Pictures of my '72 Lady K

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Those machines are to die for!
It looks like it came out of the showroom......
And that Vari-Flex is awesome and powerful when the Hi-setting is used!

Just whip up some thick suds for all of us to see!

Larry
 
Wonderful set! They are great machines, but the Vari-Flex takes up sooooooo much room in the tub, and if you have the fins all the way out, it is very rough.
 
Vari-Flex

I bet the vari flex makes a heck of a noise on low water level with the fins extended.

The unique Kenmore sound on low water. SLOSHA-SLOSH SLOSHA-SLOSH!

And to think all the great sounds of vintage Kenmore will be in my house SOON!
 
Hmmm.. ok.

plastic ring and standard size tub. Hmm ok, I thought they would've gone super size by then but I guess there were a few models of the Lady with a standard and a super size.

Anyway, AWESOME MACHINES.
 
Beautiful pictures! My aunt had a very similar model in the '70s, also gold. There were a few differences though. Only the left half of the main timer dial was exposed on the control panel. The tub was gray-speckled, and the vari-flex was gold. Perhaps this was a slightly different model in the same line (?).

Pete
 
Hi Pete-
Im thinking that is very possiable. I seem to remember, seeing a FEW gold Vari-Flex agitator's over the years in some of the older model Kenmores, but I don't remember the models they were in. I have always be fascinated with Vari-Flex agitators(probably due to I have a liking for straight vaned agitators.)Never got to see a Vari-Flex in action untill I got my Lady K set,and Im hooked on them!
 
interchangeable agitators

The Vari-Flex is interchangeable with the Roto-Swirl, Straight Vane, Roto-Flex, later Dual-Action and even a Whirlpool Surgilator as long as they are from standard cap. machines and have a splined shaft. There is a drive block adapter for the splined drive shaft you might still be able to find that will work with the older, mostly bakelite agitators like the "fat" Roto-Swirl, etc. Good luck and have fun - I always liked the many choices Kenmore had for agitation fun!
 
Just to add to Gansky's post. If changing agitators, you sometimes will need a different stud. Generally the old ones had a stud with a 9/16 inch hex. The later ones had a 5/16 inch hex. If changing agitators be sure to get the entire agitator including cap and stud and hope the stud comes out without breaking.
 
What a wonderful set. I remember at that time how it was a big deal for someone to get a brand new set in harvest gold, and yours do look practically like new!

This type of unit has always been one of my favorites in Sears washer history, and probably one of the last of the really neat ones.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the best way to tell if a Kenmore/Whirlpool agitator was a spline drive or hex drive block is to look at the color. All black agitators were hex, white and gold were spline.
 
I have seen many black Kenmore (I can't say about Whirlpool though)agitators that were spline drive. There were however two kinds of hex drive blocks. The early ones thru about 1962 were pot metal and were used on the drive shaft that did not have splines, but a keyway was machined into the Shaft. One should be able to use an early hex drive agitator on a spline drive shaft with the correct block.
 
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