Slow but sure progress
To quote Launderess, Mustn't rush these sort of things.
Well I cut the nozzle off the old drain hose to reuse if I can, but in the meantime just rigged up something from what I had lying around. It's not pretty but it works and is meant to be temporary. See pictures below.
I cut a short piece off the old drain hose and boiled it for an hour to soften it some, and attached it to the pump outlet. Then I took a few feet of old garden hose and a short piece of 1/2-inch copper pipe. Then I pressed the pipe into the garden hose and the garden hose into the old drain hose, and hose-clamped it all together.
So I was ready to do the first water test, just enough to cover the tub bottom, and saw no leaks except a tiny bit from the pump. Whether from the shaft or from between the housing and cover I couldn't tell but it was only wet not dripping.
Put on a new V-belt, a 31-inch like I thought it should be, and it was too tight to get the dimension that the repair manual calls for. I noticed in the forum that others have had the same experience. To compensate I just put a thick piece of rubber over the pad and spring that the motor rests on.
So then I ran her under power finally and everything seems to run smoothly, but the agitator does move some even when disengaged. I remember seeing something about that on the forums but haven't looked it up again yet.
Also cleaned the wringer, it was filthy under the rollers. And I tried to clean up the rollers from where they were stuck to one another in various places. First I scraped, then sanded, then wiped down with a kerosene rag and then washed off the kerosene. They didn't come out as beautiful as expected, but I hope I did them some good.
Lastly, I ordered the new water seal and other parts from Cottage Craft Works, and I have a question about the water seal that I couldn't find addressed in the forum. The repair manual says, "When replacing the water seal, lubricate top of the seal with a small bit of grease..." So is this correct? I would think maybe the bottom of the seal should be greased but, the top?
