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myhooverco

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Jan 22, 2006
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Here are two Hoover finds from yesterday's thrifting with my sister. One is a Hoover polisher circa 1967-1972 and the other is a U4345 circa early 1980's. With all of this talk about parts becoming scarce, I am willing to pick up anything reasonably priced. While the blue plastic based Convertible is not my favorite, it is a wonderful parts source ie...switch, cord, two speed motor etc.

I passed up two Kirbys that needed a total redo (tradition and an Omega), a self propelled Eureka (early 80's in brown), Kenmore, and several china vacs. Yesterday was not the day of the Hoover but the day of the bojack.

I am sure that there are more out there...who knows what I will find next weekend!!!

--Tom
 
Hi Tom, Great finds!!! That little polisher is sure cute! I think you are very wise to start stocking up on spare parts anyway you can get them.LOL Terry
 
Hi myhooverco!
I love my blue plastic top converitble. I think it's one of the nicest newer convertibles. Mine is newer. It has larger pedals.
Bobby in Boston
 
i had a full hood Hoover identical to the one you got. i sold it on ebay. i kinda regreted it. it was nearly mint condition. does the brushroll have plastic endcaps, i forgot? its a good Hoover, with a steel-lined fan chamber and TOGGLESWITCH. David
 
They booted the TOGGLESWITCH on mine. It has a sliding switch and plastic retainer. How could anyone get rid of a TOGGLESWITCH?? :.)
Bobby in Boston
 
The Convertible is a lower serial number at 44,391. Probably during the run of this model it got the newer "micro" switch. I like the toggle switch much better...you just cannot go wrong with a proven design that is over 50 years old. Yes, this is the good metal lined fan chambered Convertible. This is definitely a pre-1984 model. I do like the color too. This one even had the metal agitator ends still with a grey agitator. This one has the large handle release pedal and the smaller height adjuster pedal. As they say parts is parts!

--Tom
 
Hi Tom, cool finds!! The light-blue Convertible is very neat...I like the full-hood Deluxe and Custom models. What is the model number on this one, and is it rear-conversion or front-conversion?

When was the last rear-conversion metal-body Convertible produced? I had an orange/white U-series "Deluxe Convertible" version a few years ago, with a metal fan chamber and baseplate, even though it was plastic-body. What was interesting about it was that it wasn't a full-hood model, and it took type C bags. No "Deluxe" features as far as I saw...

Needless to say I don't really care much for the plastic-body Convertibles with "front conversion". Currently I have a "slightly modified" 1020 from 1970 (with newer Genuine Hoover cord and outer bag so I could use the larger Type A bags) that I was using as my "daily driver" in the house, but recently moved it down to the laundry studio with the washers and other vacs. Until recently, not many metal-body machines appeared on eBay...so now I will have a chance to add a few more vintage Convertibles to my (small) collection.

--Austin
 
Austin:

The last metal base Convertibles were probably 1979 or 80 sometime, although the Commercial and Guardsman cleaners were made with the metal chassis until 1987.

The early plastic bases were all metal lined fan chambers.

The last rear tool conversion model was the 1976 promo Convertible U4089, it was the only one I know of that carried over past 1977. After that it was all front tool conversion.

The toggle switch was replaced with the cheapie slide switch in 1983.
 
Austin,

This is an all plastic model with a steel lined fan chamber. It has a bottom fill bag and front conversion. I am not a big fan of the front conversion. I like the ease of use of the rear conversion. I too have a BEAT and I mean BEAT 1020 that is very early production and that I use to clean the basement. I have a replacement 30' cord and a zipper Hoover bag in light tan housing my C bag. I get the C bags for $0.05 so it is very economical to use. I put in a 4 brush Hoover metal agitator and it grooms the rug very well, but it is a bit of a strain on the original motor. My daily driver upstairs is its deluxe sibling the 1070 in blue. It has a high performance motor with a non Hoover wooden brushroll, 30' cord, and C bag. I use my deluxe tools all of the time to do my hardwood floors. Hoover1060 is right about the end of the rear conversion in about 1977. The model number is U4345.

