Cleaningvaccum12

I have a Kirby G4 vacuum from about 1993 and I recently vacuumed over a smelly patch in my carpet that left the vacuum smelling terrible. I proceeded to take the vacuum outside and flushed water through the whole system ( Under the impression that it was perfectly sealed.) I turned it on and off about 4 times during the flush out and on the last turn on - It didn't :(. I know it sounds really stupid that I did that. But I had to get rid of the smell, I couldn't stand it >:P So I am trying to get the face plate off and it seems as if it was put on with JB WELD!! I CANNOT GET IT OFF! I was very surprised to see how much water the g4 could flush out of its system. And yes, the smell is gone. So why is the faceplate so hard to get off? And nothing looks wet in the body, so why is the vacuum not turning on? Thanks, The CleaningVacuum.