Kirby Vacuum

[scalebowler]

Found this old Kirby Tradition vacuum at a thrift store last week for 15 bucks with a mostly complete box of attachments. Saw it the day before I bought it but decided maybe I would pass on it but kept thinking about the thing all night and then all day at work so I rushed back to the store after I got off work and luckily it was still there. Didn't even bother to plug it in at the store since it was so cheap I thought I could make the money back parting it out if it ended up not working. Got it home and began cleaning it up. I did not do a perfect job cleaning it up since there are a few deep scratches on the light cover and the corners that I did not bother to sand out but I'm happy with how it turned out. Cool thing is I found a Kirby dealer just about 3 miles from my house and they checked it out for free plus sold me a new belt, light bulb and some bags for it. Must have spent 2 hours there that day because the guy was excited someone had in interest in the old ones and taught me just about everything I needed to know on how to use it as well as a bunch of history and showed me all the accessories they made for them (which I ended up buying most of when I bought the missing parts for the attachment box). Was pretty fun. Wouldn't mind getting another old one sometime to redo. Actually pretty easy projects and really good vacuum that they STILL make all the parts for!

[ajf5577]

It looks like it's from the 80's.
Kirbys are great fun because they are easy to date, and you can still get parts for just about any years model, even back to the 40's I have bought a couple of them. They clean up nicely and they're usually really cheap at sales.
Congratulations on picking that one up. It will give you many years of service.

[Eric]

I think there's a vacuum cleaner museum here in Missouri... My grandmother had one that looked like the Rocketeer jet pack.
That turned out nice.. looks like you used a lot of elbow grease on it. Years ago folks would hide that in a closet, now you could
take that, find a few vintage cleaning bottles and cans, frame a few old advertisements and display that in a corner. Great job!

[GreenMo]

That's a nice sucker!

[HowDueYouDue]

Interesting score. I may have to start giving them a second look at the flea markets

[scalebowler]

It looks like it's from the 80's.
Kirbys are great fun because they are easy to date, and you can still get parts for just about any years model, even back to the 40's I have bought a couple of them. They clean up nicely and they're usually really cheap at sales.
Congratulations on picking that one up. It will give you many years of service.

Thanks! Yeah I was really surprised when I went into the vacuum shop and they had just about every part I could need for it. I expected them to have discontinued selling parts for it or at least have to order something in but the guy had everything I could ever need for it.

[scalebowler]

I think there's a vacuum cleaner museum here in Missouri... My grandmother had one that looked like the Rocketeer jet pack.
That turned out nice.. looks like you used a lot of elbow grease on it. Years ago folks would hide that in a closet, now you could
take that, find a few vintage cleaning bottles and cans, frame a few old advertisements and display that in a corner. Great job!

Thanks! It took a little work to clean it all up. Mainly used Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish and the polishing wheel they sold for doing rims. Think it was called the "power ball" or something like that. Then gave it a coat of wax to hopefully keep it from oxidizing as quickly. Hardest part was re attaching the bag after I ran it through the washing machine. There is a spring sewn into the fabric in the bottom where all the dust comes in. Well the thing is REALLY strong to keep a tight seal and I had a heck of a time hooking it back on.

I like that idea of making a little display. Wouldn't mind having the poster they had in the vacuum shop that showed a timeline of the models from the first one to what ever one was the newest when they printed it.

[TheGarbageHunter]

Living the Dream

[Slider-Bob]

That really sucks!  LOL 

[cohammer]

That was back when you bought something it was meant to last not throw it away every year and get another .

[scalebowler]

Bought another one off craigslist yesterday and spent the day restoring it. Just used the method that the guy at the Kirby shop showed me. Just some 000 steel wool, mothers aluminum polish and a microfiber cloth. Still needs a new light bulb and an O ring between the metal part under the bag and the exhaust on the fan housing (shoots the dust right out the front as it is now) but other than that it seems to be in really good shape and has had very little use. Got it for 50 bucks with just about if not every accessory that Kirby made for it back then. Even had an unopened bottle of carpet shampoo in the box with the carpet shampooer attachment. Main reason I bought it was it came with an attachment called the Handi Butler which you attached to the front of the vacuum and it allowed you to use some power tools (drill, buffing, grinding and sanding wheels, and even a jig saw). Guy at the Kirby shop told me he sharpens lawnmower blades with one but the belts are really hard to find so I don't know if I'll use it.

Anyway here are a couple pictures. Think it turned out pretty good for just a day of work.

Before and After




Both vacuums

[ajf5577]

 Congratulations! Kirbys are the finest floor model vacuum cleaners made IMHO.
 You could end up with one of these for every room in your house LOL!

[scalebowler]

Congratulations! Kirbys are the finest floor model vacuum cleaners made IMHO.
 You could end up with one of these for every room in your house LOL!

Thanks! I totally agree, Kirbys are really well made vacuums. Don't know of any other brand that can be 40 years old and still look like it has another 40 years left in it. Still want to find a Kirby Dual Sanitronic 50 to clean up and then I think I'll be set for a while. Love them and love working on them but it seems if I'm not careful they could multiply very quickly. Eventually the plan is to build a small display in the corner of the room with 3 boxes all different heights that each vacuum will sit on. Then hang up some posters, old pictures, and maybe a shelf or rack that some of the old obsolete accessories (like the shag king) could be displayed on. Think that would make a nice little place to store and display them

[Eric]

Will make great display/conversation pieces... These look really nice.. will have to watch auctions
I go to... may have to pick one up too!

[scalebowler]

Will make great display/conversation pieces... These look really nice.. will have to watch auctions
I go to... may have to pick one up too!

Thanks! They're pretty fun and easy to redo. Plus the cool thing is Kirby still makes parts for most of their models since they designed them to last pretty much forever.