This "sucks"... the Hoover And Other Vintage Vacuum Cleaners

[Forgotten Man]

You can see it? Why can't I? Oh man... what a drag!

 

[scotrace]

Same pics, re-packaged. No biggie.

 

[Forgotten Man]

Oh, ok... Say, that reminds me, what's the condition of the logo on the top of the motor? Most often times the logo and slogan "Servant to the home" is worn down from much buffing and such over the years.

Also, as a side note, if you want to clean up the metal coiled cover over the power cord from the motor to the handle, you can use some steel wool and then put a dab of Mother's on a cloth and go over it; should clean up nice!

 

[Forgotten Man]

Say, I just noticed the little maple leaf on the bag! That's pretty slick I think! Reminds me of the Wendy’s burger chain up in Canada... everything looked the same but, has a maple leaf in the logo... same with Mc Donald’s.

 

[RetroToday]

Cleaning the Canadian Hoover 118 begins

Hi again,

Yesterday I disassembled the Hoover to give it a proper cleaning and motor lubrication.

The only real big problem I experienced while taking it apart was in removing the bakelite motor housing from the cast aluminum front piece that houses the brushes. Years of mild moisture compacted the dust inside to form a half-inch thick layer of a concrete-like substance.

This substance was enough to hold the two parts firmly together after I removed the four screws which fastened them together. Didn't find any other screws after searching all sides of the two parts, so I used a flat screwdriver to start prying between, and it worked. It was the last thing I wanted to do, didn't want to chip or crack the bakelite.

I tried a little Mothers Polish on the bakelite case and it worked great, thanks for recommending that. Still have to pick some paint flecks off though.

The motor was full of caked dust and other crud. The moisture that collected in that crud has caused a little surface rust on the motor parts.

So, there you go, the progress so far.

 

[Forgotten Man]

eusa_clap Great photos, how neat you disassembled the unit and laid it out on the floor all in order like that! Man that gives me ideas to do that with the 700. lol

Looks like the little guy is coming right along... you really did take it apart didn't you! How much fun is this stuff? You're going to clean and give this little vacuum cleaner the attention that not many would give it! To most (even some here) they're just old tired appliances and considered junk.

Can't wait to see it all put back together and looking sharp! Now, were you considering painting the body that tan color? Or leaving it and just cleaning it up some? While you have it all apart, you may as well just prep it and shoot it a mild tan color... you may be able to find a color that's very close to matching that shade.

Just an idea... keep up the great work!

 

[RetroToday]

eusa_clap Great photos, how neat you disassembled the unit and laid it out on the floor all in order like that! Man that gives me ideas to do that with the 700. lol

Looks like the little guy is coming right along... you really did take it apart didn't you! How much fun is this stuff? You're going to clean and give this little vacuum cleaner the attention that not many would give it! To most (even some here) they're just old tired appliances and considered junk.

Can't wait to see it all put back together and looking sharp! Now, were you considering painting the body that tan color? Or leaving it and just cleaning it up some? While you have it all apart, you may as well just prep it and shoot it a mild tan color... you may be able to find a color that's very close to matching that shade.

Just an idea... keep up the great work!

Thanks a bunch Forgotten Man!

It has been a lot of fun for me so far, digging into this old contraption, discovering how it works and hopefully making it perform like it used to.

I can't wait to get it completed, but as always many other things are getting in the way of the project. Started cleaning the surface rust off of the motor but only got halfway until I was called away to 'more important' projects.

The aluminum front piece does need a repaint, besides the wall paint flecks there are several long scuffs and little dings that exposed the aluminum.

The original colour is actually a greyish-green, the flash on my camera and room lighting sometimes make it appear to be tan. But, tan would be a great colour to paint it.
The 118 patent dates begin in 1941 and earlier versions of it were actually painted a dark tan, every so often to "update" the look of the 118 Hoover painted them in colours more popular for that year.

I may go with tan just because it would be more complimentary to the brown bakelite motor case. What do you think?

Thanks again, :eusa_clap

 

[scotrace]

You are one seriously brave fellow.

 

[Forgotten Man]

You are one seriously brave fellow.

