New acquisition: 1969 GE FilterFlo Washer - Beginning the Dissassembly and Restoration

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Glad you got it home!

Mike, I've fixed many of those holes in the outer tub successfully with the Bondo. Just use it fast, it sets up very quickly. Clean the rubber boot with oven cleaner spray then rinse it well and clean it with Lime-away. Works wonders on many of those parts.

 

Whoever designed that first generation of plastic hub cover deserves to have to pry it off of a 100 year-old machine to enter Heaven. I can't help but think that GE repairmen had a dedicated tool for its removal. Even when you know how it works it is a difficult and frustrating job.

 

Can't wait to see the machine in action with its new pimped-up spiral activator+mini tub.
 
Best of luck with your Filter Flo restoration Mike!

I had a 1964 Filter Flo that stunk like hell, before I cleaned out the crud out of the bottom of the tub as you are doing. It always smelled fresh after that work was done, so it is well worth the extra work to clean the machine out properly.
 
Thanks everyone...



Tim (macboy91si): I purchased a new Transmission Boot from my local Maytag/GE dealer for $30. To me, it is worth having a brand new boot in the machine. I didn’t think about the turned up lip weakening due to the rust in the groove. Nevertheless, I would really like to save the original outer tub, so I am going to proceed with a repair, rather than a replacement tub first. I did hear from my appliance store owner/friend in Missouri after I asked him for some assistance on the plastic agitator shaft cover. Apparently, he has some spare outer and inner tubs from this era that I could use as a replacement. It is nice to have that option.

Mike (mtn1584): THANKS!

Paul (turquoisedude): Thanks Paul. Yes, you, and anyone else can take advantage of the agitator removal method using a leather belt. Just slip it under and across the midpoint of the agitator. I closed the buckle on the belt forming a continuous loop. Then I just yanked and pulled and jerked on the belt until the agitator came loose. I have not tried this method on a couple of my Maytag washers yet, but I do want to give it a try one of these days. The POR-15 should arrive Thursday. Anxious to get started.

cfz2882: Thanks.

Robert (unimatic1140): Thanks, glad you liked the video. Yes, I was anxious to get to see the machine run, however, there is another reason why the Washer & Dryer were, and STILL are, on the truck – I don’t yet have a place to put them yet. I am hoping to sell the two dryers (Maytag and ASKO), which will open up the perfect location in the basement for a Washer/Dryer pair.

Ken (bajaespuma): Thank you, and Thank you for all of your advice so far with this acquisition! I really appreciate your expertise. As I mentioned above – I bought a new boot for $30, so the peace of mind is well worth the small expense. I totally agree with you on the design of the plastic hub cover. What a bitch to get off.

Rick (rickr): Thank you. I am looking forward to sharing the restoration project with everyone here.

By the way, if anyone is looking for a GE FilterFlo, I am going to have For Sale, a 1990 Model WWA8350GBEAD (Almond). I use it quite regularly now, but once this restoration is complete, I will be looking to had this 1990 machine off to someone else.

THANKS to all for reading.

Mike
 
Amazing

You've come a long way already. Looking good from here.

I second the opiion to replace the tub if you have that option. You'll be much happier in the long run!

Malcolm
 
Aww what an excellent looking set! Congratulations on your find! There is a dryer exactly like yours on Kijiji here in Halifax, I have half a mind to just pick it up now. Great video and good luck with the restoring process.
 
Very nice, Mike!  I've been doing the exact same repair on a FF recently too - the tub flange and drain area of the tub rust out terrible.  (leave those lids up homemakers!)  I used POR 15 and silicone before on these outer tubs and it worked great.  Since the outer tub doesn't really have much stress of the moving transmission and basket it holds just fine. 

I just bought a mess of GE boots on ebay for $7 each - newly made of silicone and they are beautiful!  This pic is after the repair and new boot.  Hopefully the new boot won't degrade like the old rubber did - mine was the same thing, the boot was OK but the tub rusted right at the flange where water stayed around the boot-lip.

 

Best of luck with the new GE set - they are in very nice shape!

gansky1++5-26-2011-07-21-22.jpg
 
Thanks Jon, Malcolm, Kevin, and Greg.

