Two more old Kirby's rescued from the boneyard

My preference has always been Royal's and I have several now, but I have to admit I have been warming up to early Kirby's as well. I find most of my vacuums at the local Goodwill outlet store. Recently I found a 509 with a tan bag, red trim, and lots of scuffing. I lke the honest and purposful design of the early 500 models and decided to restore it to as original appearence as possible with available parts. I ordered the current black Kirby bag and tan handle grip and hood trim. Inspired by EUREKASTAR's restoration posted 11/06/2010 I used the same SEM automotive interior paint to return to the orignal gray. It works great and seems very durable. I did not have much luck painting the gray wheels black and found some new black wheels on e-bay. Thanks goes to KIRBYKID for facilitating a professional polishing that restored the aluminum to a mirror finish! While the 509 was out for polishing a found the 560. It appeared to be original including the bag and I decided to restore it too. So far I have just hand polished it and have ordered a new power cord. The 560 has grown on me and I think it is one of the most elegant vacuum designs right up there with my Eureka Model M!

Photos... < > Photo 1 of 6 View Full Size


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Post# 281692 5/24/2014 at 17:02 (3,617 days old) by toastermike (Milwaukie Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes 3 My preference has always been Royal's and I have several now, but I have to admit I have been warming up to early Kirby's as well. I find most of my vacuums at the local Goodwill outlet store. Recently I found a 509 with a tan bag, red trim, and lots of scuffing. I lke the honest and purposful design of the early 500 models and decided to restore it to as original appearence as possible with available parts. I ordered the current black Kirby bag and tan handle grip and hood trim. Inspired by EUREKASTAR's restoration posted 11/06/2010 I used the same SEM automotive interior paint to return to the orignal gray. It works great and seems very durable. I did not have much luck painting the gray wheels black and found some new black wheels on e-bay. Thanks goes to KIRBYKID for facilitating a professional polishing that restored the aluminum to a mirror finish! While the 509 was out for polishing a found the 560. It appeared to be original including the bag and I decided to restore it too. So far I have just hand polished it and have ordered a new power cord. The 560 has grown on me and I think it is one of the most elegant vacuum designs right up there with my Eureka Model M! Photos... < > Photo 1 of 6 View Full Size

Post# 281694 , Reply# 1 5/24/2014 at 17:06 (3,617 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes Mike, Good finds! The 509 was produced from 1949-50, while the 560 was produced from 1960-61. The 509 heralded the introduction of the Handi-Butler; while the 560 heralded the new design belt lifter. ~Ben

Post# 281695 , Reply# 2 5/24/2014 at 17:06 (3,617 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center)
Checkrate/Likes *I was doubtful* About that KirbyKid guy! How on EARTH did he polish that Kirby to such a shine?!

Post# 281696 , Reply# 3 5/24/2014 at 17:29 (3,617 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Those turned out REALLY well!!! Evan does a beautiful job with the polishing too. Glad the painting technique worked out for you as well. I love the 560/561 because it epitomizes the understated sensibility of the 50s and early 60s. Fast forward to the DS80, and it screams 1970! Congratulations!!!

Post# 281701 , Reply# 4 5/24/2014 at 18:30 (3,617 days old) by kirbymodel2c (Nottingham, England)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Great* Great Job you've done there Mike!! James