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Thread Number: 42319
/ Tag: 50s/60s/70s Vacuum Cleaners
The Classic III Has Landed! |
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| Post# 445333 8/29/2021 at 15:21 (964 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
So my first purchase from Shopgoodwill.com has finally arrived. I bought it late Friday night a week ago and it didn't ship out until Wednesday. It was scheduled to be delivered yesterday but then it instead made a grand tour of three different FedEx facilities in this area. Apparently, the barcode label got partially torn off and had to be replaced. Delivery was rescheduled for next Tuesday but to my great surprise when I checked the tracking this morning, the progress bar showed green with the notation that it had been delivered. I wasn't expecting a Sunday delivery.
I found it under the edge of my carport, rather than at the front door, dragged it into the house, unboxed it and carried the packaging out back to be dealt with later today when I do trash cans and litter pans. That's about as far as I've gotten, other than to examine everything and ascertain it's all there. My first impression is it's just very dusty and needs a good polishing but is otherwise intact and in very nice condition for its age. I think it's just been sitting in (dry) storage for several years. I'll dig deeper into it in the next day or so and post some photos. For the sake of continuity, I've pasted a link below to the thread I semi-hijacked a week or so ago when I bought it. CLICK HERE TO GO TO human's LINK | ||
| Post# 445337 , Reply# 1 8/29/2021 at 15:37 (964 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA) | ||
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| Post# 445342 , Reply# 2 8/29/2021 at 18:16 (964 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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First Run...
So after I'd finished some other household chores, I decided to take a closer look at the Classic III to see just what I'd gotten myself into. The first thing I did was to plug it in and turn it on. The motor sounds great, the height adjustment works smoothly and the headlight works but the belt was missing. Once I took the nozzle off to replace the belt, I was completely amazed at how clean it is, beyond a good coating of surface dust. Peeking into the fan casing, it is just pristine in there and the spindle looks brand new. I'm honestly beginning to wonder if the belt broke on this thing, the original owner didn't know how to change it and just put it away like a time capsule. The small assortment of tools that came with it also show minimal signs of wear. I think this thing sat unused in the back of "Aunt Millie's" hall closet for 15 or 20 years before it got donated. It just absolutely amazes me that this machine is about 45 years old.
The metal has some very mild oxidation and only a very few small scratches but no real battle scars. I know I can get it absolutely gleaming without a whole lot of effort. Of course, I've now got several weekends' worth of polishing ahead of me when the weather cools off with the Sentria and the G3 in addition to this Classic III. I definitely have no business accumulating any more vacuums at this point. The machine came with an unopened two-pack of Hoover branded belts that the packaging says are for Kirby and Royal uprights, as well as Eureka power nozzles. The package had a 1985 copyright date and a $1.49 price tag from a True Value hardware store. I decided not to open it and went into my belt stash instead. I had one smooth belt and four with a knurled inner surface so since the Hoover belts were smooth, I decided to go with the smooth one. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow. | ||
| Post# 445345 , Reply# 3 8/29/2021 at 18:55 (963 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana) | ||
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| Post# 445363 , Reply# 4 8/30/2021 at 04:10 (963 days old) by fantomfan57 (Central Texas) | ||
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Yeaaaa, So glad your vacuum made it home. Also glad it is in great shape. I too found in my new acquisition, a package of Kirby/Royal belts. I forget the brand, but I know the package had red graphics. Looking forward to your progress and pictures. | ||
| Post# 445379 , Reply# 5 8/30/2021 at 19:26 (962 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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It's in the Bag...
I'm really liking this Classic III except for the dump bag arrangement. I've just never been fond of dump bags. That's why I retrofitted my Heritage 1HD, which had left the factory with a dump bag, with a Heritage II bag assembly so that I could not only use disposable filter bags but use the same bags across all of my Kirby vacuums. I eventually swapped out the gray H2 bag for a proper orange H1 bag and kept the proper charcoal gray topper and bag guard that had come on the dump bag so it looks all original except for the plastic mini emptor.