While I understand replacing the tub may be the preferred option for some of you, I believe I am going to follow Gregs example first and try to repair the tub. I may regret the decision, but I truly want to keep as much original iron in this machine as possible. BUT, I will double check with my sourch of the outer tub, and perhaps reserve it just in case.

Mike
 
Rusted Outer Tub

While watching Greg work on his Filter Flo I learned some background on tub rust outs.  GE did not have an out of balance function.  When the wash basket would bang against the tub trying to get up to speed in the spin cycle it damaged the outer tub creating dents and breaks in the surface where rust can begin to infiltrate.
 
Unless there are very large holes, your outer tub should work just fine for many years to come.  The picture I posted above is an oddity in that it looks as though there is rust all over the surface of the lower regions when in fact, that was a reflection or a flash anomaly - it's as clean and blue as the rest of the tub except where I used the POR15 around the flange and the drain/pressure switch outlets.

 

Good luck, Mike, I'm sure you'll make it work and it will be as good as new when you're done with it.
 
Tub bolts from Hell (usually...)

I have to second Jon's comment. During my time as GE service way back when, I came to HATE those bolts. A real pill. Good for you that yours didn't fight!

Fixing the tub is very viable option. I've done that with a few. It seems to me that there was a repair 'patch' just for those occasions. Clean and dress the rust area (usually on the sides) and then apply the patch which became one with the tub. Maybe my memory is fuzzy but I DO remember it. Gemline, maybe?

If you can, try to clean and reseal the drain port and such @ the tub bottom. Another spot for rust to rear it's ugly head.

Also, check the lower transmission drive pully seal. If it's weeping, the lower seal is not to much of a headache to replace and I *think* it's still available. It's pretty much a lip seal that contacts with the drive pully shaft and a whole lot easier to service with the transmission out and upside down so the bottom cover can then be removed and seal replaced. It was a common repair for me to do...

Nice machine and looks to well on her way to a permanent place in your laundry room (or at least until the next pretty face shows up...)

RCD
 
oil line

that looks like spray from a bad pump seal/bearing-if the pump is bad,the
same bolt together pump was used at least through the mid-'80s-later pumps
are basicly the same but are heat-welded.Could just be tub leaks dripping on
the pump coupler and flying off.you can try to wiggle the pump input shaft
from side to side to check for excess side play in the bearing...
Every GE motor /clutch i have worked with has had substantial runout of the
clutch shaft/yoke,if you have the tools and mechanical ability this runout
can be corrected for an extra smooth running filter flo...
Another filter flo mechanical nit is due to the way the spring clutch,
brake parts and other internal tranny parts are driven,filter flo trannys
generate quite a bit of minute metal particles that build up on top of the
tranny's input seal and wear on it causing eventual oil leakage-good to
check for this buildup and flush out if needed.
There is a thread on here where "Panthera"fixes tub rust on a 1990 filter flo.
 
GE FF REBUILDING

It looks like you are really giving this washer a good going over Mike i am sure that you will get it running well. The brown stains on the inside of the cabinet are most likely a bad pump seal, most often when its a water leak from somewhere else being thrown around by the pump driver it doesn't have that dark a rust stain.

 

One thing I don't understand [ and this goes to everyone that has a GE FF washer I am not picking on you Mike ] is why on earth you don't just replace the complete transmission when you are doing all this work. Excellent rebuilt complete transmissions are still available for often less than $100.00 with a one year warranty. And everyone that has a working GE FF washer that they expect to keep running for the foreseeable future should have at least one of these rebuilt transmissions in reserve. And if we don't buy these now they will go out of production even sooner. The transmission and the 2SP clutch were the two most troublesome major parts of GE FF washers and to of the most difficult to rebuild and good new or rebuilt ones are still available.
 
It is amazing to me how big the outer tubs were on these FF's. I wish GE had kept this design, and made a larger wash basket to compete with WP washers. Giving in to the competition, and copying them, and in GE's case trying to out do them (Whirlpool) I think was GE's downfall in the washer industry. At least WP tubs were porcelain. Sure WP DD machines had their fair share of plastic, but GE went overboard. If they had only tweaked the tried and true FF design, they would have had a much greater market share in the laundry business. From plastic top loaders with bad trannies to front loaders made in China? What the hell happened to GE?
Mike
 
What the hell happened to GE?

