Good evening VLers! 

This morning my latest acquisition arrived, and it is a vacuum I have been wishing to purchase for over a year.  Yes, it is a Junior 119!

I literally have done nothing to it other than to take it out of the box, put it together and remove the old belt which was moulded into the motor pulley and had obviously been used whilst stuck there as it had a massive chunk worn out where it sat on the pulley.

I plan on cleaning it up and checking that it works tomorrow morning (best to let the gin wear off before attempting any electrical maintenance!) but for now I'll post a photo of it so you guys can take a look and maybe give some background information on the particular model I have.

Unfortunately I think the bag is generic as it states "THE JUNIOR CLEANER" on it rather than "HOOVER", but it is a bit much to ask to get a 1950s vacuum with the original bag - especially when the purchase price is £9!

Bye for now folks.

Yes Steve I did think it may be a refurbished model, which is fine by me - it's still a Hoover through and through

I have now taken it apart ready for cleaning and currently have the bag soaking in a bath of warm water and laundry detergent.  Whether it is the original one or not, it is in superb condition with not a single nick or piece of wear to the lettering - so I'm more than happy with it.

One thing that did please me was that, despite the aforementioned wear, it was actually a Genuine Hoover belt!! 

Here it is, just the bare cleaning head with no brush roll, belt cover or, well, belt!  I will try and gain access to the motor later though as I think the bearing could go with some greasing.  It doesn't feel rough to turn, but it doesn't feel smooth either - if you know what I mean.

The belt cover, which I think I will leave when it comes to re-painting as I could never reproduce those decals.

And the pieces (minus the brushroll) I shall be cleaning now.

Indeed Steve, however the reason the belt becomes damaged as was shown on my Junior 119 is because it actually started slipping and "sat" on the motor pulley as it was turning.

If you change your belts as soon as they start slipping then all you have to worry about is them snapping spontaneously which, admittedly, does happen, but not as often (in my experience) as them slipping and consequentially burning up.

I shall go and take the handles and belt cover out of the bath now and dry them, but any further restoration will be put forward to tomorrow I think as I'm done in now after putting the Christmas decorations up (the wine hasn't helped either!).

Would you believe I haven't even tested if the motor works yet!  I suppose I'd better do that before I go into greasing bearings or anything like that. 

Very nice Jamie! The 119 is a brilliant machine, I'll have to get one someday. One thing I am puzzled by is the colour, did Hoover ever make 119s in this colour? or would it have been painted when refurbished?

A real diamond in the rough aye, Jamie ;)

No, but cool find. :P

Well here comes the pictorial restoration! Or at least most of it (I have yet to complete it, for reasons I'll state later).

Here is the bag as it came in from the washing line last night, all cleaned and dry.

The first thing I did this morning was to remove the ratings plate, and boy was it dusty inside!  I have a feeling it hasn't been removed since it was refurbished probably back in the 1980s(?).

Closer shot of the antique dust!

With a little help from a much newer Hoover the dust was no more...

No dust!

The fan is metal and although is has obviously seen some use, it has sustained no damage.

The Hoover engraving on the fan.

The main body with fan & commutator removed.

Here is the fan and commutator removed.

As you can see the carbon brushes still have a fair bit of life left, though I will try and source a new set soon to have as spares.

Here is the new belt and the old one - some difference!

The new belt wasn't actually as hard to fit as is usual with those round belt Hoovers.

All cleaned and ready to go back together...

The rating plate (which literally IS a plate on this model).

Model and serial number.  I notice the prefix of the serial number on this model begins with a K instead of a J, is there any reason for that?  Perhaps that was exclusive to the refurbished models?

The bumper is in very good condition with only slight marks on the corners from skirting boards etc...

Front of bumper.

Right bumper.

Fortunately the brush strips are in very good condition and don't need replacing.

As is common with these old models the rubber seal on the fan housing partially fell off when I took the fan out so I expect some whistling when in use, but at some point I'll buy some sealant and do a proper job.

The seal again...

I suppose it could have been worse - at least none of it disintegrated!

Now here is where I would normally post a picture of it all back together and ready to test out, but only I can't.

Why?  Because when I went to put the handles on I discovered that the nut for the upper handle has gone missing. 

I had it last night with all the other bits and pieces but when I went to get it today it was nowhere to be found.  I've searched high and low but to no avail.

As a result, I am completely clueless as to how I am going to get this cleaner going.  Any suggestions?

Panic over!  I finally found the missing nut and have assembled the 119 and rewired the plug (plus fitted a 3 amp fuse to replace the 13 amp in there - big surprise) so tomorrow morning I'll test it out for the first time.

The dilemma I have at the moment is when I come to re-paint it should I spray it the same colour silver it currently has or try to return it to gold, bearing in mind I'd never be able to reproduce the original decals on the belt cover? 

I haven't even tested the motor yet though, so I suppose I'd better wait until I do that before thinking too much into it!  Knowing my luck it won't even run.