My summer project - now complete - the 1957 Westinghouse L110 Laundromat

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Back in May, I got the call from a fellow collector near Trois-Rivières that if I wanted a 1957 Westinghouse L110 Laundromat and its matching D110 dryer, that I was first in line.  I rented a truck and got them! 

 

Full story on the machines - the Laundromat was found by none other than our own Jon Charles a number of years ago.  The machines came from a nearly-blind little old who had them from new and used them regularly.  He noted that the washer needed new bearings but never got around to replacing them.  Jon moved and the machines wound up here in Canada; I had a chance to get them twice before and passed both times; when my third chance came up, I jumped on them.  

 

So the Westy L110 got relocated to Ogden... 

 

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I was completely comfortable with the prospect of working on a Slant-Front Westinghouse washer - I rebuilt an L5 and the CLB6 that I still have.  

 

However, experience has taught me to always do a thorough evaluation of a machine before tearing into it.

 

A wise move.... 

 

The Westy seemed to be in pretty good shape

 

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But there had been a couple of boo-boos in transit....   Didn't seem like a big deal. 

 

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I knew I was going to have to take out the entire washing mechanism to replace the bearings, so away I went!

 

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That's when I found this 'surprise'....  I believe this was caused by the tub rubbing on the support arm (sans snubber).  I wasn't worried, though!  I've patched Laundromat tubs before.  

 

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Taking the tub apart was the next step.  And this is where the real fun began....  

 

First off, the tub seal gasket was shot to hell.  It had been patched over the years but showed signs of leakage and the inner tub lip was rusty.  I could deal with that.  

 

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Now all I had to do was slip the wash basket out of the outer tub.   Yeah, right... 

 

That tub was stuck but good.  I think it had fused to the old bearing.  

 

I kid you not, it too me three weeks to get that sucker out.  I used heat, penetrating oil, and finally, brute force...  I got the wash basket out at last, though!

 

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Pounding out the old bearings only took me two weeks....  Eesh!

 

Reinstalling them was a piece of cake, though.  Much faster than a Whirlpool... LOL 

 

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Once the bearing was done, I knew I'd need to devise a new seal for the inner and outer tubs.  I found a near-perfect material at McMaster-Carr - except they would not ship to Canada and due to the Canada-US border being closed to non-essential travel, I couldn't have it shipped to my PO Box in Vermont.  So, with the assistance of Mr. Jon Charles again, I had the order sent to him and he then forwarded to me in Ogden.  That slowed me down a couple of weeks...

 

While waiting for the gasket, I cleaned up and solidified the lip of the inner tub.  Everything got a coat of POR15 and some boosting from a coat of JB-Weld.  And yes, that tear in the tub was pretty easy to fix.  

After some creative gluing,  the improvised tub gasket looked great! 

 

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While waiting for the gasket, I knew I had to do something about the Laundromat door.  The gasket between the inner and outer doors was shot to hell and had leaked over the years.  It had rusted the bottom of the outer panel!

 

Fortunately, Jon had provided me with a spare dryer door and I was able to use the outer front door panel.  For the gasket, I had to do some improvisation.  A u-shaped gakset beefed up with blue RTV silicone was the 'solution' - not pretty but it seemed water tight!

 

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So, after the gasket arrived and got reinstalled, it was time to reassemble the tub and water-test it... Would it pass??   Oh yes!! 

 

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Then the real fun began - getting the tub and mechanism back together.  It SHOULD have been easy enough, but no...

 

I had some fun trying to line up the counterweight plates that led to mucho cursing, but I got them into place. 

 

It was the drive pulleys and clutch that really drove me up the wall.  I soon realized that the original clutch spring was shot.  Amazingly enough, I found one on eBay thanks to the help of Ben in Iowa.  BUT it took a couple of weeks to get to me...   Once I did get it though, the washer ran and spun wonderfully.  Progress!

 

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While waiting for the clutch spring, I decided to do some cosmetic work on the control panel.  The grey trim paint was scratched up, so I decided to re-do it.  I did a pretty darn good job of blending a match to the original paint!