Consumer Reports which coninually dogged their outdated platform and gave them mediocre ratings.
 
Way To Go, Mike.

Looks like a great find. And, knowing your expertise, I'm sure it will be like new once you're done with it.

The video was incredible. Thanks for sharing.

Good luck.

Jerry Gay
 
Heresy

It wasn't until I had my first Maytag (an A206 with helical drive) that it occurred to me that Consumer Reports wasn't as objective as one would think or expect. Although I wasn't a CU technician, my interest in these machines, as with a lot of us, was serious and I had enough experience in the laundry room to judge some of the differences for myself between the basic Maytag which kept garnering top place in the CU reports and the Filter-Flo's that consistently placed down in the middle of their ratings.

 

My first impression was that the Maytags, although I thought they were elegant machines, were overrated. Our GE's had always done a clearly superior job at cleaning clothing and also at rinsing, something that wasn't even measured by CU. The Maytags weren't bad, overall, but the agitation was ineffective with big loads, the kind of loads that everyone but the lady of the household would subject the family washing machine to normally and frequently. Our GE never slowed down or stalled with big loads the way I've seen many a Tag do. Maytag rinsing has always been skimpy. Again, if you have a serious load in those machines, you are lucky if they'll turn over even once during that 2 minute rinse. The Filter-flo rinse on the normal cycle was always about 4 minutes long and, again, that powerful activation moved that laundry up and down with ease. GE's lint filter was also a better design than the Maytags, but the more I think about lint, the more it's a non-issue.

 

I think this comparison is fair, also for Whirlpools although I was always disappointed by how ineffective extraction was with the BD pools and kenmores.

 

True, Maytags are engineered beautifully, dependable and quiet. But I always thought Filter-Flo's were much better than what Consumer Reports reported
 
The ebay store I bought them from was TexasT-Resale, he's still there but no boots now.  I found 7 for $35 + shipping. 

 

Cuz I needed 7??

 

The one you mentioned for $15 appears to be the same as mine - luscious silicone rubber.

 

(I'm sure you know this but these are only for the perforated tub machines, the earlier ones had a different flange and extra lip on the bottom of the boot for the solid-tub washers)

http://myworld.ebay.com/ctw14699/
 
@ken, I agree Consumer Reports NEVER gave the GE FF washer it's due. The machines are far superior than CR ever gave them credit for. I look at CR today out of curioisity, but that's it. I know there are people out there who use it as their "bible" so to speak, but not me. For instance look at the user reviews of the Speed Queen AWN542 versus the CR review. 5 stars for user ratings and a mediocre, at best review by CR. Why the difference???? They don't take into account how people actually use these machines, and what the consumer actually wants in a machine. Just my two cents.
Mike
 
Hi MIke,

I couldn't get to sleep one night last week so I got up and watched your video which relaxed me completely. I loved it. All the graphics and the narration--perfect.

 

Especially the water throw--great that you filmed it. Who has a more exciting or rapid spin drain than a vintage GE. Again, your work is spectacular.
 
 

 

Michael:  Thank you so much.  I am very happy that you liked my video.  LOL - now I know that I can really put folks to sleep with my "teaching mode" voice.

 

 

 

UPDATE:  Actually, I have not done anything else since last posting, except get the machines off of my truck and into the Solarium, where it will be much easier to work on.  Contrary to some excellent advice (above) to replace the outer tub and transmission, I am going to start a restoration of the outer tub by first applying the POR-15 soon.  And keep the present transmission for the time being.  I want to keep as much original iron in the machine as possible.

 

Thanks to all.

 

Mike

 
 
if your tranny was leaking, the belt and all areas underneath would be splashed with oil, it could be a small drip, but you would see it everywhere.....just looks like either at one time, or your current pump is leaking from the small hole on the side, one way to tell if this one is leaking, from that small hole there will be a dribble of black stripe oil streak running down the side of it....if its clean, it has already been replaced!
 

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