First test run
Rolled the Bendix out to the courtyard (I have it installed on top of a furniture dolly) and filled the tub with hot water by hand. It immediately started to leak out of the bottom of the machine. Just for fun, plugged it in, and it went through all the cycles OK, at least with manual turning of the timer: soak, drain/spin, wash, drain spin, rinse, drain/spin.
Then I set about pulling off all the external panels to find the leak. Turned out to be the short 1" ID rubber hose (about 5" long) running from the bottom of the tub to the water pump. Found a replacement at the auto shop (a small hose section preformed with the appropriate 45 degree angle). That fixed that leak. Then I noticed that the coin trap gasket was also leaking. No surprise there; it's heavily cracked. Found a toilet part gasket that I was able to carve into a shape that fits OK. Fixed that leak. Door gasket dripping a bit while tumbling; have a replacement gasket for that but am waiting a bit before I install that. I'd like to try to save the original door gasket; might try painting it with brake fluid to see if it can soften up and swell a bit.
Other findings: The timer motor must be seized, because it doesn't advance on its own. The cold water inlet valve seems to work ok, but I don't think the hot water valve is working. The screens before the valves were heavily encrusted so I simply yanked those. Will replace them with new screens later. The drain connection from the pump to the back of the machine (a short length of hose with a 90 degree metal bend, like some washer hoses, and a hose thread on each end (F/M) is leaking where it rubs against the chassis. Another easy enough fix.
The rubber connector between the top of the outer tub and soap dispenser is sort of shot. It still fits but it would probably be best to replace it. Might have to find some sort of huge industrial rubber hose for that.
So the work to do: fix the timer motor; fix the hot water inlet valve; fix the drain pump outlet connecting hose; fix the soap dispenser connector. And, of course, clean the inside of the machine and have the panels sanded, de-rusted, and painted appliance white. The porcelain top is in relatively good condition with some light scratches, and the timer dial looks intact if a bit in need of cleaning.
The drive belt is in surprisingly good shape; can still read the "Bendix Home Appliances" logo and the part number on it. But probably wouldn't hurt to replace that as well.
The wiring looks to be intact and in good shape, but I was a bit alarmed to see that a hot wire connection is exposed at the timer very close to the back of the outer tub. Since the power cord is not polarized, that could be hot or neutral. When I service the timer I'll look into putting in some extra insulation in that spot, as well as rewiring the power cord to a three wire grounded one.
I took photos and even a video of the machine running; will try to upload those here later.
It's a project, but can be fully restored, I think.
