1963 Frigidaire!

[swestoyz]

Hey gang -

I wanted to share a clip I've been waiting ages to make.

A few years ago QSD-Dan and I worked out a deal for his 1963 Custom Imperial Frigidaire washer to travel across the country and find residency here in Waterloo. Once we had the deal worked out, I had the machine shipped to Omaha during the my visit there for New Years, and we had a blast playing with this wonderful example of General Motors goodness.

I haven't done much with the machine as the pump pees after it sits. I have the parts to fix it, I'm just too lazy (or busy, the verdict is still out). I pulled it out of rest a few weeks ago and washed a few loads of towels in it.

Captured prior to pulling it out of service, the following clip was certainly fun to film! It was shot in HD (1280x720 60fps) so make sure you turn it to 720p to fully enjoy all the splashy wash-drama!

Enjoy -

Ben

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[mickeyd]

OH MY GOD and HOLY FECES

This is pretty much beyond words. Never saw this control panel--a timeline. STUNNING! Loved being able to watch the movie and still see the whole panel; it was amazing. And the click and roar of the high speed spin--TWICE--it was heaven. Now if I had a million dollars.......

 

So glad I caught this before bed. First Bob, now this. Life is sweet. Thank you, Ben.

 

PS: And I absolutely loved how you kept pressing all the buttons--WONDERFUL!!! and DAZZLING!!!

 

[Unimatic1140]

Absolutely beautiful machine Ben, I remember it well in Omaha and your amazing video is the total future of digital washing!

 

[peteski50]

Frigidaire!

Ben this is absolutly awsome
Thanks for posting
Peter

 

[a440]

The Sturdy Washer!
Thanks for the video!

 

[philr]

Awesome machine! Nice video Ben!

 

[spinmon]

My mom had the '63 Imperial. Had the 3 ring agitator,not the 'Jetcone' shown here,which is a '64 ''improvement'' if I'm not mistaken.
Always wanted to put the Jetcone in our washer,but,seeing it takes up more room and,to me,has less 'character',the 3 rubber ringed version is cool.
I rememember our machine shifting right from spin-up 'slow' speed to 'normal' speed with no interim cruise on 'slow'. Just a nice shift as 'slow' reached it's full rpm. That's how I remember it anyway & I liked it!

 

[jetcone]

wow

Thank you Ben for the memories. This was my very first Frigidaire which got me going in this hobby back in 1979! I had the CD model which never had the lights. This machine is what made me realize the beautiful construction behind Frigidaire, it was the STURDY washer for sure. I was able to buy one of the last new tubs from the factory for this machine, which will now go into Roberts Super Duty Unimatic.

I think this is the most GM of all the Frigidaires ever made, it went head to head with the GE machines in construction and style and function!  And its the most 1960's of any machine- love the shape of those buttons, who wouldn't want that in your laundry room waiting for wash day!
Very cool video!

 

jon

 

[strongenough78]

Beautiful machine and video! I watched it through my blu ray player since it has youtube access. Looked great on my 32 inch tv! Is the spin 1000 rpm on that model?

 

[easyspindry]

Thanks for sharing . . .

. . . that video. What a beautiful machine!!!!! There will never again be anything like the GM Frigidaire.

We had the jet cone agitator, and it never seemed to tangle the clothes like the three ring.

Jerry Gay

 

[toploader55]

Ben.

Great Video and what a Handsome Machine.

Looks absolutely Pristine. Thanks for sharing. Hope you are wll. Eddie

 

[norgeway]

63..

I got a coppertone 63 WCI from a friend in Lenoir who bought it new and other than a new agitator, never had a repair and was still working when I got it, Steve Riley now has it and uses it daily!

 

[combo52]

1963 CUSTOM IMPERIAL WASHER

Nice video Ben that was fun to watch, I may have to pull my 1962 FCI out of storage. I do believe that the 1963 Frigidare washers were the most durable Frigidare washers ever built with the possible exception of the 1-18s. Unfortunately in mid 1962 Frigadare eliminated the Rapid-dry 810 RPM spin speed on these machines, leaving this one to spin at 710 RPMS, still not bad as it was still the fastest spinning US built washer. In 1964 they reintroduced the faster spinning 1010 RPM again in the Roller-Matic machines.

 

 

Ben I wonder what happened to the original three ring agitator? The Jet-Cone did reduce tangling but as all can see they don't wash well unless you put a full load in the tub, a smaller load like in the video also wants to go out of balance at the start of spin, where as a full load will spin perfectly from the start in one of these great machines. 

 

[polkanut]

Speaking of QSD-Dan, where is he?  I've not seen any posts by him in ages.  I miss his depth of knowledge regarding all things Maytag.

 

[jetcone]

I didn't know the 1962

spun at 810!! Hmmph!

 

[swestoyz]

Thanks for the kind words guys! The video was really fun to make. Filmed on a Canon T2i DSLR, and all the post was done with iMovie '08. Someday, if I get a nicer lens, I may upgrade to FCP.

Jon - I'm in agreement about this being the most 'GM' of the Frigidaire washers. The early 60's were very much a transitional period for GM cars - just look at the drastic difference from a '60 Chevy to a '64 Chevy. The designers were looking for a new, more modern look during this time and it certainly blended over to the Frigidaire line. No other washer had this look before or after, providing for 3 years of a very uniquie and modern appearing appliance.

Yes the washer in the video may be considered under-loaded, but I only had 5 dirty towels to wash! Plus I wanted to give the mechanism support a good test.

John is correct about the spin speed - 710. Clothes are a bit more dry after the final spin in compairson to say a Maytag, but a bit more damp than the 59-62 850 RPM machines. The transmission in this washer was used up through the early production '64 models, with the Rollermatic being introduced in the late fall in 1964. These later modeled 63/64 Multmatic machines had the 1 year only pulsator with green rings, similar to the one Robert has had in the Super Unimatic for quite sometime now.

Ben[this post was last edited: 10/24/2011-11:42]

 

[mickeyd]

Multimatic varirties.

Trying to figure out if your machine is a 10 or 12 pounder. What year did the 12's come into being.?

 

The '62 CD I have spins at 870rpms, pretty sure. Robert once posted the specs for it, somewhere in the archives. Did I mis-read?

 

After Aunt Margaret's '47 Easy took its last spin, she bought a Frigidaire with a 12 pound tub and a three ring agitator with the classic ring colors. It was the first time I experienced the two-step spin, and I was just bonkers over it. I think the year was 65, but I'm not certain.

 

[rollermatic]

love it!

love those rollermatics!!! and your video!!!

 

[swestoyz]

Hey Peter -

She may look like it from the pulsator, but this girl is a Multi-Matic, not a Rollermatic! Just another example of GM constantly changing their minds/drving their service fellas crazy.

Mike - '62 was the first year for the 12 pound tub. This load would have been perfect in the 10 pound tub, and was slightly underloaded as I'm not used to washing with such capacity!

I'll scan in the doctrine tonight if someone doesn't beat me to it on the spin speeds for 1962, 1962 1/2, and 1963 model year washers.
Ben