1956 Whirlpool Dryer

[rickr]

I got a matching 1956 Whirlpool Imperial dryer from Kenny (Goatfarmer) and took a few pictures as I tore it down for a restoration. I am very happy to get this as it is a perfect match to my 56 Whirlpool Imperial washer.

View attachment 4-27-2005-23-34-1--rickr.jpg

 

[rickr]

Shall we plug it in??

better not unless we want to be "fried"! See the bare wires?

 

[rickr]

Back of dryer

Look at the dirt! A service record for 1972 is printed on the back panel. (new bearings,belts,etc.)

 

[rickr]

Can you see the motor?

After I pulled it apart,the motor has a tag that says PACKARD ELECTRIC BTW the plug has a big GE meatball logo on it.

 

[rickr]

What is this??

A fan safety switch that shuts the unit down if the fan stops I guess. The wires are burned slightly,and the switch itself is burnt. Hope I can find a replacement. This is the only thing other than the cord that needs to be replaced,so far...

 

[rickr]

Without the cabinet

It reminded me of the 1940's front loader washer.

 

[rickr]

1956 Vintage lint!! Save it for eBay??

Or we could just use it like this and burn the house down...
Don't look Veg!! This could cause worse nightmares than that Kenmore tub! LOL!

 

[rickr]

The cabinet??

I put it in the side yard,removed the door and hinges,and hosed it off,after removing the timer and switches. My friend with a pickup truck took it to the body shop to be repainted,after that. BTW the top of the dryer is fine, will not need painted.

I will post more pictures after the dryer is cleaned up and reassembled.

 

[rocky2]

Congratulations Rick

When Kenny first posted the pic I thought what a great match for your washer. Then when he said it was going to a good home I thought it might be you. Thanks for the pics. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[filterflo]

Hi Rick, great work on a great machine. Those run so smooth and quiet. Congrats on the project. Now you have another matching set!

 

[Unimatic1140]

Hey Rick, wow congrats on now having the matched set. Great restoration pictures, I can't wait to see it all shiny and new, put back togther.

 

[Kevinpreston3]

Painting question for Rick and others

How is this being painted? Is your autobody shop using auto enamel on it? Is that what these machines originally had on them?

I was curious how the color matching was done...was he taking a non faded sample from a "tucked in" area, or were you able to supply him some sort of paint code? Or are you powder coating all this?

I have another more general question, and that applies to the labeling or "screening" of control panels.

There has been some "before" shots of control panels and some people have remarked "that will need to be touched up". Now, I am pretty handy (9 vintage cars, 7 of which are full time on the road, all work except paint done myself) but when I see beat up control panels, all scratched up, I would not even know where to begin.

How do the restorers on this site restore those panels?

I ask these questions as I know, sooner or later, I will find THE washer/dryer, and of course, will want it to be a showpiece.

KP

 

[Kevinpreston3]

And by the way Rick

What on God's earth is that yellow machine parked in your garage? 50's Cadillac or Olds? I wanna see a pic of that!!!! Looks awesome. A California plate too! (I am in Chino.)

KP

 

[veg-o-matic]

My eyes! My eyes!

Oh, it burns! It burns!

 

[alr2903]

rickr glad to see it was YOU

I thought that was a match to your whirlpool washer when Kenny first posted pictures best of luck. Looks like your well on your way... Your another one with the Know How... you go boy. Arthur.

 

[appnut]

Rick!! congrats. Yup, it does look like a 1940s front loader. I am anxious to see the finished product.

 

[rickr]

Thanks for all the kind comments and reassurance regarding the 56 WP dryer. It is awesome to be able to share the excitement in working with these classics with others!

In regards to the paint process... Well the painter is a personal friend of mine. That is a great advantage. He works for a Porche/Audi/Mazda new car dealer,so he is used to "fussy" people (like me) and knows the tricks to paint matching. On the 1965 Kenmores he painted for me a few years ago he started with a blue Mazda paint as a base,then added green and white to match (and make) the turquoise color. I am sure he will have no problem with a simple white. I cleaned the inside part of the 56 dryer door with a scratchy pad,then held it up to the washer to make sure it was a close match(as the washer is the original paint,and has darkened slightly) circled the cleaned area of the door with a marker with a note that said,"make it this shade of white". That is all there is to it.
I have not had to repaint a console,so I am afraid I cannot answer that question.
The yellow car is really a yellow and white 1955 Cadillac Coupe de'Ville. I will post some car photos on the SUPER thread sometime soon.

Rick

 

[gansky1]

Excellent work Rick! I've never seen that fan switch before, only read and heard about them - hopefully you can find another. Did you happen to see anything on the wiring diagram about wiring this to a 50 amp line?
Keep the pics coming - it's good to see what others are going through too!

Greg

 

[Kevinpreston3]

Geez do those turquoise ones look right!

Is he using enamel for the paint? Wow, nice.

I find that paint places are usually really good, or really terrible. There is no inbetween.

I asked one guy, give me a ball park, my dad has a perfectly straight 1969 Cadillac Fleetwood. No rust, I have been over the whole car. What is the price for a prep and paint, original color. He couldn't tell me. I asked, is this $3000 or closer to $5000. He couldn't tell me. He wasn't sure that he could do the car.

When my transmission shop scraped my fender of my 1971 Super Bee, they of course got it fixed for free. The paint house they use did such a great job on color matching and fixing the scrape, I asked them about my dad's Cadillac. The guy at that paint shop didn't want to do the job...in his words, "The car is too big, too much work." What the h@#$???

A third place the guy actually did talk to me, but had to see the car. I mentioned to him that to save time, I would be removing all the stainless and emblems. He told me, "oh don't worry, we just mask those off and paint around them"!!!!!!

I am in Southern California, car capital of the world, and I have STILL not found a good reasonable paint shop. If you want a lousy $200 paint job, there are those places. If you want a $10,000 paint job, no problem. Want a $3000 or $4000 paint job? I am still looking.