My Early Maytag A806 Rework Progress

[hobbyapocalypse]

At what point is a damper unusable

Mine looked and felt rough at first but it was mostly stuck on crud that I was able to clean off. It's not like new but I think it will last many more years with proper lubrication. You might want to try cleaning yours unless it is worse than it looks in the photo.

 

[good-shepherd]

this sort of thing isn't repairable

Hard to tell from the photo. Is there deep pitting and oxidation or can it be polished with compound.

Dampers are typically unsalvageable when the pads detach and it goes to metal on metal contact.

Your pads look intact albeit very dry.

P.S. -Kooky way you've got it disassembled, I've never seen the trans, damper, and tub removed as a unit.

 

[qsd-dan]

Birthed from Newton, IA in February 1967.

Your filling, painting, and blending skill are very impressive with the cabinet top.

The aluminum damper face may polish out if you're willing to experiment with some compounds. At least keep it as a spare since they're already getting hard to find without gouges from the base.

 

[appnut]

Tremendous going David!!!

 

[d-jones]

I understand that this isn't the normal way to disassemble a Maytag washer, but the darn agitator stubbornly refused to cooperate and let go this morning, so I had no choice. The base plate absolutely had to come off so I could take it to the hangar and rework it, so upside down it is, at least for now. I also seem to remember someone on this blog saying that letting a Maytag helical drive transmission sit upside down can feed fresh lubricating oil to the upper bearing, so maybe sitting around upside down for a while is a good thing. LOL.

After reading the comments about the damper I guess I'll try cleaning it up and see how that goes. So Joseph, Douglas, and Dan, the damper restoration effort is for you guys. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll be okay.

Thanks for the information on this machines date of manufacture, Dan. That falls right in line with what you said in the initial thread in Shoppers Square. I also had a look at the lint filter today since you mentioned it was unique for more than just the stainless top. Do you happen to know how long this type remained in production? I've never seen another with this type of lint screen, so I'm guessing not long.

Edit - One other thing I forgot to mention. Upon disassembly I found the brake rotor bearing (200835) inner race badly cracked. A minor setback. This seems to be a part that's still available, at least for now.[this post was last edited: 4/24/2021-20:56]

 

[eurekastar]

I love seeing the progress you're making!  Thanks for letting us have a look at the wonderful work you're doing!  I restored an A407 then converted it to an A606.  However, your skills are far superior to mine!  I had fun learning, but it took making a lot of mistakes, as well as a lot of help from the kind people on this site!

 

[good-shepherd]

transmission sit upside down

That definitely gets much needed oil to the upper agitator shaft but this machine deserves the full treatment.
and from the look of things it needs a new lower trans oil seal anyway.

Replacing the seal involves disassembling the trans and fishing out the worn o-ring seal but it will run better with fresh lubricant. The old trans oil has by now the consistency of molasses and may cause sluggish agitation especially in cold locations.

 

[sprog]

Paint Question...

Hi David,
Thanks for sharing your workflow. It's great to see your progress!

Quick question: what did you do to achieve such great results with the porcelain? Was it 2K paint, 2K clear?

Cheers,
Chris a.k.a. sprog

 

[d-jones]

Hi Chris

Unfortunately, I don't know what brand the paint is. It was mixed for us at a service center and provided in two one quart cans, one base and one hardener. The labels on both cans are generic, offering little information beyond mixing instructions. The fact that the color was such a perfect match for the top panel porcelain was just dumb luck. What I can tell you though is that due to the environment that corporate jet aircraft operate in, paint made specifically for them tends to be pretty high quality. I'm sure that isn't very helpful to you, but I'll continue to update the touch up paint progress until it's finished. Hopefully that will prove useful.

 

[latchlock8111]

Inner damper surface

To smooth out the aluminum try fine sandpaper and wd-40 for the sanding lubricant. 1500 grit would be my start point. Wear rubber gloves as it is messy and will stain the fingers.

 

[qsd-dan]

I just remembered getting wonderful results polishing a damper dome with a brass wire wheel. This was the outside rather then the underside, but it may be worth a try if you have kicking around.

 

[d-jones]

Thanks for the tips, guys.

