Well, scratch one Kirby...

[human]

No, it was the step-on switch on the back. The step-on button is now black instead of red but it doesn't look bad. I learned my lesson about mis-wiring a vacuum when I was working on an Electrolux Silverado last winter and I reversed two of the wires and had it where the power nozzle came on when the vacuum was off and vice-versa. The Heritage was a pretty nice machine when I got it from my dad but it had suffered from some benign neglect while my ex had it. I was looking forward to getting it back from her and giving it some much needed TLC but now I'm heaping that attention on the Legacy II. Its needs are different but it's already shaping up nicely. The ratings sticker on the bottom says 4.5 amps with the floor nozzle and 5.5 amps with a hose. The stickers actually identify the machine as a Heritage II, which is pretty much the same machine with a reversed color scheme.

 

[kirbyklekter]

I've always felt that the Heritage/Legend machines sounded the best, more refined. You've also got the "micro-matic" for even more height adjustment options.I'm thinking about buying a new brush roll with ball bearings, all good reports I've read. Also thought about upgrading to an led headlight bulb.Hope to see pics when you're finished.

 

[human]

Starting to make her shine...

I was out running errands this evening and ended up at Walmart, so I decided to get another tub of Mother's metal polish because I've misplaced the one I have. I also picked up a can of Never Dull wadding, which I hadn't seen on a store shelf in decades. The last can of that stuff I'd had was red, white and blue. This one is silver and black, so I may have just not recognized it previously. I got home and worked on the nozzle and headlight cover for about 30 minutes, alternating between the two polishes to see which one I liked better but I found out that going back and forth between the two really puts a shine on without a lot of effort. There's still some 'freckling' but it definitely doesn't look quite as forlorn as it did, parked next to the Sanitaire. I'll probably spend a some more time shining it up this weekend. It may not be perfect as some of that freckling will probably require some sanding, but it'll at least look respectable. I also ordered a hose for it today. With all the Kirby tools I have around the house, I saw no real reason to get yet another whole set when a compatible hose will let me use what I have with it.

 

[kirbyklekter]

To this day

I've done all my polishing by hand. I don't have a bench or grinder with implements which would certainly make the task go easier I'm sure. It's just that when I was a young buck,(stupid kid) I helped myself to my grand fathers grinder with the wire wheel attached. I was going to 'knock the rust' off of some bicycle parts. I wasn't seriously injured but let's just say things didn't go the way my nine year old brain had intended.I'm ok with using a Dremel type tool if need be, and, like you, trying different types of polishes and pastes and techniques gets good results. I could always send them out for a professional buff and shine, but for now I'm happy with what I've got. Some of the oldest Kirby's I have, like the 505, actually look pretty good with a few deep scratches left for posterity. I mean, 70+ years...hello. I sat in front of the tv and with Mothers Mag, some clean rags and a Kirby and just repeated over and over the polishing routine and each time I buffed it out it had a deeper and deeper shine.Not like a chrome bumper but...

 

[human]

Ready for a close-up, C.B.

So I tore down the Legacy II and gave it another hour, give or take, of elbow grease, Mother's and Nevr-Dull and I think it came out pretty good. Not perfect, mind you, but pretty good for the amount of effort I put in. My procedure was to scrub it vigorously with a piece of Nevr-Dull wadding, then buff it with a paper towel, then use that towel to rub Mothers onto it and buff it off, by which time the paper towel was totally black. I went through this cycle three or four times before I washed my hands and buffed it down one last time with a clean paper towel.

While she won't win any beauty contests, at least now it doesn't look quite so embarrassing next to the shiny Sanitaire. To get an idea of how far it's come in the week that I've had it, take a look back at the photo I took of it in Reply no. 29, just after I assembled it for the first time.

It didn't come with any attachments, but it had (and still has, to a certain extent) splash or spill marks down the exposed side, opposite the bag. I don't know whether it just sat in a basement and had stuff spilled on it or it was used with a shampoo attachment and never properly cleaned afterward. I was able to get most of those marks off (see photo no. 3), but not all of them. I'm sure I'll be rubbing on it some more in the future.

