Pictures from the warehouse visit today

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I would agree that the "radio style" Kenmore machines were a 1970 model. My mother had a suds washer of that design. It was purchased off the floor of a small-town "catalog" store in the fall of 1971 (to replace a Maytag wringer) pretty much on the eve of my birth. Below is a fuzzy picture of that machine and the 1967 70-series dryer that are my the machines of my childhood.

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I almost forgot!

In the seventh picture, I mentioned that the white washer in the middle had a funny story to it. Actually, the washer with the walnut colored plastic control panel does too, but I'll start with the white one in the middle.

When I get these Arizona washers, my contact out there sends me e-mails with pictures of each machine and the model/serial number. There were two in this batch that didn't have model numbers. I figured they had just fallen off. One of them is the middle white washer, but I knew it to be a 1970 or 1971 model, and was a little surprised to see the notched lid, as this was a 1972 iteration and there was a separate version of this washer in 1972 which had different console coloring, so I couldn't understand why KM kept the original in production.

This was back in the fall - the machines made their way to my Phoenix warehouse connection quickly and then began their cross-country journey in January. When the machines arrived here, I opened each package to see what I got, like a kid at Christmas. I was not entirely enthused about the white 1970 because of the worn panel, etc but was curious about it.

When I opened the lid, I was very surprised, needless to say. The 1970 model is actually a hybrid - the control panel of a 1970/71 and the rest is from a 1980 Kenmore 200 series BOL washer. Upon opening the lid I expected to have a gold Super Roto-Swirl greet me with a softener dispenser on top with a standard capacity tub. NOPE! Instead there was a large 18lb. basket with a Penta-Vane!

After thinking about what models this washer started out as, I nailed it down to one specific model - the 1980 200 series due to it's lack of lint filter, the painted top and lid (not porcelain), and the plastic lid hinges which debuted that year.

I am actually now hoping to bring this machine back to it's glory. The cabinet and top/lid are in phenominal condition. I have one of these that was only in service from 1980 to 1993, and it is all rusted and deteriorated from being on the east coast.

This model offered an ivory colored plastic control panel, two cycles (normal and permanent press), timer set temps, no water level adjustment, and a white control knob. If anyone knows of a donor control panel and timer bezel that could go back onto this machine, I'd be ecstatic!

More pics to follow tonight.

Gordon
 
That Kenmore 600 Dryer.........

I always wondered what the matching dryer to my 600 washer looked like and they are identical excepting that the Turquoise oval on the right side of the timer control is blank excpet the writing on it otherwise that's the same control panel as the washer! Neat..... had never seen the washer's matching dryer til that photo.
When my parents finally bought a dryer in 1967 it was the equivilant 67 version with a different design control panel.

Thanks for the photos Gordon! Later in the summer I will (if all works out) be near the Charlotte area and would love to see the warehouse - will send you a note later as that time gets closer and see if I can work a schedule along with the pipe organ business that I will be over there doing.

Thanks again!
 
An eye-opening story

It must have been a lot of fun to learn that someone else, besides us Aworgers, performs Frankenstein experiments on washing machines. What a neat surprise.
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Randy - that would be great - you are welcome to visit and I would enjoy meeting you.

MickeyD - The "Frankensteining" of Kenmore/Whirlpools (I have called it 'bastardization' before too) was fairly common, and probably is with direct-drive machines today as well. With so many interchangeable parts on widely produced machines, swaps such as this were very common. I even helped one time at a washer rebuilding shop, very much unlike me because I am a purist in both cars and washers, to convert an electronic Kenmore washer into a fancy timered model because the electronic power supply was bad. I like things to remain as-built, but this saved the rest of the washer from scrap. I will admit that I transplanted numerous porcelain enameled tops onto machines that came OEM with painted (aka rusted) tops. In fact, two of my daily drivers have them right now.

