Yes on all accounts. BUT, you do not realizer something, your bias of wanting a Super Surgilator is blinding your objectivity. There's a whole lot more to that Penta Swirl. there are the big fins and the little fins at the skirt base. Also add in the curved vanes and straight vantes that are vertical down the shaft of the agitator to the base. All that combines to make quite nice movement. remember, this was Sears' BEST model that was offered for features and performance. It had to DELIVER performance. This machine doesn't shift to gentle agitation on Normal or Perm Press for 4 minutes of the wash cycle like the model with the Spank-u-later agitator skirtless-open fins design. That agitator could be very harshe on fabrics, hence the speed shift. As stated above it could turn this machine into a mongrle if you switched. Every manufacturer designed their machines with best combinatgion of features and "technology" to yield as b est a cleaning as possible (well except for indeixing Westginghouse lol). I also had the thought of "stock" feature set being disturbed on such a classic. This was the last of the Pano Keyboard LKs. The ensuing center dial and knobs panels were not worthy of the LK monicer and was deeemed illegitimate in my books. I see the same analagy as when KitchenAid brought out the SS tubs in their 24 series---it was nothing but a tricked out Kenmore UltraWash with SS interior and inferior racking arrangement. Yes, I wish they'd kept the vari-flex agitator that had been in LKs for several years, nothing moved clothes like it and cleaned them as well. I"m a purist. Don't mess with perfection. If you MUST feed that itch for a potent, "little blue pill presscribewd" super surgilator, go find a MOL center dial ex-large capacity Model 70 that dind't come with the dual action agiitator, but just the plain agitator, that wasn't even as nice as this one. Now THAT I can attest to you it dindm't move a full load of towels very well, rather pathetic when dealing with any type of BobLoad.
