Well, it was my first real Eureka restoration -- taking the motor apart and such.  I've rebuilt so many Hoovers, it was nice doing something just a bit different for a change.  As I've said numerous times, this was the vacuum best friend & next door neighbor's mother had growing up... so it has a special place in my collection.  I really wanted to do it right.  This cleaner also came from a smoker's home, so I needed to spend some extra time scouring and scrubbing. 

I ran into a few hurdles with the motor, not ever having one apart before.  But thanks to this forum and much advice I got from Chris (hoover28) in NY, I was able to successfully get it all apart and back together. 

It runs like an absolute dream...

I should probably give a disclaimer before saying what I'm about to say next...  I'm (of course) a Hoover guy, thru and thru, and would never say what I'm about to say with any disrespect towards Hoover.  But.... I really must say that having never taken a Eureka from this era apart, I was really blown away by the overall build quality when comparing it to a Hoover from the same time period (I would compare it to a Decade 80).  The build quality of this Eureka cleaner is far superior to that of a Hoover... and I think it is safe to say that it's probably a better cleaner than a Hoover Decade 80.  This Eureka has a double-ball bearing motor, and sealed ball bearings in the Vibra-Groomer II agitator.  Really a dream to work on (once I figured it out), and really impressive quality, design, and workmanship. 

The only gripe I have about this cleaner would be servicing the cord and switch.  It's nearly impossible to do.  The handle grip has to come off, the wires all go up the handle... you have to carefully take the switch out.. and if you want to remove the cord, you may as well forget it.  Once that cord-strain gets pushed into the handle, you may as well cut it off and drill it out if you want to remove it.  I have no idea how those cords would have been serviced on a regular basis back when those cleaners were more prevelant.  Thankfully my cleaner had a perfect cord, but I tried taking the cord out of a different "parts machine" 2091 I had laying around, which was in pretty rough shape... and I cursed and gnashed my teeth trying to get that cord out, but I finally got it.

Anyways, without further adieu...

Motor/Base before...

Motor/base after!

Bag detail... Love the 'racing stripe'... I took the bag off of the fill tube, removed the wood 'dowel' at the top that the spring hangs from... I ran the bag through the Maytag, and threw in some vintage Downy in its rinse... Smells really nice.  And is really clean, too.

That fabulous ESP switch.

Underside after running it through the dishwasher a few times.. Just sparkles!  New brush-strips in the VGII, as well.

Date stamp... 1982, I would believe...

Ready to go!

Bravo!  You really set the bar high when it comes to performing a restoration and you've done it again with this one. 

Just beautiful Fred, I am sure it couldn't have looked or ran any better the day that it was sold!!!

Fred, that bag material is simply awesome.  You'll be amazed at how much fine dust those bags can handle with virtually no loss of airflow.  And no dusty smell either! 

Beautiful restore job Fred.

Having worked with you on machines before, I know how detailed the end product is.

It's great to find a machine like that, especially since the connection goes back a ways, and bring it back to "new."

Personally, while I love vacuuming with a 60's convertible or 70's concept, those eureka uprights are amazing.

I think they do an incredible job grooming a carpet.

Bravo on a job well done and Enjoy!!

psf