can divine) from 1938, Cadillac model 122F, from Clements Mfg. Chicago. The replaced cord and its general worn appearance makes me think it was used well for many, many years. It was missing the center cap as long as I've known it, I'll bet it was retired when it got lost or broken. After which it must've been left in a basement... that flooded and left standing water inside it that corroded the fan blade.
I'll be youtubing the whole restoration project, check the URL for the first vid. I have, up to now, totally rebuilt the motor assembly (working on the vid). Someday soon, I'll be going to my friend's machine shop to make some new plastic wheels for it, and hopefully a new cap. I've already sewn up a new bag, for practice, but I need to find the correct color fabric. And finally, I'll need to re-nickel plate several parts, still doing my homework on that.
Thoughts? Advice?
http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNm4D4k759k
