Anyone Have Three Extra Parts for a Lady?

[Unimatic1140]

Remember this '66 Lady Kenmore that Fred found when I was away?

I've got the machine pretty much restored, but I need three parts to finish, if anyone has these and would mine selling them to me please let me know.

#1 The Bleach/Softener Dispenser Bezel is missing. (The one shown in the picture is the bezel I need its from the machine I sent to Gordon).

#2 The Detergent dispenser valve bakelite housing is cracked and dripping. I've tried to repair it with silicone and cannot get it to completely stop leaking.

#3 The metal Detergent dispenser cover assembly is covered in an odd cement like substance. I've tried every type of chemical to get it off and the only way is to scrape it with a blade, but that is leaving it scracthed. I can live with this but if someone has some good extra one's I would love to replace it.

Thanks everyone!

 

[whirlaway]

Try This!!!

For that last pic,try paint remover,the gel kind,I think it will remove it and then polish it with brasso. Thanks Bobby

 

[volvoguy87]

Paint stripper.

It comes in many varieties. The more toxic and often stinky kind is fast acting. The less stinky, more forgiving, soy based kind is much slower acting. I prefer the soy based stripper, but as I said, it's slower.

Good luck Robert,
Dave

 

[coldspot66]

I may have the bezel and detergent disp housing....let me check.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

I might have the bezel too (sort of) and think I can help wi

Robert -

That bleach/softener bezel was a problem for Sears because most of the originals eventually broke after people either pushed the lids back too far to the left of the hinges slowly bent. What happens in the lid "kicks" the bezel from the side and dislodges it enough to break the snap clips underneath. After that you have a very "portable" bezel that does not stay secure. I may have a bezel with the snapped clips, but I somehow doubt you'd want that.

I was surprised however to find out that the bezel is still available at Sears! I recently was checking that suds valve for Kevin and it's still available too. It's a newer part and has been subbed-over from the bakelight design, but one can still be had.

I will send you an e-mail with the part numbers, but I think both would run you about $50 plus shipping if you want to buy them from Sears. I know, I know, they aren't wholesale but at least someone has them new.

I hope that's a little help Robert!

Gordon

 

[combo52]

Kenmore Parts

If they are avaibale from Sears you or if you like I can get them wholesale directly from WP let me know John.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

John,

It would not surprise me if these are NLA parts that Sears happens to have on the shelf. Seen that before a few times.

Gordon

 

[Unimatic1140]

A brand new Bezel will be simply divine!

Thanks Gordon, I ordered the Bezel and the Dispeners Valve. What is funny is when I put the original part number for the Dispenser Valve into the Sears web site it shows it as NLA with no substitutions. So I ordered the 1983 valve and its fabulous that the Bezel is still available, I'm sure its a case of some extras laying around because of that Bezel commonly breaking.

Parts should be here later this week as long as I don't get an email stating "ummm yeah right sorry, but our web site isn't to date and those parts are NLA". That has happened to me before with that Sears web site and a few others too. ***fingers crossed***

So that leaves the metal chrome dispenser door, if anyone has one of those laying around that they would like to sell please let me know. I'm not going to fool with paint remover and the like on that, it is so pitted, the chrome is peeling right off. I'll just scrape it off if necessary, sand it and use it as is.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

I will cross my fingers for you Robert!

I have had the same problem with Sears - try to get something and get all psyched because they have the FSP part that everyone else says is gone, and guess what....you're SOL when they e-mail you days later after taking your order. BUT, I have found some stuff there too that was in stock, so you never know!

I will keep my fingers crossed!

Gordon

 

[danemodsandy]

Absolutely Right, Robert...

...You'll be happiest with a good dispenser door. One of the prime attractions of this generation of LKs is the "Lincoln Continental" feel of their control panels and that dispenser door. These machines were luxury personified; I still miss mine.

Somebody find Robert a good one, please!

 

[a440]

Robert,

If you find a hard time finding parts for a machine of this vintage, try Fox Appliance Parts in the Atlanta area. They have tons of stuff from this period. Most of the time they are shocked that they had this stuff in stock. Their prices are not all that bad, and I have been able to get them to come down on prices if I don't find price reasonable.

Brent

Fox Appliance Parts Atlanta
Parts for household appliances. ... Fox Appliance Parts of Atlanta Serving the Southeast Since 1948. x. Welcome to Fox Appliance Parts of Atlanta ...
www.foxatlanta.com/ - Cached - Similar -
South: Lake City (404) 363 3313
Northeast: Doraville (770) 446 8446

Northwest: Marietta (404) 363 3313
Gainesville (770) 534 2331

 

[rickr]

I would guess someone will come up with a replacement detergent door for Robert sooner or later. Just when someone ISN'T looking for a certain nla part, it seems to show up! Thats the way it works sometimes.