Since I had a full H2 bag assembly on the shelf, I thought to similarly retrofit the Classic III but nothing is ever completely simple and straightforward. First, the dump bag assembly was murder to get off of the Classic III. It took a good spritz of WD40 and a colorful assortment of curse words to finally get it loose but there didn't appear to be any undue corrosion holding it in place. I think it had just been on there for a very long time and didn't want to move. The second challenge was putting the plastic Mini Emptor in the original Sani-Emptor's place. It fits but it doesn't want to completely snap into place. I guess it will take some persuasion similar to its metal counterpart but I'll get it. For the sake of my blood pressure, I decided that could wait and instead went on to the next challenge. The final challenge was connecting the top of the bag to the handle. The Classic and Heritage series machine use entirely different systems so for this, so a couple of different possibilities came to mind, ranging from just putting a zip tie between the H2 bag topper and the dangling hook on the handle to actually swapping the original handle out for a Heritage I handle I've got in the barn. In the end, I just swapped the Classic III bag topper over to the H2 bag. This took just a couple of minutes and had a number of advantages ranging from keeping the Classic III name on the machine to not having to wash the Classic III bag anytime soon. I think the gray bag looks very nice on the machine and the red topper makes the red Kirby word marks on the gray bag really pop out. Right now, it still has the black H2 bag guard band on it, which doesn't look bad, but the red one on from the original bag really needs to be on there. I wanted to get some photos to go with this post but I ran out of daylight. I'll get some tomorrow afternoon. As a side note, handling the metal parts with WD40 on my hands actually shined it up a little more. It's going to look great when I hit it with some Mother's. Also, looking into the vents on the motor housing, there is no sign at all of rug fuzz or other cruddy build-up inside there. This thing is just too clean. Since this weekend is supposed to be cooler with highs in the low 80s, I'm thinking a polishing session might be in the offing. The G3 and the Sentria will just have to wait a little longer. | ||
| Post# 445383 , Reply# 6 8/30/2021 at 20:42 (962 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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I love it when a plan comes together...
So I got a little excited and went ahead and put the red bag guard on the Classic III. I think the gray H2 bag really looks at home on the machine but you take a look at the photos below and judge for yourself. I love the look of the original red plaid bag (makes me think it should have a bagpipe attachment) but the dump bag setup is just a non-starter for me. If I had any sort of sewing skills, which I don't, modifying the dump bag with a larger zipper and rig up something to hold the fill tube at the top might have been a possibility but under the circumstances, it really isn't. All in all, I really feel like this was the best option from both a functional and aesthetic standpoint as. Some folks might think I've bastardized this vacuum but to me, this feels like less of a 'frankenkirby' than my G5 and everything I've done is completely un-doable. For me, having disposable filter bags makes it arguably better than new. All it needs now is a good polishing and I can call it done.
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| Post# 445384 , Reply# 7 8/30/2021 at 20:45 (962 days old) by Hoover300 (Kentucky) | ||
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| Post# 445387 , Reply# 8 8/30/2021 at 21:41 (962 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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| Post# 445397 , Reply# 9 8/30/2021 at 23:39 (962 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA) | ||
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| Post# 445410 , Reply# 10 8/31/2021 at 14:50 (962 days old) by fantomfan57 (Central Texas) | ||
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Human, (I pronounce it like the Star Trek Ferengi used to) Mine will end up looking just like yours, except, I do not have a red bag guard. In fact, I don't have any spare bag guards of any color. I will want it to be red. Hats Off on your progress! | ||
| Post# 445415 , Reply# 11 8/31/2021 at 16:11 (962 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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I just reused the plastics off of the original dump bag. They're in good shape and I like that they're original to the machine. Brand new bag guard bands are available on eBay and are not expensive (well under $10) and can be had in every color, including red. The topper is a little harder to find, but not impossible.