--Tom
 
Interesting information! I have a black wooden Convertible brushroll as well (I believe it's a chevron pattern, IIRC) that I experimented with but put back in favor of the "Beats-as-it-Sweeps-as-it-Cleans" beater bar. Later on I read somewhere (either on one of the Yahoo vacuum groups or one of Jeff's posts on here) that this type of brushroll puts a strain on the 2-speed motor and is better for the high-performance and "Power Surge" motors. What would the reasoning be behind this?

When I won the 1020 on eBay in December 2002 (hard to believe I've had it for over 3 years), it was all original and for the most part good shape, but the cord, vinyl bag, and even the bellows/fill tube assembly REEKED of cigarette smoke (and I mean REEKED...the worst one that I've ever seen), and I tried literally everything to get rid of the smell. After many attempts, it finally dawned on me that the only solution was to replace the affected parts.

Now I'm going to admit I made one of the WORST mistakes a vacuum enthusiast could make, in my opinion at least. I had a nice (apart from a few scuffs and a break in the cord sheath) "Convertible 700" from 1989-1990 that I hadn't had for very long. At the time I didn't care for it much since it had a "cheaper" feel to it, a 6-blade fan, and the aforementioned brushroll instead of the beater bar--I liked the metal-body cleaners more. So I cannibalized it for parts, kept what I didn't need, and took the cord and Type A bag assembly off and began the task of replacing them on the 1020...switching out the metal bag mount on the Type A fill tube as I thought it was sturdier. Looking back, I can't believe I actually did that to a perfectly good machine, not to mention the last Convertible model, as there are plenty of "junk" Convertibles (that weren't important models) around to use for parts.

Later on, I changed out the grey "Convertible 700" bag assembly and put it on the orange plastic-body Convertible which I subsequently gave away, and now I have a new off-white Hoover outer bag on the 1020, which matches the machine much better, IMHO. This week, hopefully, I'm also going to replace the grey cord with a nice white one and detail it a bit, so even though the 1020 won't be all-original, it will fit in nicely down in the laundry room with the others.

Meanwhile, here's how it looked as of 2004. That ugly cord has to go!! Any suggestions on how to get the handle scratches out?

--Austin
 
Austin,

I wash Convertible vinyl bags in my washer, hot water, normal cycle, with 1/2 cup of clorox bleach and a smidge of tide. The trick is to also rinse in HOT water too(cold water and old vinyl don't mix well, and you want the bag to be soft and flexible) which requires re-setting the machine once its drained of its wash water. When done, stretch the bag back onto shape, and hang to dry. The smells should be gone.
It was me who said the 4-brush wooden roller puts too much strain on the original Convertible motors. On the high-performance and Decade 80 motor it works grand. I have two Convertibles that I souped up with HP motors and the wooden brush rolls, they work great in my house with all the dog hair. Tom built one of his own, and we are still working on getting one built for Fred.

I think your 1020 is a beauty, but that white bag has to go. In washer terms, thats like putting a jetcone agitator in a unimatic, nice but it does not belong. You can use the top fill "A" tube in the original bag, just get yourself some type Y filtrete bags, which fit inside the older bags nicely.
What else do you have in terms of Convertibles?? Any Two position models?
 
Handle Scratches...

Hey Austin.. That machine looks like a beauty! The 1020 is one that I don't have. I have a so-so model 1010.

Anyway... to get the handle scratches out, I would reccommend taking a 0000 grade steel wool, and with a little pressure, rub on the handle where it is scratched. Then, use Brasso, on a paper towel. Put some elbow grease into it, and let it dry, then buff with a clean towel. Repeat the Brasso step if necessary.

You could also use just the regular type Y bags, attached to a Top-Fill tube, inside a smaller original bag.

