Restoration: The 1974 Frigidaire Imperial

[roto204]

To be filed in the category of "projects I thought would be simple."

Come with me on a journey of deteriorating product quality!

Pete, some of this may be useful for your Dishmobile, but I notice some differences in the mechanism.

So, to begin, there are some spots in the Plastisol that need addressing, due to rust issues.

 

[roto204]

The top

The door doesn't latch properly, and when I look more closely, we can see why. First, the bubble of rust has caused the door to have a tough time latching. We'll need to take a utility knife and remove the Plastisol that does not adhere tightly to the metal. It's easy to see what you have to remediate--if it's loose, it must come off!

 

[roto204]

More rust abatement

Ick. The damage clearly extends beyond the door gasket, so we'll have to go further. No sense in going to all this effort to only half-butt the job

 

[roto204]

The door gasket

The door gasket is a full square--top, sides, and bottom--and is held in with thin metal strips to compress it to the tank. Happily the strips and screws are one of the places (besides the wash impeller) where GM invested in stainless steel.

Removal involves removing the screws...

 

[roto204]

More door gasket

...then flexing the metal strips with your fingers back-and-forth to loosen them gently from the gasket material.

 

[roto204]

Still more door gasket...

After that, you can (very gently) pull the gasket material away from the tank.

 

[roto204]

After that...

...we take a second look at the rust spot on top. And all I can say is, "oy!"

The bubble of rust isn't the only issue. It's the distortion in the attachment point for the latch arm that's causing more trouble.

Don't adjust your glasses or think that it's a Dalí filter in Photoshop--it's for real.

 

[roto204]

So...

It must come apart, too. Sigh.

Some of this experience must explain the rust spots behind the C pillars on my 1988 Oldsmobile.

 

[roto204]

Next...

Let's look at a tiny bubble on the bottom-right of the door. I wonder what lies beneath?

 

[roto204]

Oh!

Nice.

I'm impressed at how extensive this is. I'll likely have to repair it on both sides of the door...and the missing metal means we'll need to call-in some JB Weld to help "make" new material where none now exists

 

[roto204]

Onward...

Now for the sump. Getting at this means removing the wash-arm assembly. To do so, first we remove the bellows (held on with two Philips screws), and lift it off. This exposes the nut and three shims (plus a Teflonesque bearing) that supports the wash-arm on the diffuser/arm-support assembly.

Notice the rust around the sump. Doesn't look that bad, does it? Wait. ;-)

 

[roto204]

Pump assembly

We remove the nut, shims, and bearing, and lift out the arm.

 

[roto204]

The bellows up close

Two little Philips screws hold the bellows onto the wash-arm. Wow!

 

[roto204]

Next, the support

Now, we remove the wash-arm support/diffuser assembly. Three screws (slotted) hold it in, and with it comes the primary strainer assembly:

 

[roto204]

Then...

We remove the wash impeller and plastic hub beneath it. The impeller is stainless steel, as is the left-hand-thread bolt that holds it in (thank God).

 

[roto204]

Then...

...we can remove the drain strainer and drain plate and expose the drain impeller:

 

[roto204]

Drain plate

...two screws off on one side hold this down.

 

[roto204]

...and then...

...we get to see the drain impeller, which lifts off:

 

[roto204]

...finally exposing...

...the carbon-porcelain seal. This is about as much as we can do top-side. Now it's time to go underneath the machine.