Kenmore Base Plate

[brun]

I am having no luck finding a base plate for my 1960 Kenmore 80 series. I am in Tacoma, WA. Does anybody have a good one? I might be willing to travel depending on where you are. Or? All help is appreciated. The center post is pressed in, right? Has anyone ever tried to replace just the post itself? Thank you!!!!

 

[mrmaytag]

I can tell you for sure you are not going to find a new one. However you might be able to find a donor machine to take one out of. But beware, most of the machines I have encountered from that era, have an already heavily rusted centerpost. You would just be trading one centerpost problem for another. I have one machine (a 68 Whirlpool, where I have swapped out the bad baseplate and centerpost with one from an '83 donor machine. It worked just fine using the tub and tub cap from the original machine. As far as replacing the centerpost. I have never heard of anyone doing that. Even though it's pressed into the baseplate and spot welded, you would be hard pressed (Pun intended) to find a replacement centerpost and get it aligned properly prior to pressing and welding. Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[dnastrau]

If you can't find a new one or suitable donor...

...you could try taking the baseplate to a metal fabrication shop to see if they can make a new tube and install it on the baseplate. A shop that deals in welding tubing for automotive use like roll cages and frames would probably be a good start.

Andrew S.