So, last week we were bouncing from thrift store to thrift store--naturally I sniffed out the vacuums right away. I haven't purchased a vacuum in quite a while - moving and not having the space or the money really helps with not making new purchases... but I decided it was high time I bought one.. I was craving it.

The first place we went had a mid-70's Eureka for 20 bucks... about 20 bucks more than I wanted to spend for it. If it had been 5 or 10, I probably would have gone for it. We left that place, went across the street to another thrift store that only had a Regina floor polisher. Nothing too exciting. Next place was only a few doors down. They had two machines, a hard case Hoover Elite, and an Electrolux Epic Upright... both without prices on them.

So I was about ready to leave, when I decided to ask how much the two vacuums in back were. Being prepared to leave-as I was sure they were going to be more than I wanted to pay (I was only interested in the Lux). Lux uprights aren't bad machines, and with the Electrolux name on them, they can usually command a decent price tag, I wasn't expecting what came out of the guy's mouth... **$4 each**

So, I left the Hoover behind, and threw my card at the salesman for the Electrolux.

Here's a before:

Taking it apart... It's bath time!

Motor removed:

All washed (most of the body parts went through the dishwasher)... ready to be re-assembled!

About to put the motor back in.

Motor in!

Re-attaching the handle and main body.

Powernozzle motor in place, brushroll installed, final assembly.

All done!

Its maiden voyage!

After shot:

Another:

Underside:

All in all, this was a very easy machine to work on! Very simple and straightforward.

It works pretty well on my carpet, I like having the ability to turn the brushroll off and go on a bare floor.

I will eventually get a new brushroll for it, ans this one is a bit worn. I'm also looking for a hose and powered hand tool for it. :-)

Yay for $4 thrift store finds!

~Fred

Fred that is such a fabulous restoration you did and the pictures are super cool! I just love photographing and showing off restorations, it’s one of the things that makes our clubs great. So dirty when you got it, but now it looks beautiful, so nice and shiny and ready to go.

I’ve never seen an Electrolux upright from this time period before, I like the way the bottom extends out over the brush roll! While I've used many Electrolux tanks, I've never tried an upright before.

Oh and that Hoover carpet is so cool!

Thanks again for posting this.

Fred,

Fabulous job on that machine. Very interesting to see the guts!! Very thorough job ... as you know, I really appreciate your deep dive on this one and the attention to detail. Kudos to you!!

My younger sister had that machine. She traded the Lux model 30 I gave her for it. She loved the upright but is hard on vacuums and eventually broke off the power nozzle. They still use it with a hose for "canister" cleaning.

Enjoy!!

Pat

Hey Pat-

Got your message this morning!

Let's talk soon!

~Fred

Sounds great, Fred.
Tonight is a bit crazy so how about tomorrow night.
More freedom and time.
I'll give you a jingle once I'm home from the gym ... about 8 - 8:30 central time.
Sound OK???

Oh Fred, nice cleanup job but I'm afraid it doesn't seem to fit with any of your stuff and to be honest you don't even look that thrilled in the after shots. Tell you what, drop it off over at my place this weekend and I'll refund your money and buy you lunch... I already have bags for it, thanks

You know Pete, those would probably fit your Dometic 503 with a bit of modification ;]

Ian

Very nice, and great find! :-) Nice job cleaning it up, too!

~~K~~

Ian,,, just got the proper bags today in the mail from Newcastle, cut they are very similar LOL

Ya know if you look at the "mechanics" of the 70s US electrolux upright you'll see they're virtually identical in that respect.

But, In true American fashion it's about 10 times bigger :P

Fred
If your selling that wounderfull lux Upright, You should
leave it with me in Columbus, O. As I have a brand new
set of attachments that would be for that Machine. If you
get some tools to tray on it. Let me know if it pulls
50+ on the water lift gauge. The attachments I got were for an
older model that I have and they are sort- of OK. Rather
disappointing compared with any lux tank I have! I have
a feeling there's a reason, just don't know where to start looking?
Have been watching those luxes on Ebay and always going for
$150.00 or more. Love the color and headlight.
Norm

Fred,

Congrats on the find. Great restoration job. And, superb job of documenting the whole process. Thanks for sharing.

Mike

Thanks Fred for sharing the Great pictures of your restoration with us. The machine turned out just beautiful. I have an Electrolux Discovery III upright that I got from Roger and I really like using it.

Awesome job Fred, nothing less that one would expect from you! I have one of these and have a question. The handle pulls back just fine, but to put the handle back up in the upright position, it requires a very stern push and loud click. The two metal pieces look o.k., can these be bent some way so putting the handle back up is not so hard? Other than that the vacuum works flawlessly, has had very light use from it's previous owner. I haven't had a chance to have it looked at by a vac shop, and our Electrolux office in St. Louis was closed due to poor management and lack of sales force.

I can't believe you took one of those apart! They just look so complicated! I think i have an extra hose with pigtail and a TON O BAGS!!!!! if you need any. Let me know! Thanks for that pic by pic restoration!

Marty

These are nice cleaners - I had a similar model, same case design but more of an "ensemble in brown" coloring. They are terrific carpet cleaners, but the design of the dirt-path from the floor to the bag is a bit winding and they tend to clog fairly easily for the clueless & careless.

That's a great price too, I've never paid less than $15 for the two I've found! Enjoy the Lux, Fred.

The pictures of the parts all spread out. I like to do that too. It really shows off what all has gone into a restoration! Great job!!!

Fred,
congrats on ur find. love taking those Lux's apart.
hope i can make it up there soon to see both of u
Ive got a hoover steam vac I want u to take a look at
Ron
AKA bukickfins59_1999@yahoo.com

I have always like those Electrolux uprights, very well designed machines. Fred, you did a great job cleaning it up, almost looks new!

Miss Asquith, are you really so stupid that you can't figure it out? Wait, you work in an Oreck store, only the dumbest of fucks would be so supid and desperate as to do that. I can actually work on real vacuums! HA! And Miss Nelson, I hope you get that dildo stuck up your ass!

Several days ago I received a response to my "GE Roll-Easy vacuum wanted" ad on the RDU Craigslist site... I couldn't open that email fast enough, I had found a Roll-Easy!!!

NOT... it was just some guy asking me why I wanted one and how did I know what a Roll-Easy was, lol.

It was Fred :)

I was wondering where all those vacs on my mental 'wait n see' list were getting to lately, lol... usually they're still sitting there in a dusty corner of the thrift store when I come back for them in a few days.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Fred :)

Fred, since you know how to repair vacs, you might be interested in this Epic on Craigslist

If the repair estimate she got was right (seems high?), there's another Epic listed right below it for $15 that you could cannibalize for the motor

Here's the url to that one

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/hsh/464454709.html

Hey there!

Glad to see you posting!
Thanks for the welcome to the neighborhood!!

I saw that Epic a few days ago, and e-mailed the seller... it's actually right in my neighborhood! I haven't heard anything back; just e-mailed them again.

I'll keep my fingers crossed!

~Fred

Fred,

So cool that you connected with "someone in the neighborhood." I bet you'll have alot of fun. Is Guy (vac-a-day) related to the Craig's list story you told me on the phone the other night?? Seems right!! Whatever ...

Enjoy!!

Pat

Yep, that's him!

:-)

And I got an email from the seller of the other Lux on Craigslist; the machine had already been sold.

Oh well, there will be more!

~Fred