-Fred
 
triple-action tidbits

So Jeff,are you referring to a "skinny" vinyl bag to insert a Type A fill-tube assembly or the "fat" one ?BTW,where I work, there are globs of Hoovers in the basement,including 2-position machines,which,I agree are superior to the 4-position machines,unless we're talking about the high-performance machines,which boasted a 50% increase in carpet cleaning ability and DID clean better than the 1969-1975 Convertibles before it.Still,the Convertibles of 1957-1975 were much more fun.
 
i would suggest against putting ANY vintage vacuum bag, cloth or vinyl, in a machine to wash. its not hard to hand wash and if the material started deteriorating in the water you would be able to tell immediately. if in a machine you might find out after it was too late. also, i think agitation may cause the vinyl to separate from the nylon threads on some convertible bags. and about the double brush agitators, what jeff says is true. i once put a metal Hoover double brush agitator, with the stiff clear nylon brushes, in a vintage convertible. the motor was audibly laboring.
 
I too,would be gunshy about putting a vinyl Hoover or Eureka bag in a washer.At how old they could be its possible the plasticizer have leached out of the bag material thru age.If this happens-the Vinyl is no longer soft and flexible-washers were designed to clean items soft and flexible-if the Vinyl is aged and brittle-the wash action would tear it apart.The bags should be carefully washed by hand and not flexed.Would think laying the bag flat in the bathtub with warm water would be OK-you could then carefully scrub the bag with a cloth or a sponge.
 
skinny bags and washing

Mr. Clean: Yes, the type A tube inside an older style skinny bag and type Y bags works great. I prefer the filtrete bags myself, but as Fred says ordinary Y bags work equally as well.

With regards to cleaning vinyl bags, there is no "one" right way, I am only suggesting mine. I have close to 100 Convertibles in my collection, and most if not all of the vinyl bags have been thru the washing machine. I've never had a problem with one falling apart, and as long as you watch things there should be no problem. I've found the washer method gets all the dirt out of the folds of the bag, and even out of the texture of the vinyl.
I guess it boils down to "use your best judgement"
 
Washing Bags...

I, too, have washed a good majority of my vinyl bags in the washing machine. They come out beautifully clean, and smell fresh. Sometimes I'll run them through twice.

That said, I would definitely not machine wash any (Hoover) bag that pre-dates 1963 or so. They were still testing/playing different configurations of vinyl, and those earlier, more fragile bags would be found on models 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 31, 32, 564, 574. Those are the bags that, when found, usually have holes near the top, and have vinyl seperating from the thread that holds the bag together. I have washed all of those bags by hand, with dish soap and a paintbrush--and have had excellent results.

I would never wash any cloth bag in the machine.. that wouldn't end well. I am even skeptical to wash cloth bags by hand (although I have had to a few times). All of Hoover's original (cloth) bags are 100% cotton (through the 70's at least), and practically shrink at the sight of water.

But, as Jeff said, one can use their own judgement.

-Fred
 
cloth bags

I can't remember who suggested it to me, but cloth bags should be washed by hand, cold water, and use woolite.
I'd advise against washing very old cloth bags, they will just disentegrate.
I speak from experience on that one.

I have washed Kirby bags by machine, with good results.
 
When I got my first stinky bag Kirbys I wasn't prepared to try and disassemble them from saniemptors fearing I'd have an h of a time getting them to fit back on so I just filled the bathtub with lukewarm water and a small amount of laundry detergent. I put the whole thing in there and just swished it around, repeated again for a rinse and then put them out side to dry. Worked very well but still a lot of the blue color ran from the Tradition bags.
 
Kirby bag

I just picked up a Kirby Omega a couple of weeks ago, and I finally got to washing the bag. YIKES!! It was SO plugged that it actually held water, as if it were made of plastic!
It went thru two complete cycles in the washer, and came out just fine.
I agree though, putting the bag back on the emptor is a major pain!
 
This is the way we wash our....

IMHO,

The first time I used Woolite for my cloth bags was back in 1992 when I picked up my first old Hoover a model 28 with attachments at a local thrift for 5 dollars. The machine was flawless but full of dog hair and had smells to it that can only be attributed to vile waste floating in a retention pond.

My grandmother, being a normal vigiourously clean German housewife showed me the proper way to hand wash my DELICATE bag, even tho it was BADLY soiled. She soaked the item in lukewarm/cool water for about a half an hour in a washsink...agitating the item with her hands for about a minute. then dregged out the bag turned it inside out and hung it to drip dry over the tub using a plastic hangar.