The look of the gray Heritage II bag on it is starting to grow on me. It kind of breaks up all that oxblood red. I'll make a decision whether to keep using that one or go back to the original red one by the time I fill up the paper filter bag inside. Oh, and I fixed the pilot light that shows when the machine is powered on. I caught one of my cats playing with a little plastic lens that fits in a hole on top of the bracket, then the light assembly snaps into it from below. Not at all what I had visualized, but it works.

 

[suckolux]

Very nice!

 

[kirbyklekter]

Boy they look great!

I don't know why but that rug nozzle looks like the much coveted and in demand 13" smaller nozzle that people really like. I heard that they thinned down the size a little of the regular nozzle, so maybe that's why I mistook it for the 13"Either way, it looks really good. So are you done with the repair or replacement of parts. I know you have a hose on order. Also wondering if you have or thought about a mini-butler. I know the knife sharpener works great on mine. There's a cable that hooks in to the front of the butler and the other end is like a drill chuck where you can hook up a buffing pad or sand paper discs, wire wheels or grinding stone.One of the members here says it's all he ever uses to shine his Kirby's.Hmmm.Maybe I'll try that some time.

 

[human]

Thanks,
I still need to go over it with some car wax to seal in the shine and I may revisit the polishing process at a later time. right now, I feel as if the machine is petty much complete. The only thing I have left on the list at the moment is a fan replacement kit, which I can get for about $12. The gray Lexan fan looks to be in pretty good shape, though. I don't have a mini butler, so I'll have to give that one some thought. Sounds like it could be fun.

 

[human]

Oh, I forgot to mention the nozzle on the Legend II is not the 13-inch one. It's the standard 16-inch model. Now, a 13-inch nozzle might be something useful to consider in the tight quarters of my house.

 

[sptyks]

Hi Edgar,


 


This is how you can get a great shine on all parts of your Legend II. I used this method on my Heritage Legend II seen in the photos below.


 


First, get a tube of Flitz polish from Amazon or Walmart. Flitz works better than Mother's and it also works on the plastic and rubber parts. Works great on the rubber bumper of the nozzle.


 


Second, apply a light coat to a section of your Legend use a soft cloth or (I just use my finger). Then use a microfiber cloth to buff it to a dull finish.


 


Third, attach a small buffing wheel to your electric or battery powered drill and buff away until you get a nice shine. Repeat if needed.


 


~Stan

 

[human]

That is beautiful. I'll have to give it a try.

 

[lesinutah]

Human

I'm thinking you have correct bag for legend 2.
Your sanitairre is very nice looking. The Kirby isn't bad either.
I have a burgundy foot switch.
If you nailed me black one is mail burgundy one. If you want.
Les

 

[kirbyklekter]

Human,

Did you get a chance to see the blue Sanitaire widetrack in the above threads? Nice.

 

[human]

Les--The bag I have on My Legacy II is technically correct in that the design is identical to the one that came on it, except for the color scheme. That gray bag with the red Kirby word mark is actually for a Heritage II Legacy, according to its original black bag topper. The Legacy II bag has the same pattern but with the geometric elements in the same oxblood red as the machine's plastics and the Kirby word mark in gray. This is shown in the video in reply no. 43. I did swap the red bag topper and bottom band from the original bag onto the H2 bag in place of the black ones to make it look more like it belongs there. The photo in reply no. 29 shows the H2 bag mounted on the machine with its original black topper and band in place before I swapped the red trim pieces onto it. The funny thing is, the more I live with it the way it is now, the more I like it. The red trim pieces really help bring out the red Kirby work mark.

 

[human]

The hose came in the mail today and I had a pleasant surprise. With the low price I paid and the color that appeared on my computer screen (more of a Classic III crimson than a Legacy oxblood), I assumed it was going to be a generic, third party hose. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a genuine Kirby hose and the color is identical to the red of my vacuum. Given Kirby's penchant for discontinuing most older colors, save for black or charcoal gray, I'm a little surprised this hose is actually available in both black and red.

