'63 Frigidaire Imperial thread

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A few years ago I acquired my matching '63 Imperial set. It all started with a conversation with Dick_S in Palm Springs. I told him at the time that those would be a dream set for me but I'm sure I'd never find them. He said he knew of someone in California that had a set and may be willing to sell them. He put me in touch with the seller and we struck up a deal. Of course I was hoping for Custom Imperial's with the turquoise pushbuttons but when I saw these I knew I had to have them.

It's like an old house that's a fixer upper. They needed some work but I knew what I would have once they were done. Here is the set on the first day they were delivered.

 

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A little 409 and some leveling makes a big difference.

 

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OK, let's plug them in and see what they look like all lit up.

 

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Preliminary tub shot; a liitle rust around the edges, rubber diaphragm a little deformed from sitting for years, and the agitator cap is missing.

 

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So let's pop the top. OH DEAR.... we've got some work to do.

 

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Crusty that's for sure. I can feel the carpal tunnel setting in now!

 

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As bad as it looks the lid switch operates just fine.

 

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Let's take off the pulsator column. I've seen worse.

 

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What lurks below the wash tub??? Hmmm, kinda orangie looking!

 

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The rust around the edges of the wash tub will have to be dealt with too.

 

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For now, let's button her back up and see what happens when we run her.

I started with a hot fill and let it overflow into the outer tub so the pump seal would be nice and lubricated. Thanks Robert for teaching us that important tip.

Fill valve works perfect on hot, warm, and cold. Good start.

 

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Lights, camera, action. We've got agitation.

 

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Timer advancing wonderfully. Add some nice sudsy soap to clean out her insides and you can see the overflow rinse portion of the wash cycle has begun.

 

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Everything ran fine, no leaks, no hiccups, just LARGE CHUNKS of rust flakes exiting drain hose while pumping out. NOT GOOD. Time to take out the tub and see what needs to be done.

Some rust spots at bottom of tub but not too serious.

 

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Wash tub out. YIKES

 

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Bottom of wash tub.

 

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Well, well, well... Look what we have here.

Bottom of outer tub (or water container as they call it).

 

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Drain port leading to pump. I think this having a raised lip contributed to its rust problem. This would always leave the outer tub holding a small amount of water. Even though there is a small hole on one side of the lip, it would easily clog with lint and not be effective.

 

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Transmission hump. At least the seals and support were in very good shape. No need for replacement and no leaks evident on other side.