A few responses to the folks who replied above....
Thanks for the replies folks,
Scott - yes, surely the Ranger would make it to Michigan, but it holds only two machines easily. Kevin's Ranger, with the same bed, has held three but only by tying them down with the tailgate open. Since having a horrifying but also hysterical mishap last year involving a friend's two new leather chairs and a Charlotte highway, I won't be hauling anything with the tailgate open, not that far anyway. Heck, I was nervous with Kevin while riding as a passenger when we did that in Auburn last December.
Andy - THANK YOU again for everything. And yes, I think I did stumble a little on some recent episode of "stump the master". Don't worry about sending me a problem child - this will make me do a more thorough makeover on this machine, which is a good thing in the long run.
Kevin and Stainfighter - Still working on names. Frick and Frack may be better or more appropriate since they both don't hold water, and 'Frack' on Battlestar Galactica is their version of the F-bomb.
John - Yes, I noticed the white foam strip, but that is present on many 29-inch models too. I did not know that UL required that, but one thing that I have always thought was absolutely STUPID was the big hole in the baseplate, that is directly above the wig-wag, almost as if WP wanted water to drip on it eventually.
Patrick - Thanks. I got the gray POR-15 based on the look in your pictures. Thanks for the confidence builder in your recommendation of it.
Darren - I'm not sure what you mean by 'edging' in the tub cap. If you mean the tub ring, this is definitely a different tub ring, and I have no idea why KM/WP did this as earlier 24-inch machines had plastic tub rings that looked similar to their 29-inch counterparts. Perhaps this was to address splashing? The SV agitators surely are good for splashes. Speaking of strong pumps, I was surprised how much stronger the pump-out flow was in the 29-inch machine vs. a similar machine with a self-cleaning filter. The filter must really slow things down. The wooshing sound when the machine went into drain startled me actually, as this is not something you hear in any of my currently or recently used Kenmores.
I have turned my attention temporarily to a Lady K while I wait for the POR-15 to arrive. I hate leaving a project unfinished, but I will get back on these machines soon. I enjoyed using the large one too much not to. It was just different enough from what I am used to to be fun and a little bit new.
Gordon