 

[lesinutah]

Correct

Edgar
The heritage 2 and legend 2 bags are different. I was going through my vacuum items I have probably 30 Kirby and royal bags. I have a couple thousand disposable bags. I like heritage line quite a bit. I've lost track of amount of vacuums I've sold but heritage line I sell and get more money than other non g series vacuums. The color scheme is appealing to most people.
I see you didn't catch my question. I have a correct switch color if you wanted to mail me black one I'll mail burgundy one and trade straight across. My canister legend 2 has no wheels and a few other parts I put on other vacuums.
Les

 

[kirbyklekter]

Say yes

Say Yes! To the Kirby hose. Nice surprise on the color! All that's left is the issue with the light and a possible decision on bag & emptor placement. Now that you have the parts in house, that will be easier to decide. I transferred the Heritage bag&emp over to a DS80, just for fun,(long weekend in Cairo!),and it worked fine, less dust and seemed quieter, but the bag looked seriously out of place on the little guy. Any plans for another project?

 

[human]

Oh, I fixed the light when I put in the replacement switch. I had found a little plastic lens that fit into a hole on top of the plastic bracket into which the light fixture fit. It turns out the lens holds the bracket and the light fixture together.

I'm not sure what the next project is going to be. I'm moving into the busy part of the semester, so free time is going to be at a premium for about the next two months. Grading papers is not the most fun of being a college professor but it's what pays the bills and funds the occasional vacuum cleaner project.

Les--thanks for the offer of the switch but I think I'll stick with what I've got since it's band new. I'm thinking that when things slow down this winter, I may try to drill out the rivets to get inside the switch and see if I can fix it.

 

[human]

Well, I thought I was done with vacuum projects for a while but I came across a Heritage/Legend mini emptor for well below retail and decided to go ahead and put the innards back in the recently laundered Legend II bag (red geometric pattern with gray "Kirby" word marks) and in rummaging around, I made two discoveries (no, not Electrolux uprights) that led to a slightly more ambitious approach. The first discovery was not so good. The fill tube that was in the Legend II bag was shot, so I decided to scrap it and order a brand new one since they're pretty cheap to begin with. Then, while waiting for that to arrive, I found a Heritage/Legend bag coupling I'd forgotten about. I had bought it several years ago with the intention of retrofitting my late lamented Heritage 1HD to use the newer style bags so I would only have to stock one type of bag for all of my Kirby vacuums (just the Heritage and a Gsix at the time). Of course, I never got to do that, so I decided that since I had all the pieces, I'd fit my freshly laundered Legend II bag with all new innards. Since the red Legend II bag topper and bag guard band are presently in use on the gray Heritage II bag that's on the machine at the moment, the Heritage II bag's black trim pieces went onto the red Legend II bag. As with the red trim pieces on the gray bag, I think this one looks better with contrasting plastics, so I have no immediate plans to swap the two trim sets back to their original locations. Of course doing so is about a two-minute job, should I change my mind.

The whole assembly process only took about 20 minutes or so to complete, but the most uncooperative part of the whole thing by far was the mini emptor. First, it didn't want to screw onto the fill tube, but I easily solved that with some silicone spray (hope it doesn't melt the plastic on the fill tube, but I did order a two-pack, so I'm prepared). The tougher part was wrestling the spring on the bottom of the bag onto the top of the emptor. My hands are still sore from that exercise. Oh, and I got a package of 11-inch cable ties from Harbor Freight to lash it all together. A hundred of them only cost me $2 on sale. So now that I have two complete bag assemblies for that machine, I'll have to find an incomplete Heritage II in need of some TLC, but not today.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Professor,

Congratulations on your completed project. Those bag retainers are as my mom would say, "the bees knees" to put on. I think the oval metal sani-emptors are the worst. If there's a special tool for stretching them on to the emptor, I don't have it. Had me loudly under my breath using words I would not use in polite company.