She rinsed the sink and filled again with the same lukewarm/cool water and added a 1/4 cup of Woolite and dropped the bag back into the wash water. and let it soak for an hour and then giving it a brisk minute or so squeezing and agitation thru that water then dregged back out the bag and hung it over the hangar to drip.

She repeated the process with fresh rinse water until the water was clean and clear 2 rinses I remember, then a last rinse with the same amount of April fresh Downey as she used for the Woolite. Then after a GENTLE hand wringing she rolled up the bag in a large OLD bathtowel and let it sit for like five minutes or so. Then she unrolled out the bag and stretched it with her hands and placed it on top of a warm runnning dryer. for 15 minutes. Becasue it was a cool summer day she hung the bag out in the shade until it was completly dry...and the bag looked like new.

I dont rememeber if it was me,that told Jeff of this method and maybe it was or was not..but I always hand washed my old cloth bags after that day, and more importantly; back then becasue everyone either had a Maytag, Kenmore or a Whirlpool top loader..And to me and grandma, it stood to reason that if you used a fast action agitator or an agitator of any kind it would wear at old fabric like if one would have just taken a wire brush to it.

Now in 2006 my feelings on the subject have changed. IMHO if you use a gentle cycle, cold water and Woolite...I for example use my Frigidaire Gallery FL washer ...all my older cloth bags come out spanking clean. I have never had one shred or tear..and tho you may get some color runoff...that will happen whether you hand wash it or machine wash it. There's no gray area or middle ground. It's bound to happen.

I for one have washed of all things SAFELY in the cloth bag category all using my Frigidaire-

My Apex Model A3 (which has the green cloth bag w/the delicate stenciling of the Rotarex washer and the vacuum cleaner as well on it), Apex model 501 ( the blue model I got thru Jeff), Air-Way Sanitary System ( the woven cotton style outer bag with the dark green Airplanes on it..again thru Jeff)My Eureka upright model D272 witht the sideways burgandy bag with Eureka on the front panel)My Premier Commercial model 9000, and my Kirby model 505 w/ the orig bag. For these I used nothing morethan Woolite and the Cold/Cold cycle with the extra rinse..and in the final i add a (SMALL) amount of the AF (april Fresh)Downey.

If your careful and mindful as noted you can have superior results with an automatic machine as noted. And as of recent...I picked up a complete Kirby Heritage II system thru work and washed the outer bag several times without duress of any kind...except stretching that gosh da*^ed garter spring back over the Sani-Emptor.

Where some might make the mistake is using a dryer to dry them after. NEVER use a dryer unless you're using ONLY the "air" cycle to get the process moving. Or again if laid flat over the top and the heat thru the top lid to kind of give it a warming of a sort.

I have used the same machine on the Hot wash cycle to do most of my vinyl style bags UNLESS they were of the cardbord boxtop variety. Then, without discussion that's a no no and you have to hand clean those for sure or the boxtop will be ruined. Doing the methods above, you have had NO problems. My machine however only offers a warm rinse option (Hot/Cold - Warm/Warm - Warm/Cold - Cold/Cold) and after filling for the hot wash..I flip the selector over to the WARM/WARM setting to finish off the deal. It removes deep seated crud that you may not be able to get out in other methods. Again tho I use the gentle cycle.

And for those who wonder I learned how to wash out the vinyl's from Jeff as he clearly knows what he's doing and you can do it in a top loader too as he had when I visited a stainless tub Amana. Picture's dont lie...it can be done.

Anyway ALL caustic cleaners should be avoided..and if you wish NOT to use Woolite, just use an off brand from Wally-World..or another one I have tried is the Miele detergent "Persoll", which is their Woolite derivitive with the same results.

That's my seventeen cents worth

Chad
 
The 1020's cord change (second one in its lifetime) is complete!! Old, taped grey cord gone and replaced with a white one that looks so much better. Now I'm going to head back down to the Studio and switch the outer bag mount back to the original metal version. I know this isn't an all-original machine, but my intention was to slightly "modernize" it. One of these days a nice original 1020 is going to show up...then my current machine will have a companion.