BTW: Robert, if you need to get rid of that old 56 Norge to make room for this Lady, just shoot me an email. I'll come and get it when the weather breaks. I know you are always short on space and all... <:

 

[danemodsandy]

Fair Warning:

The personnel in the Lake City location are evidently people McDonald's found untrainable.

I speak from extensive and bitter experience.

 

[qsd-dan]

Hey, Brent,

Does Fox Appliances sell Whirlpool/Kenmore parts only or do they sell a variety for different makes and models? Got a long personal list for available vintage parts that I'm trying to keep tabs on. Thanks!

Dan

 

[Unimatic1140]

Fox Parts

Hi Brent, I know all about Fox Parts, I found them back in 1997, this was long before the first agitator hit the internet. I bought some wonderful and extremely rare Frigidaire parts back then. For the life of me I cannot remember how I found them but I was thrilled.

Robert, if you need to get rid of that old 56 Norge to make room for this Lady, just shoot me an email. I'll come and get it when the weather breaks. I know you are always short on space and all...
Uh huh, I'm getting right on that email Rick ;-)

 

[gizmo]

dispenser drawer

Hi Robert

If a replacement drawer cover doesn't turn up soon, you could always take it in to be stripped or bead blasted and re-chromed (electroplated). Classic car restoring places would be able to direct you to where it could be done, and how much it might cost.

Chris.

 

[danemodsandy]

Gizmo:

If that dispenser door is like the one on my '65 Lady K, it's a brushed finish, and it won't be easy or cheap to get right. Robert's a patient - and incredibly lucky - guy; he'll find another one, you bet.

 

[strongenough78]

Damn....

I'm not sure how easy Nitric Acid is to get for personal use, but we use it for many things at work, I use it to clean up quite a bit of stuff. I soaked the strainer from the bottom of my dishwasher at work, the whole inside of the thing is caked with lime. I've scraped most of it off, but that screen came out spotless. If I could Robert I'd send you some for the detergent dispenser. A 50/50 mix of the acid and deionized water is a superb cleaner. Just have to becareful with it lol.

 

[strongenough78]

Ah....

just 86 the acid idea anyway lol, I didnt see the thread saying that it was peeling. I would go with Gizmo's idea. For a small part like that, the price to have it done should be reasonable.

 

[danemodsandy]

Dispenser Door:

Guys, that part is made of cast pot metal, notoriously difficult to restore. The problem is that it bubbles and pits once its chrome is compromised; you can see bubbling in the pic. Once that gets started, it's hard to fix. On automotive restorations, restorers look hard to find NOS replacement parts rather than getting into restoring pot metal if they can avoid it, because it almost never comes out looking like a new, untouched piece. Even then, NOS isn't always the answer, because pot metal can deteriorate on the shelf. Here's a page giving an idea of what's involved:

http://iversonautomotive.com/potmetal.htm

 

[volvoguy87]

Pot metal.

I have friends with 2 restored 1931 Chevrolets (they are a blast to drive once you get used to double clutching and are much more capable vehicles than I originally imagined). The door handles are pot metal, one of the worst materials possible for a part which moves or may be subjected to flexing. Someone found a good one, had a mold made, and is casting new ones in brass, which is then plated in nickel to match the plating that was on the originals. The new door handles aren't being made just for 1 car, the guy made several and selling them for anyone who needs them.

I wonder how hard it would be to clean up an original pot metal door as much as possible, make a mold of it, cast new ones in brass, and then have them plated. I also wonder how much of a demand there would be for this sort of thing. What models used this door and during what years? Would a reproduction door fit in place of the later plastic door?

Gordon, your expertise is once again needed,
Dave

 

[danemodsandy]

That Might Work, Dave:

The only real problem, as I see it, would be getting the brushed finish right. I know some things about metals - although I'm certainly not an expert - but those dispenser doors have always looked to me as if the brush was applied prior to plating. I don't think the chrome was particularly heavy, either. These units were intended to be used for perhaps ten years, at which point new models would be so irresistible that Milady would go into hock to get the latest and greatest; I can't imagine anyone foresaw people still using them forty-five years down the road. When those doors were new, they had a very heavy, luxurious feel, akin to the fittings in a new luxury car of that same era, and that was the point.

However, even with brass castings as a base for a new reproduction, I'm not sure what the longevity would be, because these doors spend their working lives subjected to alkali and moisture. Perhaps someone else here knows more about that than I do. As little as I care for plastic in most applications, the switch to plastic dispenser doors on Lady Ks was probably a good thing for longevity's sake.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Well sure enough the valve has been shpped and I received an email from sears saying "sorry the Bezel is discontinued"

So I'm still looking for the Bleach/Softener dispenser Bezel if anyone has an extra one.