All this Westy talk got me thinking...

[turquoisedude]

I knew I was going to regret not doing this during the initial restoration work - I decided a couple of weeks ago that it was time to spruce up the Canadian Westinghouse washer and dryer set.
When I first got them back in late fall of 2009, here's how they looked:

 

[turquoisedude]

The cabinets were a bit dingy... The dryer had some paint damage

 

[turquoisedude]

The washer had been re-painted at some point in its long life, but needed a refresh.

 

[turquoisedude]

And while I had the washer cabinet apart, I chose not to repaint it due to lack of time... Bad move...

 

[turquoisedude]

Since late winter, though, they have been on prominent display down in the Ogden Laundry, so I had to do something to 'pretty them up'!

 

[turquoisedude]

So, I took 'em apart...

 

[turquoisedude]

It was like my own assembly line down in the basement. Hubby reminded about the 'lovely obstacle course' I created. Tough!

 

[turquoisedude]

But it was really worth the effort!

 

[rp2813]

Beautiful.  The Westies of this general vintage are among my all-time favorites.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Hubby reminded about the 'lovely obstacle course' I

Nice looking machines!

You mean that all I have to do to have the other half keep her distance is build a barrier of Westinghouse parts? WOW! I gotta get me one of those... LOL!!!

RCD

 

[turquoisedude]

Now, the BUT...
When I put the dryer back together, I had lots of fun... I wound up breaking the connectors to the door safety switch when I dropped the front panel the third time; I will be damned if I can get the lint trap trip rod to work again - so I just took it out, but the kicker: the darned thing won't run! I don't have a 240 volt line in the spot where the CD-6 dryer is now displayed, so I tried hooking up a 120 volt line connection to test the motor and timer, but nothing happened. GRRRR!
I did a couple of tests, figuring that I messed up the connections I re-did on the door switch, but the prelimary tests were fine. Could it possibly be that this kind of dryer needs a 240 volt hookup to even run??
I had to put the machine back together 'cause we're having visitors in Ogden next weekend (pinkgurl from Brownsburg's a comin' with her family, so I will need the room) so I will have to be a little patient.
Good news, though - the washer still runs!!

 

[frigilux]

They look beautiful! Sorry about the problem with the dryer---what's that phrase?..."No good deed goes unpunished!" The Westy slant-fronts are such regal looking machines. Yours look like they just came off the showroom floor.

 

[stan]

Paint

What did you use to paint them with? Very nice, professional looking paint job! Stan

 

[tlee618]

Paul, looks like you did a great job! They look showroom fresh!! Hope that you get the dryer problem taken care of without much of a hassle!

 

[appnut]

Paul, they look brand new.  Congratulations.  I know you'll get the dryer issue(s) solved.  That's a given. 

 

[aldspinboy]

Paul that is a fantastic job !!!

Eugene said it best they look like you just bought them at an appliance store .

Cant wait to see them in person.

By the way loving that Frigidare Dishwasher video that one has slipped past me very cool  Mr. !

 

 

 

Darren k

[this post was last edited: 5/17/2011-01:04]

 

[takacedon]

Just lovely

They are wonderful, and the chrome looks so good too. Did you have to clean that up or was yours not pitted?

 

[arbilab]

Having lived through it, those were the 'golden age' for Westinghouse. A few bugs but almost entirely superficial a young teen (which I was) could solve. Except the boot, had to call 'the man' on that.

What beauties they look now!

 

[jetcone]

Paul

FABULOUS job! you'll work out the switch details, I am pretty sure the motors were 120V so you should be able to get power to it somehow to test. Do you have the wiring diagram?

 

Must come see your collection sometime!

 

jon

 

 

[jetcone]

PS

were they actually built in Canada?

 

 

[3beltwesty]

Check if door switch is working

WOW; many nice images of a rebuild!

Here with 1976 westy pairs the lower panels repainting on one had a tiny piece of paint foul the door switch; even when it was masked twice. Thus on the washer I bought a new door switch.