Many times I've seen Whirlpool agitators in a Kenmore or vice versa, I've seen one black panel control mated to a different model, Whirlpool tops and lids with Kenmore control panels, the list goes on. For rebuilders, most kept parts and parts donor machines, and they were often fairly indiscriminant in what they married with what, so long as it worked. In this particular case, the wiring harness from the 1970 machine would have not connected at all with the smaller, lesser harness from the 1980 model (due to lack of the second speed, no off-balance relay, no dispenser solenoids, etc.), so underneath one can see where the two were mated together with bunches of electrical tape. Can't wait to un-do that. It will be interesting to see if the machine has had a two-speed motor mated in, or if the delicate cycle on that fairly well equipped 1970 ran in high-speed.

That walnut-brown plastic panel machine to the left front from the white washer has been treated to some DNA swapping too - inside is a standard capacity Whirlpool Surgilator with a Kenmore Roto-Swirl cap, in a machine that is supposed to have a white Penta-Vane. The little agitator looks overwhelmed in there.

Gordon
 
Dispenser Cup '72 70 Series

My 1972 70 series has matching dispenser cups inside as well, though mine are Harvest, instead of Coppertone.

Also, how long did they make the "radio-dial" Kenmores? I remember that we had an unmatched Kenmore set when I was growing up, and that the dryer was older. That style of dial is the only thing I remember about it. My parents weren't married till 1970, and they didn't have a house until the mid 70s, so I'm guessing the dryer was 74-79ish.

Wes
 
Parts

Forgot you were a car person, G. Was trying to recall the car people in the club because a few days aago I got a spectacular email of objects made from car parts, I'll send now and maybe you can figure out how to share it in the "Tub Turns" forum. You won't believe what this guy did. Of course, one can't help but think of the artisitc possibilities with washer parts.

 

Here, there's quite a bit of parts swapping and retro-fitting among the agitators, hoses, and filling systems. So much fun and satisfying when it works. The most dramatic are the 4 paddle Norge agitator installed in the faster agitating later model SQ Conventional, and morphing the filtering system in the Visimatic into a cascading, waterfall, fresh-water inlet for washing and underflow rinsing.

 

Scrolling up, I see we have twins, fraternal but not indentical, in the 63 LK'S. Congrats. Between the Bronze and Turq could not decide which one is prettier.

 

 
 
Wes, I think the "radio-dial" Kenmores (such a perfect name) were made only a year or so. They are not the most attractive machines, so I don't think they sold on looks like some models in part did. They never seemed very plentiful, which means they either didn't sell well or they weren't available long, or in this case maybe a little of both! I don't think much with Kenmore laundry tanked on the market, not in a regular washer or dryer anyway, but some obviously sold better than others. This is not a high-end or BOL machine, so mid-line stuff usually sold quite well.

If you look at the washer next to the radio dryer, it has most of the same console, and I think that version is what sold more heavily, as they were from the same time period.

There was a 1972 radio dial washer also. It was nearly TOL. It had the panel frame of my coppertone 1972 in this same thread, a full-width light, a vertical dial window and the same water level switch, a Variflex agitator, and the quiet pak belt. I have not seen many of those either.

Gordon
 
A pretty big tub though huh? Can you believe this model was originally sold without an adjustable water level? Kenmore only sold a couple big-tub models ever without at least two water levels.

The dust on the tub ring is not the usual detergent and scum build-up that I see, but Arizona desert sand. It has an oddly pleasing scent when it gets wet, and usually wipes right off.

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Here is the BOL non-porcelain lid and top. Often they are all rusted by now. Also the plastic lid hinges can be seen - these survived only a few years in production from 1980 or so until late 1984. By 1985 all Kenmores had reverted back to the metal 1950s lid hinges.

kenmoreguy64++3-8-2011-08-52-45.jpg
 
More of the 1974 60-series machines

This one has a shiny panel, I hope the water spots come off. This machine has a lot of features for a 60-series.

This was the second washer model that my Mom got. We had it from 1974 until 1983, when I sold it to a friend (so I could know what happened to it) when we moved to NC and got our 1983 Kenmore.

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Gordon......

Was noticing the different agitators and noted what is, I believe, a Penta-Vane on the last few photos? The Penta-Swirl was one of my favorites of the agitators.... would a Penta-Swirl fit my KM 600? I like to play around with things on occasion but am a purist for the most part - the original black bakelite agitator will always go back in - wouldn't think of parting with it but just wondered if some others might work for fun.
 

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