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| Post# 445434 , Reply# 12 8/31/2021 at 21:07 (961 days old) by fantomfan57 (Central Texas) | ||
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I checked.... on Ebay, the one ad was out of red. I have one other place to check. | ||
| Post# 445507 , Reply# 13 9/2/2021 at 13:48 (960 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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45 minutes...
That's about how long it took me to get a pretty decent shine on the Classic III, using my two-step method of alternating between Never Dull wadding and Mothers, scrubbing with a softer version of a Scotch Brite pad from the Dollar Tree. There's still a little freckling but I'm very pleased, considering the little bit of time I put in on the project. I know my G3 'Dirty Kirby' will take much more work and I may or may not achieve comparable results. This is the potential I saw in the machine when I first saw it listed online. I may go over it again later but I'm pretty pleased with what I'm seeing.
As I look at the photos, I'm realizing the sun was so bright, I probably would have done well to put a polarizing filter on the lens to kill some of that glare. Photo #3 really shows up the shine the best. | ||
| Post# 445513 , Reply# 14 9/2/2021 at 14:15 (960 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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One quick question...
Does anybody know a good way to restore the color to faded plastics? The cord hooks on this machine have that chalky look, which occurs from prolonged exposure to the sun's UV light. The top hook is especially bad. I put some Armor-All on them before I took the photos in the post above and they looked great—for literally about a minute until it dried/soaked in. I'm tempted to try a light coating of olive oil, which is what I use to bring back the handles on my Revere Ware cookware. It's a different type of material but who knows? It just might help.
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| Post# 445520 , Reply# 15 9/2/2021 at 16:55 (960 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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Shortly after posting the above, I decided I had nothing to lose, so I went ahead and put a drop of olive oil on a paper towel and rubbed that over the hooks. As expected, the color reappeared instantly. After letting it sit a minute to give the oil a chance to soak in, I wiped the excess off with a clean, dry part of the same towel. The hooks look great and do not feel oily. It will be interesting to see how long the color lasts. Down the road, I can always clean them with alcohol and re-apply the oil, if needed.
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| Post# 445522 , Reply# 16 9/2/2021 at 17:04 (960 days old) by fantomfan57 (Central Texas) | ||
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Very nice, I am going to have to try the olive oil out. I also will be posting pictures when I finish my Classic III. I have both Mother's and Never dull wadding. Maybe at some point I will do some high polishing. Keep up the good work, Human. | ||
| Post# 445525 , Reply# 17 9/2/2021 at 18:33 (960 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA) | ||
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Post# 445530 , Reply# 18 9/2/2021 at 22:38 (959 days old) by rivstg1  (colorado springs) |
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human. did you ever consider this way so that you can keep the stylish and cool Sani-emptor? I posted many pics of it 3 years ago. HEPA bag....pain to change it...but if you're a collector....one doesn't use it all the time so its usefulness will last a good while.
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| Post# 445533 , Reply# 19 9/2/2021 at 23:20 (959 days old) by Lesinutah (Utah) | ||
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| Post# 445540 , Reply# 20 9/3/2021 at 02:38 (959 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH) | ||
Congratulations On A Nice Find Edgar!
And it looks like you got a great deal on it! Looks beautiful all polished up with the Heritage II bag conversion on it. Mine came with the conversion bag and was given to me, but it had no attachments, so I bought a set later off ebay that included the boxes and everything except the Handi-Butler. It is one of my favorite Kirbys, and the most complete one in my collection. Here's a pic.
Jeff
View Full Size
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| Post# 445557 , Reply# 21 9/3/2021 at 10:16 (959 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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David--I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the oiled hooks. Right now, I can't even feel the oil when I rub my finger across the plastic. I first did this with the handles on a couple of dishwasher damaged Revere Ware pots. I opted for the olive oil on those because it's non-toxic around food. I've hand washed them numerous times since and they're still looking good. If the cord hooks get sticky, I'll just wash the residue off and see how the color holds up. It's an experiment so I'm open to coming up with a 'plan-b' if need be.