Jeff, I'm a little embarrassed to mention (LOL), but this is currently my only Convertible. Contrary to popular belief, I am keeping my eye out for more to add to the collection...

Thanks Fred for the advice on using Brasso. I think I saw it at Bed, Bath, & Beyond...will have to pick some up next time I go to Katy. Although upon further examination, the scratches appear to have gone though the paint. Will it still work?

--Austin
 
Hmm..

If the scratches are very deep, and penetrate the paint, it won't work. I have some that are like that.. and I just deal with it. Another handle will be found eventually!

-Fred

PS~ Is the Constellation still all you hoped it would be? :)
 
Fred,

Thanks for asking. I'm still very much enjoying the 843 Constellation, and even as of now, open my closet to look at it and make sure I'm not dreaming. Again, many thanks for sending a wonderful machine; let me know if there's anything you're looking for that I could possibly find...
 
Austin,

You have a great and FUNCTIONAL Hoover Convertible on your hands. Looks are not always important as the following picture will show. Your Convertible with the replacement bag and type A bag looks great. They are after all supposed to CLEAN carpet. I agree with you on changing the bag ring. I do the same to mine. (I hate plastic!)Check out how beat this 1020 is (I used it to clean houses and it cleaned my house for a number of years after my parents were done with it!). It runs great but is beginning to get that bearing noise. The serial number is 10,000 something so it is early with the painted switch plate and handle bolts. The bag is a replacement with a zipper...I don't like those snaps guys!

I wash my vac bags by hand in a wash tub. I use a liquid detergent (whatever is on sale) and they come out fresh and clean. I let them soak a good while and use a scrub brush on them. I have never been brave enough to put one in the washer although I can't see why it wouldn't work. I rinse them with very hot water and hang the bag to dry so that it takes back a lot of its original shape.

--Tom
 
Austin,

Here is the underside of my beat up 1020. It has the Hoover replacement four brush agitator which is a bit hard on the motor. It still grooms very well. The old agitator had just run its course. This one is much quieter. I have tried it in a Decade 80, and it works much better. I just don't like the Decade 80 as well.

Check out my spring for the height adjuster...the old one went kerplooy! This was a make shift item...fits in with the whole theme of this poor old work horse! It still has a lot of life in it yet.

--Tom
 
Update...

The work is now done on the 1020 for the most part...all I need to do now is grease the agitator bearings and detail under the motor hood. Most of the scuffs came out and a "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser" did WONDERFULLY on the handle scratches and hood scuffs. Some areas where the paint scraped off still show of course, but it looks a lot better than before! I did put a Type C fill tube on to play with for a while, but I probably will switch back to Type A in the future...

Will try to post pictures tomorrow as I am in dire need of updating the club...

--Austin
 
Believe it or not Austin, I've seen and heard that old 1020 of Tom's run, for as sad as it looks it runs like a dream!

Now we need to find you a 2-position Convertible. If you like the 1020, you'll love a 2 position!!
Attached is one of my daily drivers, a souped up/hot-rodded model 36. The motor is a 4.3/4.7 amp Hi-performance deal that came from a U4103 Convertible, with a metal fan installed. I use ordinary type C bags, and have the CWP wooden brush roller installed. This thing picks up the dog hair as fast as Jack can shed it!
 
Tom,

Great pictures of the workhorse...another testament to Hoover quality in my opinion! After seeing machines such as this, I sometimes wonder how many Elites I'll see running past 30 years. How long have you had this machine?

Will check the serial number to verify, but my 1020 appears to be a later model, as it has a narrow handle release and 4-position height adjustment lever with grooved pads, instead of the wide, smooth levers. Or could they be replacements?

What is the "bearing noise" exactly? As young as I am, I've used quite a few metal and plastic-base Convertibles in my lifetime, and most (which were pretty beat-up as well) had a distinctive "ERRRK" sound when I started them up. When I first had my 1020, it was the first Convertible I didn't notice the sound on, believe it or not! Is this the noise you're describing?
 

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