After keeping an eye out for as long as I've known what Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, etc. were and how to use them, I've been watching for a KitchenAid with the true turquoise agitator to appear in good shape, and this week it finally happened (with three hours' drive each way, of course lol). Not only is it a KitchenAid, it is THE KitchenAid that I grew up with, same model and year, with the only exception being that it's white instead of almond like ours, which fits better in the modern day anyway.
It's in shockingly good condition for being a year older than I am, although of course it needs a very thorough cleaning. There's no rust around the porcelain top, and a little rust around the cabinet top edge and the frame but I believe it's easily sanded and touched up to prevent it from going further. What shocks me is that there isn't even rust around the bleach dispenser cut-out. It's nearly impossible to find a Direct Drive that doesn't at least have a little chipping and rust in that area or along the edge of the lid.
I've connected it up in the garage and all the water levels and temps work, and it ran through the full normal cycle with successful neutral drains. The agitator dogs and cam are absolutely destroyed though, as expected, but my first plan is to replace the water inlet right off the bat for ease of mind, replace the cam assembly in the agitator, and see if I can buff out that marking on the tub ring, and see if I can get the inner basket out to give it a deep clean as far down as I can go. I don't want to disturb the transmission if it's working properly until I absolutely have to.
The second letter of the serial is A, which should mean 1990 birth date? I highly suspect this has already had a rebuild done, but at the same time, things just seem a little too...untouched? I'd have expected the cabinet to be dented and scuffed as hell at this age, and for there to be at least more hand prints and disturbed dirt inside, so I honestly can't tell. The clutch rotor also has holes instead of the metal tabs sticking out like newer clutch assemblies, and the transmission isn't just a coat of rust like I'd thought. The whole machine honestly seems in better shape than the ones in all the repair videos that seem to be rusting apart and filthy.
My main issue is the inner basket. It's just dingy and discolored and many of the holes have tiny cracks and rust around them, so I'd like to just replace with a new basket pretty quickly. I know there are some that would warn that the new baskets aren't as good and have thinner layers of porcelain, but I've always babied my machines and am very careful about checking pockets and turning zippers and buttons inside out, so I'm not as concerned. I'd rather have a pearly white basket than to have dots of rust on my whites.
If anyone has any advice, can identify what work might have been done already, or any warnings about what NOT to do in restoring this, I'd be very grateful. I've worked on Direct Drives quite a few times, but never one I owned or cared about like this, and it's always been couplers or agitator assemblies, so while I'm pretty familiar with the platform, I also don't want to risk destroying anything irreplaceable with its age.
It's in shockingly good condition for being a year older than I am, although of course it needs a very thorough cleaning. There's no rust around the porcelain top, and a little rust around the cabinet top edge and the frame but I believe it's easily sanded and touched up to prevent it from going further. What shocks me is that there isn't even rust around the bleach dispenser cut-out. It's nearly impossible to find a Direct Drive that doesn't at least have a little chipping and rust in that area or along the edge of the lid.
I've connected it up in the garage and all the water levels and temps work, and it ran through the full normal cycle with successful neutral drains. The agitator dogs and cam are absolutely destroyed though, as expected, but my first plan is to replace the water inlet right off the bat for ease of mind, replace the cam assembly in the agitator, and see if I can buff out that marking on the tub ring, and see if I can get the inner basket out to give it a deep clean as far down as I can go. I don't want to disturb the transmission if it's working properly until I absolutely have to.
The second letter of the serial is A, which should mean 1990 birth date? I highly suspect this has already had a rebuild done, but at the same time, things just seem a little too...untouched? I'd have expected the cabinet to be dented and scuffed as hell at this age, and for there to be at least more hand prints and disturbed dirt inside, so I honestly can't tell. The clutch rotor also has holes instead of the metal tabs sticking out like newer clutch assemblies, and the transmission isn't just a coat of rust like I'd thought. The whole machine honestly seems in better shape than the ones in all the repair videos that seem to be rusting apart and filthy.
My main issue is the inner basket. It's just dingy and discolored and many of the holes have tiny cracks and rust around them, so I'd like to just replace with a new basket pretty quickly. I know there are some that would warn that the new baskets aren't as good and have thinner layers of porcelain, but I've always babied my machines and am very careful about checking pockets and turning zippers and buttons inside out, so I'm not as concerned. I'd rather have a pearly white basket than to have dots of rust on my whites.
If anyone has any advice, can identify what work might have been done already, or any warnings about what NOT to do in restoring this, I'd be very grateful. I've worked on Direct Drives quite a few times, but never one I owned or cared about like this, and it's always been couplers or agitator assemblies, so while I'm pretty familiar with the platform, I also don't want to risk destroying anything irreplaceable with its age.
