As I said in the other thread, this is my least favorite of Electrolux designs and now you know why it was also the shortest lived TOL range ever. The handles and wands actually hold up fairly well in spite of the materials used. The worst were the Renaissance with the touch controls, those were and are very fragile. Nothing wrong with good old metal wands, the exact reason I have only 2 of the later tanks. Can't wait to see you using a Centec head with this... 

BTW - no other Elux/Aerus design is anywhere near as bad as the R units... just my opinion, I know there are those out there that love them, I am not among them.

They are all very easy to work on. The hose/PN change won't be too difficult, I agree. I just want to see the results ;-) I've used other PNs with my older tanks but not with the 2 new ones.

Someone used it to pick up something wet and disgusting... so much fun. I found my Legacy out on the curb on trash day. Looked nice from the outside. Inside was much the same as yours but I could identify the material... the contents of a kitty litter box, by sight and smell. Took about 3 hours to get it really clean and all the dried material out of the fans and around the armature... but the thermal overload switch did it's job and the thing runs like new with only a new brushroll, belt and a good clean. All the tools were there with it as well.

I've pulled about 100 Electroluxes apart. it gets easy with practice. I also just put everything but the motor in the dishwasher after a good hosing off out side. While that ran a scrub cycle, I cleaned the motor.  All the plastic bits were washed and dried before I finished the motor. Takes me about an hour on a metal tank excluding motor.. they are very easy. In 4 I can do a full restoration with a new paint job, brushes and bearings, add an hour if it needs dent and rust removal.

it really all just depends on condition. But I've also made jigs for the drill press to drill out rivets that hold bearings in place and I've been known to stand the motor up on the fan in a container of penetrating oil to get a head start on sticky fan shrouds and fans. I also have a small hoard of spare parts from motors that were in, shall we say, unrepairable condition. I have gotten faster after several dozen attempts. The older motors are much more robust than the newer and unless rusted, are fairly easy to work on. The newer motors, with all the plastic parts, take much longer and are more likely to suffer damage, especially where pieces come together. Particularly grody examples have been known to be submerged in parts cleaner for a bit or a few days when I know going in that bearings will be repacked or replaced. Hell a few have gone through the dishwasher.

I can't help you with getting the bag compartment out. I've never had to go that far on an R model and I try to avoid them anyway so I haven't played with many. If I had one in my collection, I'd figure it out for you, but alas, I don't. Lucky for Electrolux collectors, compatible hoses do stay in production for ages, at least on the aftermarket. OEM brush rolls are wood as are all the aftermarket ones that I've seen.

the sidekick has a plastic brushroll, the PN should be wood, Ash to be precise.  Though aftermarket brushrolls may be alder, ask or oak, at least I've seen those 3, may be others.

Geez.. I should have told you earlier too... you can make it run without a bag, just press in on the piece that sticks out on the inner door... with a bag in place it is depressed and completes the circuit allowing the motor to run. Just don't go vacuuming the floor with it :-)

Short of pulling the motor apart, getting an odor out is not easy. I would either pack it in aquarium charcoal - and I mean pack that charcoal in every opening and in the fans, as much as you can - in a box just big enough to hold it all and leave it there for about a week. Choice 2 is to run the motor through a cycle in the dishwasher, or wash it with citrus cleaner... just make sure it's rinsed very well and completely dry before hooking it back up. I've done both without creating an issue but if you wash it, you may have to open her up and replace the bearings depending on how good the seals are... with this motor, seals should be good and not an issue, but the caveat is there.

Motors are very simple things... they can get wet if not electrified. It really won't hurt anything. I usually remove the carbon brushes, just because they are a wear item and it makes getting the comm clean easier. Don't leave it soaking for a few months, but a few hours wet won't hurt anything.  When you're done washing, put another vac in blower mode (if you have one) or use an air compressor to blow air through the fans and out the motor. Most of the moisture will be evaporated in short order. I've even washed one in winter and used the blower from another Electrolux to dry it in a few hours. The warm exhaust air does a fantastic job.