A Maytag.......but with an Aussie twist!

[mayfan69]

Hi guys,

Thought i'd share a project i've wanted to do for sometime now, which i completed last weekend.

Firstly, i'm aware this Maytag LAT 9800 might just be short of this forum, but certain components are defintely more than 20 years old.

Prepare for a couple of surprises!

First pic....console...looks like a standard LAT 9800 control panel right??

Cheers
Leon

 

[mayfan69]

But....WAIT......

Open the lid and TA DAH!!!!!

What's this.....a Maytag with a nice shiny Stainless Steel Bowl???

How is this possible i hear you ask???

 

[mayfan69]

Another shot.....

Longer shot...

 

[mayfan69]

Timeline.....

Ok...so how did i do this??

Well, i bought the 9800 off a repairer contact here in Brisbane. I decided this machine was a great base for a conversion, being a TOL (for Australia) 2 speed machine. I've never been a great fan of the Orbital transmission and i had a spare pitman drive long-stroke transmission from an A512.

As for the SS bowl, well....that's from an Australian made Wilkins Servis automatic that i stripped for parts.

Now.....there's been some conjecture and comment on this site in the past that the Wilkins SS bowl can't be the same the extra large capacity porcelain bowl in the Maytags due to the 'hole pattern'.

Well, the next couple of pics will show there's only 1cm difference in width, so that doesn't stop the bowl fitting in the extra large capacity Maytag.

First pic...the 2 bowls side by side...

 

[mayfan69]

Bowl measurements

The Wilkins Bowl measured across.....

 

[mayfan69]

The Maytag bowl

The Maytag bowl measured across....1 cm difference

 

[mayfan69]

Wilkins SS Bowl height.....

Height measured.....40cm high

 

[mayfan69]

Maytag bowl height

Maytag bowl height....40 cm
Both exactly the same height

 

[mayfan69]

hole pattern

The 2 bowls side by side.
The hole pattern is different because of a simple fact...the Wilkins was manufactured in Australia...the Maytag was manufactured in the US.

I hope these pictures put any doubts to rest. Yes, there's 1cm difference in width and i'm not going to get into any debates about 'capacity' or 'cubic feet'. My goal was to prove the Wilkins SS bowl would fit comfortably into the outer bowl of an extra large capacity Maytag. And i've done that.

 

[mayfan69]

Restoration.....

Old bowl out....look at all that crud!

My guess is the previous owners didn't use hot water much! It was disgusting!

 

[mayfan69]

All cleaned up....

All cleaned up with lots of CLR and elbow grease. Also used some rust converter for some surface rust.

I also installed a new 'older style' stem seal mounting kit...far superior to the new ones.

 

[mayfan69]

Transmission replacement

Should have put this pic before the last one....the older style pitman drive long stroke transmission installed....

 

[mayfan69]

And...the final result....

Lovely! I'm very proud of my conversion, as this was my first real tear down and re-build.

Oh yes...the 8 vane white Power Fin agitator also came from a Wilkins Servis

 

[mayfan69]

And....the first video

Here's a full length video of the machine in action.....

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[goatfarmer]

Nice job!

 

[dj-gabriele]

Very well done!
And what the photos you posted go a long way in showing that stainless steel is miles away from any other material used for laundry tubs!

 

[streakers]

Awesome!!

Absolutely awesome effort Leon! You must be pleased you've got it finished and running perfectly!! Can't wait to see her in the metal!!

 

[rapunzel]

It's definitely bucketing down - that rain is so noisy,

You've done a great job with your conversion. That tub and agi look fantastic. Is the stainless tub much lighter than the porcelain one?

Great turn over with the long stroke tranny.

 

[mayfan69]

Weight of bowls....

Hi Olav.....thanks!

I didn't actually weigh the bowls, but yes....there's a little bit of weight difference.

However, the concrete balancing ring does make it 'seem' heavy on both bowls

Steve: maybe next weekend you could bring some clothes around....I'll see what Nathan's up to as well...

I've got the Hoover hooked up as well

Leon

 

[mrb627]

Very Cool

Nice job on the retrofit. Initially I thought the machine was overloaded. But after a few minutes, it really began to turn that load over quite well.

Malcolm

 

[yogitunes]

Excellent......bright and shiny, and the agitator just adds to it........love stainless steel......a great suprise when you open the lid!......also great choice on switching the trannies....

 

[frigilux]

Gotta love that stainless steel tub. Enjoyed the video, too. Maytags may not have the washing drama of a vintage Kelvinator, but they get the job done in their own quiet, muscular fashion. Nice retrofit!

 

[autowasherfreak]

Nice! You did great job. I'm going back to my Maytag 606 shortly.

 

[swestoyz]

Now that is a washer. Nicely done Leon!

Ben

 

[chestermikeuk]

Maytag

Great re-build results leon, the stainless ateel tub looks very classy!! The agitator compliments it as well, congratulations - now for the matching dryer!!!

 

[MaytagA710]

Great rebuild! The machine looks great, I love the SS basket/bowl with the white 8 vane power fin. Its nice to see you took out the orbital and put in the pitman/helical drive transmission in there!

The LAT9800 was the top of the line machine for analogue, non digital controls. The LAT9900/A9900 was the TOL machine with digital controls.

 

[brisnat81]

Hi Leon,

Thats a great job, it looks wonderful

How does the capacity compare to the speed queen?

Nathan

 

[mayfan69]

Maytag Vs SQ

Hey Nathan

I think the SQ still has an edge in capacity, but it wouldn't be by much.

I'd have to do the same load in the SQ and see what the difference was...

Cheers
Leon

 

[revvinkevin]

Hey Leon,

A Maytag with a stainless steel tub, who knew? What a cool modification, awesome job!

Cheers!
Kevin

 

[eddy1210]

That was an amazing rebuild Leon!  You have to be proud of this machine.