 

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So, the tub was in the machine, and it was running, technically, so why not try a water test??  

 

Bah hahahahaha....  

 

On the first try, I found the pump was binding and not draining properly.  No worries, I was sure I had at least 1 spare!  I popped that in and it just gushed water out of the pump shaft.  I was ticked; I was sure there was a new spare pump somewhere but I couldn't find it.  So I ordered another one from eBay (more on that later...)

 

Better still, I tried hooking the fill valves up to water..  It leaked badly; I took it apart and cleaned it which seemed to solve THAT problem.  

[this post was last edited: 10/8/2020-19:06]

 

[tomturbomatic]

Congratulations and Thanks for Sharing.

Photo 8/7 looks like a piece of primitive Southwestern art.

 

[turquoisedude]

After that episode with the water valve, I decided to tidy up some of the parts I had not used in this restoration.  That's when I found the NOS pump that I thought I had all along....  I swore some, but installed it and found the leaks from it were no longer an issue.

 

So... I decided to get brave and schlep the washer into the basement for testing.  

 

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The pump was fine, but water was literally gushing out of the fill flume...   I took the dome assembly apart, cleaned it hoping that scale was just causing splashback, but no... 

 

So I bypassed it... 

 

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That did it... I finally had the washer filling, draining and NOT leaking! 

 

I still have a couple of issues though... I have no door switch (original one was badly damaged, so I bypassed it) and the pump drive wheel is noisy as hell.  I guess this is because the drive wheel on the motor pulley is worn...

 

But the washer is running and I have done laundry in it!  Video proof of that coming soon! 

 

[repairguy]

Congrats Paul! I feel your pain every time I work on a vintage machine. It is very rewarding when you get everything running like it should. Enjoy!

 

[hoover28]

You did a fantastic Job

I need to do tub bearings on my 1954 Westinghouse LB6M some day. lol

Chris

 

[slowspin66]

Brilliant job

Clearly a labour of love !!! Well done I’m amazed how spares still turn up for these old machines . Looking forward to the video .... thanks for all the detail on a wonderful restoration best wishes Darren

 

[chestermikeuk]

Westinghouse

Congratulations Paul on your full restoration, 3rd time lucky for this with a story and history pair indeed. The tub shell is similar to the Hoover keymatic without extras.
Glad you stuck with it have enjoyed watching the progress on FB, all these old washers sometimes tax us to the repair limit.

Now to sit back and enjoy them !!
Cheers, Mike

 

[keymatic3203]

Another wonderful restoration Paul

I've very much enjoyed reading of your hard and frustrating work and seeing the internal photos of this laundromat, I'm looking forward to the videos,

Well done

Mathew

 

[gansky1]

Excellent work, Paul.  Enjoyed seeing the pics and saga of restoration on FB as well.  You did a really nice job on that panel painting, looks terrific!   You had some real challenges with this one, but it lives again - and the washing looks clean, success! 

 

[eurekastar]

Well done!  I look forward to seeing the video! 

 

[swestoyz]

1958 L-110 lives again!

This news is most welcome here on AW! Great job sticking through with this restoration, walking away when needed to regroup, and persevering when the time was right. This is a treasure of a washer, but more so because of the sweat equity you've put into it.

Congrats!

Ben

 

[mrsalvo]

Paul,
I'm stunned. First rate, fabulous job. Feel so proud, for you and all. It was a worthy machine to restore. Agree with Ben, walking away from it to regroup and keeping a calm, cool head. I'm so looking forward to seeing a working video.

Congratulations on a job well done.

Barry

 

[gelaundry4ever]

WOW!!!!

I can't wait to see this restored laundromat in action on youtube along with the matching dryer!

 

[kokomo1114]

Paul's Laundromat

congratulations on your patience and perserverance. Are you going to paint it turqoise? maybe for a little fun? In Northfield Minnesota here awaiting my first project, that remains to be seen.

 

[rp2813]

Two Tons of Fun!

Great job Paul!  This shows what can be accomplished when a person is really determined and has a good strong back.