1959 Lady Kenmore, freshly restored

Hello All,


I shared some pictures and some videoes of this machine on Facebook and thought it should be shown here. This is the 1959 Lady Kenmore washer with the rapid advance timer system. It was a complete mess when I got it and has been fully restored to what you see now. I will be doing some videos on it as well. I also attached a couple of videos on here as well. This old girl is heavy at 300 pounds, per the Sears catalog. It's also a Suds Saver machine as well. A full cycle video will be put on YouTube shortly.


Thank You,


Tyler

Drool

Gotta love those old beasts and their styling.

I saw a vintage machine years ago that had sexy lighting - control panel light AND tub illumination.
Now THAT'S sexy!
But I forgot what brand it was.

Tyler, thanks for sharing here on AW! Congrats on both landing a '59 LK, as well as getting it up and running again. How much effort was required to get it washing (dry rotted hoses, check value replacement, filter rebuild)?

Is the rapid advance timer both selecting cycles and advancing through the cycles? That's unfortunately where mine will need some work - it will select a cycle but it isn't advancing through the cycles.

What's the back story on this one?

Ben

Great job on the resto, I'm sure it was quite the undertaking. The chiming bell near the end of the spin cycle was delightful.

For those who are not familiar with his YouTube channel:

qsd-dan said:

Great job job the resto, I'm sure it was quite the undertaking. The chiming bell near the end of the spin cycle was delightful.

For those who are not familiar with his YouTube channel:

Click to expand...

Now THAT machine's got a turnover like my Maytag!
I just loaded sheets, towels, socks, undies, etc. large load water, and no problems.

WOW Tyler, what a totally awesome machine and a great accomplishment! I echo Ben’s comment about the back story on this machine, I would love to know the work involved in getting it running, and where you found it or maybe I should say how it found you. Great job!

Another mentionable accomplishment is the huge list of thumbs up likes you got, i do not think I have ever seen that many before except on Robert’s posts.

Good for you on both Tyler!

Gordon

What a beautiful job you’ve done on such a beautiful machine!

Interesting it appears that the spin after the rinse cycle is on the slow speed? Is that a matter of cycle selection, and what is the advantage?

Keith

I believe this is the full spin speed, Whirlpool/Kenmore machines of this era only spun at 515 rpm or so. On the slower side for sure, but since the tub is fairly wide, surprisingly spins out more water than you’d think.

Hello All,


Thank you for the postive comments! This machine came from Robert Perdues estate (RIP). The center post was completely rusted in two. I had the take the center post out of a late 60s Whirlpool, that machine is where the transmission came from for this machine as well. The original wig-wag for the agitation had burned out so a decision was made to rebuild a later transmission. I did retain the original motor for the machine.

As for the restoration here is what is new or has been rebuilt:

Transmission, cleaned it out and put new ISO 90 gear oil in it. (Traveller Ford Tractor Transmission fluid mineral gear oil)
Belt
Center post seals and spin tube bearings. (The ones from the '67 machine were bad, they did not want to come out! Some heat and a big hammer persuaded them otherwise).
Pump
Tub seal
Spin Tube
Tub screws and gaskets. (The Right Stuff added to ensure no leaks)
Side check valve (one on the machine had broken in half)
Rebuilt the thermostatic water valve and put a new hose on it as well.
Most of the original hoses were reused with good hose clamps.
Bottom of outer tub had the KBS sealant added to it as it was starting to rust.

The bottom check valve and inside of the self cleaning filter were coated with KBS coatings sealant, Ben had used this on some other projects and it does great! I also coated the center post where rust was starting to form to seal it off. For the bottom check valve, the original rubber ball wouldn't float up like it should. I ended up putting a table tennis ball inside as it was close in diameter and would float. It also won't retain water either. Damn thing actually worked!


All in all a good experience learning about these machines. All parts are still out there and can be procured for a rebuild. I added some pictures of before and after. You can see how bad the rust was before. The all porcelain cabinet is still in great shape. Currently the machine has only given trouble in the Cotton Linens cycle (Heavy). The timer wants to restart after 2-4 minutes, no worries as I just switch it to light soil on Cottons-Linens and it goes through the cycle as normal. I will be doing more videos with it and other machines as I finish up projects.



Thank You everyone!


Tyler