Whether I reuse this damper or not I'll give repairing it a try. I did purchase a new one though that's on its way here now, just in case it should be needed.

Photo 1 - Today there was a fair amount of panic surrounding this cracked brake rotor bearing. I had looked it up and found several on the internet, but when I tried to actually order it today each of the suppliers discovered they didn't actually have one available. There's one listed on Amazon for an outrageous price that I didn't care to pay, so I got out the local phone book and miracle of miracles, a local guy here in Pittsburgh has one, so crisis averted.

Photo 2 - The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the base plate. It was covered in sticky filth and thick old oil which had to be removed before any sanding can be done. It took hours to complete and I ended up having to purchase a mini steam cleaner to complete the job. So though it doesn't look like much was done, I'm worn out.

In other news, the gray cloth tape arrived today, along with a new correct ballast transformer. I always manage to damage them while removing them from the machine. Maybe one day I'll figure out how to do it. I apologize for the slightly blurred photos today. It seems I got something on the camera lens that went unnoticed until I uploaded them just now.

 

[qsd-dan]

I was wondering when that 200835 bearing was going to be discontinued since they're specifically designed for these washers only. Apparently, that day has come. *Sigh*

 

[good-shepherd]

sticky filth and thick old oil

Thats the original Maytag trans grease/lube.

Even using gasoline it takes a while to clean a disassembled trans.

BTW- I wouldn't sand blast off the paint in good shape on underside of the base plate, it has a zinc primer and should be fine to paint over.

 

[d-jones]

Corrosion removed from the base and front panel.

I need to get the cabinet in here now so it can be prepped, then everything can be primed and painted. Some of the pitting on the base was so deep it'll have to be filled before I can continue with primer.

 

Photo 2 - Most of the paint on the underside was fine so I left it alone. Only the corrosion was removed. But I did notice that the base plate color is different than the color on the motor shield, and it's quite shiny, so a new batch of paint was mixed to match the base. I'll likely use it on all of the gray parts. Getting close to painting.

 

[d-jones]

Sorry for the delay here.

I'm at the point where I need to prime and paint, but I can't paint in the hangar due to the over-spray problem and unfortunately the weather here in Pittsburgh has been too wet to paint outside. As soon as I get a day without rain or drizzle I'll be able to at least get the priming done, perhaps even paint. Meanwhile I've continued to order some much needed new parts and work on restoring others. With any luck I'll have something worth posting soon.

 

[good-shepherd]

I'm at the point where I need to prime

Are you going to use a zinc primer like Maytag did at the factory?

That would be a nice touch since you're going first class on this rebuild.

 

[d-jones]

Minor progress.

I was able to get the primer surfacer applied to the base this afternoon and sanded smooth. It came out well, but I'll likely hit it with another coat of ordinary primer before painting it. I also used Evapo-Rust to remove any remaining rust from the underside of the top panel. Now I just need to touch up a few small spots to prevent a return.

 

Douglas - I looked for any source of zinc primer locally and found nothing, so I went ahead without it. Hopefully if I get really good coverage with the paint it'll be enough to prevent any issues going forward.

 

[d-jones]

Quick update.

Getting the cabinet ready for paint. Some corrosion had to be removed, then lots of little chips and scratches that needed filling, and the process of priming and sanding until they're all properly smoothed out is time consuming, but things are moving along. The initial progress may have given the impression that this would go faster. Sorry about that.

 

[d-jones]

Here we are at the end of September......

and I'm finally ready to paint. My original plan had been to paint outside, but the weather here in Pittsburgh hasn't been cooperating. It's either been raining and humid, hot and humid, or windy and humid. The humidity has finally dropped back to normal, but the wind continues to be a problem. I want this to come out well so I decided I'd have to paint in the hangar, which means I had to purchase this tent like temporary storage shed to control the over-spray (and keep my job). Anyways, after sanding and priming, sanding and priming, then sanding and priming some more, all the little chips and scratches on the cabinet, front panel, and control panel dog house have been filled and smoothed over. I expect to have the painting finished over the next couple of days.

[this post was last edited: 9/30/2021-12:45]