In the usa the westy dryers I have messed with have a 120 volt ac motor and timer too is wired so it connects to 120 volts. ie one hot leg and the neutral wire which is at ground or real close to ground in voltage with usa house wiring. The heater coil is 240 volts on most all and can be wired for 240 volts or just 120 volts for a old house too. There were some super old mid 1940's westy dryers that were for 120 volts only too; ie could not be wired for 240 volts. That is one I grew up with, my dad got it when he lived in an old apartment in the 1940's that was 120 volts only. It was not just a 240 volt unit wired for 120; it was a 120 volt unit only with a weird 120 volt coil and factory 120 volt cord and no switcher roo lugs for using 240 volts.

Dryers are most simple, door switches, thermostat, heater coil etc. Check for a bad joint/connection

 

[combo52]

SLANT FRONT WESTIES

WOW Paul they look great you make me tired just reading your posts LOL. It is very easy to attach a 120 volt cord to this dryer and everything should run fine, in fact this dryer was designed to run on 120 volts if need be. There was an extensive thread on this topic a while ago if you can't find it call me and I can easily explain it [ we don't want any more electrical black outs in that area of Canada again LOL ] John.

 

[philr]

Nice work Paul!

 

[mickeyd]

Love how you always put in the "BUTS" and the hubby&

you say TOUGH!!! Good for you. These are the signature quintessential iconic Westinghouses of many of our childhood days. They look amazing. Your patience and skill are enviable. Wish I had them.

 

Gotta a kick out of the Westinghouse paint "fire' in #6

 

Paul, what is the GE like machine off in the back in the back in Reply #1? Very Interesting.

 

 

[syndets2000]

w o w

 [COLOR=#0000ff; font-size: medium]what a beautiful job-[/COLOR] I love these machines!!

 

[turquoisedude]

All your kind words got me calmed down enough to think clearly about what went wrong with the dryer and I am now convinced that when I redid the connector on the door switch I made a bad connection on one of those 'spade' disconnect termials.  AND I looked at some of the photos I took when I first attacked it in 2010 and I think I know what I did wrong with the lint trap rod...  It'll be the week after next though before I can get to them... If I have any spare moments next weekend, there's a 58 Frigidaire dishwasher that needs to be re-assembled... LOL

About the paint job - I learned during the L5 restoration that I have no talent when using a spray can... SO, I started messing around with appliance epoxy (I use the Rust-Oleum brand from Home Depot) and a foam roller. It works really well!  You just need to rough up the finish a wee bit with sandpaper and clean off the dust to prepare the surface and you're ready to paint.  I put two coats on the Westy set to make them nice and smooth!

These were indeed made in Canada - in Hamilton Ontario to be exact!   Great story behind this set that I think I will have do a little movie about...  Stay tuned!

The chrome was slightly pitted on both the washer and dryer, but I used some very fine steel wool to take down the lumps.  The finish is not 'like new' to be sure, but it sure polished up nicely!  John (combo52) gave me that tip!!

Micheal - that's a 1958 GE clothes conditioner dryer.  It has the 'synthetic suit de-wrinkler' button on it that cracks me up thinking about how it would work in a cartoon... LOL

Darren - I have set up a guest bed in the basement with your name on it!

 

[arbilab]

Much time as I spent behind a Westy of that era, can't remember for sure if it had 2 belts (both to motor) or 3 and an intermediate idler like the 'potato' models. Chance you have a nice flash pic of the rear mechanics?

 

[3beltwesty]

2 belt speed changer images are on other current thread

Chance you have a nice flash pic of the rear mechanics?

There are some image of the older 2 belt system with speed changer gizmo here on this other thread:

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?34355_80

 

[MaytagA710]

Nice work! The machines look awesome and well done! I think these are some of my most favorite FLs even though I am a TL kinda guy. Now I understand why you were so busy lol.

 

[arbilab]

Yes, we had the 'speed changer' one too, aprx 1947.

Its replacement had no gearbox, but the 'mushroom' variable spin pulley. What I can't remember is whether it had a tumble idler or not. I don't think it did, but as before, 1800rpm to tumble speed in one reduction seems a lot.

Apparent, that the innards changed more at times than the cabinet.