What to do with this Rainbow?

[evolutionclean1]

Hey all, I'm seeking some advice on what to do with my Rainbow D4 SE. I spent hours trying to get it running correctly, I cleaned the fans, casing, and greased the lower bearing. Unfortunately my lack of knowledge prevented me from greasing the center bearing, and I didn't figure out til after the fact how to get to it... So after all that work, she's very unhappy and that dry bearing is sounding rough. It's bad enough that it shortens the wind down significantly. I used a very strong adhesive to reattach the basin gasket, and after switching out the spider, 2 of the baffle plate screws were damaged from needing to be drilled out.
I'm a bit frustrated at this point, as I've had 4 or 5 D4s through the years, and they've all had an issue of some sort. I'll chalk this one up to insufficient knowledge, but it's an important lesson for sure.

So the debate I'm having is this - do I try to get to the motor again, and risk damaging the machine further, try to track down a replacement motor, part the machine out, find another decent D4, find a Performance Edition, or see if the local Rainbow dealer will take it as a trade in?

I don't see this machine having a whole lot of value as is, especially not with a less than healthy motor. I'm very undecided as I haven't had great experiences with this particular model, but I can't get over it due to the fact that I have a soft spot for this model in the first place. Thoughts?

 

[panasonicvac]

I'd hang onto it as either a parts machine for your next D4C or continue working on it as a learning experience. Perhaps these two videos could maybe point you into the direction of where you went wrong and how you can correct it.

 

[evolutionclean1]

I will have to

Check those out. I'm only hesitant as I will more than likely have to drill out the remaining screws to get to the bearing. I'm not keen on cutting new threads with all the rust.

 

[huskyvacs]

Yeah I'd say considering you couldn't get to the center bearings, and you did the others, and the problem still exists, that tells where the problem lies. Also check the bearing balls themselves, if they are severely worn all the grease in the world won't help them.

I've got a Rainbow D4 myself that I haven't got to rebuilding yet. It's missing the entire bottom half, it's got a broken basin, and it was used in a racing garage and it reeks of fuel. So badly, I had to keep it in my garage for months to let it dissipate. I can only imagine someone sucked up fuel with it and it blew up.

If you like water vacuums these are a good one to start with since it's one of the more common models and they aren't too complex in construction to figure out.

 

[evolutionclean1]

It's a good reference

For any future purchases. My curiosity is getting the best of me and I'm dying to see the trade in pile at the local dealer's office
The issue I face is justifying the cost of another D4. I paid all of $20 for the SE and the most decent looking Performance Edition for sale locally is astronomically overpriced for a 30 year old vacuum. I've noticed that out of all their models, the D4 was the most well loved and as a result they're prone to issues, unless you get lucky. Maybe I'll go for a nice E2 Platinum... I loved mine and would be willing to pay $100 for a complete one

At any rate, my faithful D3C is still going strong and runs as happy as can be. Haven't done any major work on it since I bought it 6 years ago, the most I did was swap out the spider and somehow it's more powerful than the SE ever was?
I have so many good cleaners to choose from but sometimes there's one machine you just can't get over