March should be Kenmore month!

[powerfin64]

CONGRADULATIONS!

That is the exact machine including agitator we use to use in our shop to wash towels about 9 years ago. It has AWESOME rollover action! and ours was VERY quiet. used it till the timer cam died. Wish it could of been saved..
ENJOY!!!
Rich

 

[rocky2]

Great Find

Congratulations Austin, and thumbs up to you Venus! Way cool. And the best part, it found you! Can't wait to see some videos. Never saw that style agitator in a Kenmore.

 

[roto204]

Beauteous!!

Oh, Austin, that's a beaut! Retroramic joy!!

I'm glad you have more self-control than I do and are going to be meticulous about checking her out--but CONGRATULATIONS and let us know how it goes!

:-D

 

[jasonl]

YAY!

The control panel looks like my grandma's washer, only hers was the standard capacity and the black RotoSwirl agitator. Her's also had a two-tone blue to it and different colored cycles.

Great find! Hope you get it going soon.

 

[Unimatic1140]

WOW, Austin that is a very fun RARE find.

I have never seen that agitator before, I've have the Whirlpool version of that agitator, but I didn't realize the Kenmore version was so odd.

I'm think there is a chance that this machine is the very first large capacity Kenmore washer! Congrats again Austin, a wonderful find!

 

[retromom]

Kenmore 518

Oh Robert!

That really gets me fired up!! On Monday, I gave them another "save me from the krusher" flyer". It sure paid off. I went by the recycler again this a.m. to tell them "thanks" for sending the washer our way. I also told them to keep them coming. I promise, if they send another interesting find our way, I'm buying those dudes doughnuts! Heck, I may even do their laundry! ;-)

 

[westytoploader]

The previous owner said it made a squeaking noise the last time she ran it (recently), and the belt looks ancient, so I'm going to give it a good cleaning, put a new belt on it, re-grease the cam bars and remove the dry, cracked tub ring. Then I'll see what happens. I haven't personally run it, but when I get it cleaned up I'll try it out. The 3-prong cord is in good shape, and is nice & soft. And as I mentioned before, it looks brand new inside and especially underneath. 99.9% of the wear is purely cosmetic.

What about the basket drive, since it is the old pre-1970 version? Should I pull the tranny and replace it with the new style? Also, aside from a paint job (of course), the control panel and knobs need to be rechromed. I know nearly everyone recommends Simichrome; where do I buy it?

Well, now it's time to break out the Repair-Master...

--Austin

 

[kenmore1978]

pre-1970 basket drive

The only reason they altered the basket drive was to make it stop faster. Since there's no small children in your house, that's not an issue, so I perosnally wouldn't bother replacing it.

 

[westytoploader]

Oh...I thought it had binding issues on large loads or something like that. Good!

 

[westyslantfront]

Kenmore Agitator

Hi Austin. I remember those agitators....they were around since the late 1950's....

 

[pulsator-power]

She may need a little TLC,
but she's beautiful!
Congrats

Jerry

 

[appliguy]

APPNUT...my mom got the same washer you speak of as a bride

My mom got the same washer and the matching Soft Heat gas Dryer in October of 1963 when her and my dad moved into their new house in Springfield Va. Your description is absolutely correct and you were also right in saying that it was a model 70. I have seen that same washer and dryer in an early 1965 Sears catalog that a friend of mine has so it muhst have been made for a few years before it morphed into the 518 model. I personally remember that washer as we ahd it at our summer home in Md from 1971 till 1989. It was a awesome machine and I would sure like to find another one.
PAT COFFEY