It's Pre-War!

[westytoploader]

I forgot to mention...75% done on mine

Here's my '47 5 months later...after a much-needed good cleaning, a new water valve, new hose, the inital "rust-proofing" on the cabinet and all of the logos re-installed. It does have some denting and pitting in the sides, but like I said this is preliminary.

What's left is a new belt, drain valve & trap seals, wire, and the REAL paint job is coming later...

 

[Unimatic1140]

Hi Austin, I was thinking the exact same thing, the Pre-war is much easier to work on because of the timer support is connected to the outer tub as opposed to the top assembly.

As for the trap seal, there is an adjustment on the lever to make it tighter, otherwise you will need to make a new seal with closed cell foam, I did this for my Whirlpool combo and it works great.

As for the leaky drain value (water slowly goes down the drain during the wash cycle), the pre-war seems to seal just fine. But on my '47 I had lots of trouble with it so what I did was I opened the drain fully and I installed a Kitchen Aid dishwasher drain valve in line with the discharge hose. I took the leads from the pump solenoid and connected them to the KA drain valve and problem solved. The KA drain valve sounds exactly the same as the Bendix pump valve so no one would ever know the difference.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Wow Austin you '47 looks Great! I remember what the poor thing looked like when you first got it, you've done a beautiful job!

 

[gansky1]

Yay for the front fill...

Incredible condition - amazing!! Where does the fill tube go, into the tub and around to the front? The soak cycle is longer too, only 6 minutes post-war and I love that cast iron tranny housing, built to last forever.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Hi Greg, yes the fill flume goes into the outer tub and around to the front, there is no tolerance for any error, its a real tight fit, but somehow they made it work! I didn't notice that longer soak and cast-iron tranny until you said that. Super cool!

 

[tlee618]

Yay! It even has the orginal Good Housekeeping Seal! It is hard to believe the wonderful condition this machine is in. Robert I would love to hear more about the manison you found it in and any information the owner had for you about the machine.. Was there a dryer in the house? Questions Questions..Thanks for sharing. Terry

 

[westytoploader]

And in case anyone else was wondering

Here's a before shot...not for the faint of heart.

I'm REALLY glad I rescued it...didn't think it was in that bad of shape when I bought it, now I look at it and get a reality check!

 

[Unimatic1140]

Hi Terry, there was never a dryer in the house, there was a 1950 Maytag J2L wringer washer and an early 50's Maytag Dutch Oven. The new owners were completely gutting and restoring this 1923 house.

 

[alr2903]

Speaking of Labels

Robert is that a 60 some odd year old "Good Housekeeping "label on the window your Bendix? It sure is a nice washer. alr2903.

 

[kenmore1978]

Bendix similarities

So Austin, did you ever solve the water valve wiring dilemma you had?

Do all 3 of these machines have Delco motors?

 

[Unimatic1140]

I'm pretty sure they all used Delco motors.

Arthur, yes that's is the original Good Housekeeping symbol sticker that was placed on the window of all early Bendix machines. Gyromatic John's late 1930's Bendix also has it on the window...

 

[westytoploader]

Hi Robert,

As far as internal water leakage, the drain valve holds fine, however, when it does "snap", it drips quite a bit (enough to be an annoying puddle). How can I solve that problem?

I can get closed-cell foam at Ace, so that's good...the majority of the leakage came from the drain trap. Before I start re-wiring I want to make sure the machine is 100% watertight. The only places where it does leak are the drain valve and trap; the float chamber, fill assembly, and water valve are OK.

--Austin

 

[rickr]

Forty's Bendix

I did not realize that these machine were very much like the earlier units. Bendix must have tried to make the machine look more modern by adding the sheet metal "shell" over it.

Robert that machine is VERY clean inside. Could this have been a "low mileage" machine? Like the owner kept this around when they got a later model?

Rick

 

[westytoploader]

Definitely looks low-mileage! I wonder if the owners bought it, didn't like "automatics", and bought the Maytag wringer as a replacement?

 

[appnut]

Austin, you have done a terrific job on your 47 Bendix. I agree with you mom, hold on to it and not sell it.

Robert, thaks for the comparison between the 41 and 47. And on Gyromatic John's washer, I'd never seen those dual control knobs up close, had only seen in ads and wondered what they were. And it looks like the temperature knob has at least 3 if not more tempt settings. How awesome. But, where's the water level selector?

 

[Brent-Aucoin]

How cool!

Robert,
Thanks for the pictures of your pre-war Bendix! It is beautiful. It is amazing how clean it is!
I just love the front fill on it! Starts the drama right from the begining.
Thanks for all of the photo's!
Brent

 

[bpetersxx]

I vote Roberts Bendix front load washers as a DVD of the month selection

 

[pulsator]

Oh what I wouldn't do for one of those!!!!!!! Especially with the big surprise coming...

 

[david]

Is this the bolt-down kind?

 

[foraloysius]

Robert,

Congratulations on this beautiful machine. It is really amazing that a washer of this age is in such a wonderful state. I guess the early Bendix machines were very well made, until now we have seen quite a few early Bendix models. I have a question about the soak cycle, does the machine tumble like in the main wash? and does it drain automatically at the end?

Bob,

I don't think any of the early Bendix models came with a water level selector. They just fill to a high level. I don't know if it takes in more water when the water level drops for instance with a load of towels, I have only seen Robert's 1947 run once.