Ain't he though? I had no problems taking the 700 apart but, I'd never attempt to take the motor apart. That's where I let the pro's to the rest.

And as for what I think Retro, I'll say if you can find a color close to the original, great, if not, dark tan would be perfectly swell!

Good luck!

 

[RetroToday]

Wow, thanks guys.

Didn't know I was going above and beyond the norm for fixing a vacuum.
By no means am I a pro, but I do feel more comfortable tinkering around with these things since fixing up my old Beatty "Cadillac" cleaner.

Progress! The motor is back together again after I cleaned away some of the rust and re-greased it.
Here's a few pics of the steps to re-assembly:

Outer ring of the motor - cleaned, without the core

Inside of the bakelite motor housing with grease reservoir re-greased and installed along with the brush housings.

Outer ring of the motor installed, prior to putting the core inside.
When the outer ring was loosely fitted inside I also attached the electrical feeds from it to the brush housings in either side of the bakelite case.

Here is the core of the motor, it's permanently attached to the fan.

The final product: core installed, motor is reassembled. Next thing I did was install the brushes.

More progress photos here

Now I'm giving the on / off switch a proper cleaning and also making an effort to get it to work better. Currently it takes a couple of trys to get it going.

Forgotten Man: - Cool.
Before I can paint it I still have to remove the rubber bumper, which won't be easy. It's attached to the body with little spread-fasteners that look like they will break if I pry them.
That's going to be a test of patience! :rage: lol

 

[scotrace]

One thing to pass along - Shoe sole edge dressing works to blacken up those rubber bumpers nicely. It's basically ink.
Let it dry completely and moisten things with something like Mother's or Armor-All and you're set.

 

[Bingles]

I'm surprised there aren't any vintage Kirbys in this thread. It's a shame they have become so grossly over priced, and their sales people so untrust worthy. They were nice machines.

 

[Forgotten Man]

Simple, reason being the thread was started because of my restoration and focus on the Hoover model 700. Hence the title of the thread: This "Sucks" The Hoover 700.

Early Kirby's are hard to find and will go for a big price on ebay. Pre 60s models are very tough to find and are very collectable. My parents had a Kirby Classic from the 70s... the thing was loud! If you turned that thing on next to my Hoover, you'd never hear the Hoover over the loud motor those Kirby's had!:eusa_doh:

 

[RetroToday]

One thing to pass along - Shoe sole edge dressing works to blacken up those rubber bumpers nicely. It's basically ink.
Let it dry completely and moisten things with something like Mother's or Armor-All and you're set.

Thanks for passing that on scotrace, the bumpers do need something like that to bring them up a bit. :eusa_clap

 

[Forgotten Man]

If you even need to replace a rubber bumper, I was told by another lounger that Ford model A hood lacing works pretty well when blacked.

 

[vitanola]

The Model A hood welt is identical to the bumper material used on a number of EARLY sweepers, including most of the gray Hoovers. It doesn't read like rubber, though. The generic vinyl bumper material available form Vaccuum cleaner supply houses, which is similar in profile to that used on the Hoover Convertibles of the 1950's and 1960's looks good, and works well, but is just somehow not right on a pre 1930 machine.

 

[RetroToday]

Thanks for the heads-up about where I can find new bumper material. I'm sure it would probably take a lot of searching and comparing to find that information out.

I don't think mine needs to be replaced though, the bumper hasn't gone brittle yet, still has a lot of flexibility.

 

[Forgotten Man]

That's good to hear, no need to replace it if it's not cracked and brittle!

Eventually I may order some of the hood welting for my Hoover 575 and 700. May not be rubber, but as long as it's black and looks close, I'd be happy with it.

 

[scotrace]

Big & Little

Hoover 700 and Hoover Dustette - the early model, about 1931. The little one has a LOT of suction, and is noisier than the 700.

 

[Forgotten Man]

Hey Scott, that's neat! The Hoover Dustette line were very good at steps and other hard to reach areas! The reason why they are a little louder than the larger models is due to the smaller fan and powerful motor. I had a GE hand held model once... it was LOUD! lol

By the way, I've got a cleaner up for sale here... check it out in the classifieds, it's a Hoover 575... but, it looks like a 700!