Jeff--Thanks for the compliment. That was indeed a lucky find. While I don't have a complete set of red tools for it, I do have an almost complete set of 'Rosewood' tools for a Classic Omega (I don't actually have a Classic Omega; I just have the tools), from which I'm only missing the crevice tool. I also have a nearly complete set of charcoal gray tools for my Heritage 1HD that I've filled in with some random blue Tradition blue, including a crevice tool, so between the two, plus the random red tools that came with the Classic III, I have all the tools, even if the colors don't match. Some tools I even have three or four of. rivstg1--I had not considered the HEPA bag option you suggested. I just went with what I knew, since I'd done the same conversion on my Heritage 1HD a year or so ago, and I had the pieces for it. It seems so strange now that the idea of reusing the Classic III bag topper was initially so counter-intuitive to me, even though it made such perfect sense once I allowed myself to see it. | ||
| Post# 446149 , Reply# 23 9/17/2021 at 16:08 (945 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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Filling out the tools...
Every now and then, the universe will just up and throw you a bone—or a crevice tool, as the case may be. If you've read the first part of this thread, you know that my Classic III came to me with a hose, wands and a handful of tools. Today, as I was eating lunch in my office, I was idly perusing Kirby Classic tools on eBay with an eye toward perhaps finding a crevice tool to either complete my Classic Omega set or add to my collection of Classic III tools. In the end, I found both with a few extras to boot. The first thing I spotted was a loose Classic Omega crevice tool and a bare floor tool without its little felt pad for a price that was acceptable but not enough to really make my trigger finger itchy. The other listing that piqued my interest was for an incomplete set of Classic III tools that included pretty much every Classic III tool I was missing and none that I already had! Although the price was good, I didn't immediately pounce on it but instead put it on my watch list. But then when I got home from work, I found the seller had sent me a private offer for about 20 percent off and that's when I pounced. Once the partial set arrives, I believe I will have almost a complete basic tool set with the exception of a spray bottle, which I already have multiples of in various colors, including one in brick/oxblood red for my Legend II. Really, what are the odds of that happening? But for the fact that my Classic III came from Iowa and the partial tool set is coming from Texas, I would be tempted to believe I had reunited the machine with the rest of its tools. One thing's for sure, this one was just meant to be.
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| Post# 446417 , Reply# 24 9/23/2021 at 09:34 (939 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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Tools, tools and more tools...
Okay, so I got a little crazy last weekend and in addition to the partial tool set mentioned above, I also bought the crevice tool and bare floor tool lot, which arrived yesterday to complete my Classic Omega tool set. The floor tool will find a home in the Classic III set, which UPS has just dropped off this morning. I'll check it out when I get home this afternoon. I just hope the seller put the set into another box instead of just taping up the storage box and using that as a shipping box.
The pieces I received yesterday are more worn than the rest of my Classic Omega tools, especially the crevice tool. I believe it and its companion floor tool are from an earlier Classic set as they are a slightly lighter shade of brown, sort of a milk chocolate color, but it isn't all that noticeable. They also bear the older Kirby logo inside of a circle. I also discovered in my junk box yet another bare floor tool I had forgotten about. This one is in navy blue from a random collection of Tradition tools I had gotten years ago and used most of to fill out my Heritage Convenience Group. The plastics are in a little better shape than the brown one I just acquired but the bristles are a bit more worn. I am not sure which one will ultimately go with the set. We'll just have to wait and see which one looks more at home when I put all the pieces together this afternoon. | ||
| Post# 446419 , Reply# 25 9/23/2021 at 12:27 (939 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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They're all together...
I don't normally come home for lunch but today I made an exception. The Classic III tools are now all together in their storage box, along with the brown Classic floor tool—and an extra car vacuuming tool that I hadn't spotted in the eBay photos.
I'm also thankful that the seller had the good sense to put the partial tool kit inside another box for shipping. I'd say that as of now, I'm thoroughly kitted out. | ||
| Post# 446470 , Reply# 27 9/24/2021 at 18:38 (938 days old) by Lesinutah (Utah) | ||
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