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hippiedoll

hippiedoll

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Joined
Feb 12, 2013
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Location
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And so is the Frigidaire 1-18 washer I found too!

Ok so here is the story;
I was browsing craigslist and spotted an ad for a FREE, non-working, GOLD CROWN washing machine. The picture wasn't the greatest but I could see the color looked like a burnt-orange color. I thought to myself "could it be"? So I sent the owner an email and asked what brand washer this was. The lady replied and said all she knew is that it said GOLD CROWN on the washer. So we exchanged numbers and started texting.

Next I called Roger and asked him if he would be able to go with me to go check out the washer. Without hesitation, he was ready right then. So I called the lady and on our way we were.

We got there and sure enough, it was a Frigidaire 1-18, Jet-cone agitator, POPPY RED washer!

Backstory:
The lady said she bought the washer from a man in Oro Valley that bought the washer for his wife. The wife used it a couple of times and didn't like it because of the color. So the man decided to sell it.
She bought it at the yard sale and used it for 4 or 5 years. But that the last couple times she used it, it flooded. So she stopped using it. Now she was moving and wanted to get rid of the washer before she left.
(Free? Come to mama)...

So we brought the POPPY Frigidaire washer home and wrapped it under a tarp to wait for warmer weather to check it out, but not before plugging it in to see if at least the tub would spin. Sure enough, it did spin. But we noticed that the jet-cone agitator had a side to side wobble to it.
Definitely something to investigate when the weather warmed up.
Cont...
 
Christina, I am so happy for you.  And poppy red to boot.  Earlier this week there was a post you made, I don't remember what, but just reflecting on you made me wonder how Roger was, I've missed him   Please tell him I said hi.  I've been thinking about him too.  
 
So...

Roger came over this morning and we pulled the tarp off the POPPY Frigidaire washer. We took the front panel off the cabinet and filled the tub with water & set the water level at the lowest level to see how the washer agitated. When the water reach the level to start agitating, the jet-cone gave one pulled down and stuck in that position. The motor was energized but the jet-cone wasn't bouncing.

It looked like the tub wanted to turn, so we turned it by hand and the jet-cone started bouncing and got stuck again after a few seconds of bouncing. So we turned the tub again and a'bouncing went the agitator.
But...
There were no leaks or flooding in the cabinet.
So we set the timer knob to spin out the water, the tub wouldn't spin now but the pump did drain the water from the tub, out of the drain hose.
We couldn't loosen the nut down in the agitator.
We looked at the mechanism and noticed it moved side to side when we moved the agitator. And there was metal dust all in the lower bowl with a few chunks of metal in there too.
(Oh oh... not looking good for ol' POPPY).
 
BOB :o)

Will do!
And thank you
:oD

There's more to the story, and I will post some pictures & video in the next few days.
;o)
 
Congrats Christina on your rare poppy 1-18 Frigidaire find! This time I’m doing a happy dance on this side of the computer for you as you deserve it so much. I always enjoy your positive comments. I hope everything works out with your new toy!
 
What fabulous news!

With your luck and love, you and Roger get that baby spinning in no time. What an exotic find, the dream machine in its most coveted color, poppy red. Imagine! --the lady didn't like the color. WHAAAAAA?! First good laugh of the day. Thank you, Christina. You are now the worthy envy of all us 1-18 poppy chasers! Can't wait to read the next chapter.

Like Repairguy, I'm doing the happy dance here for you too! Woo Hoo Hoo. Hugs and love!

Mickey
 
Those poppy red appliances are stunning to look at...

If and its a big IF there was such things in this country I would buy one in a heartbeat as I just adore Frigidaire poppy red I would have a washer and dryer to match and a stove and a fridge just because they are sooooooo different too the boring white we have had for years and years and years ad nauseam ....

Hippydoll you are so lucky to get one I am jealous but honestly its found a good loving home and am sure you will soon get it going again.

Also I recall a long time back you found a machine in a relatives house and it was something unusual did you manage to get that going? All I remember is it had water in and you asked how to get it out did I mention a fish tank pump back then I might have done ?????

Austin
 
Replies:

For all your great comments. Sorry it's taken me a few days to reply. What little work I did, really kicked my butt! My legs are still sore! LOL...

thomasortega/Thomas:
Thank you. I'm still on a slight buzz about finding the ol' POPPY.
:oD

Repairguy/Melvin:
Thank you... & get your boogie on! I'll join you in the HAPPY dance too!
:oD

goatfarmer/Kenny:
Thank you. There's an update coming.
:o)

unclejohn/Jean:
Thank you. I'm getting ready to post an update.
:o)

firedome/Roger:
Thank you. By the way, I've always wanted to tell you, I LOVE your car!
:o)

bigalsf/Alan:
Thank you. I've got an update to post regarding the diagnosis.

mickeyd/Mickey:
Thank you. Yeah, can you imagine that... the lady didn't like the color? Get your boogie on because I'm shaking my booty too!
Hugs & love to you too!
:oD

ozzie908/Austin:
Thank you. Yes I agree about the boring all-white appliances of today! I could see using white appliances but please add some chrome to the mix! I can't stand the all white plastic crap! The more color the better, I say!

Ahhhh... yes, the post about the BRADFORD washer that was left at my mom's old house she rented to her aunt. No, we never got a chance to get to it, as it's in another town about 1½ hours drive from here. And to top it off, we lost the keys to the house, and someone broke in and pulled all the wiring out, throughout the whole little house. I'm sure they sold the wires for copper recycling.
Oh well...

Update to follow...
 
Update...

Ok, so here's a link of the ol' POPPY washing a large load of towels. I don't know how to speed up the filling of the tub, like others do in their videos. So I just stopped recording while the washer filled up with water. And when the washing began I started recording again.

Now as you can see, the POPPY Frigidaire is washing away but...
we kinda cheated.
:o/

You see, we couldn't loosen the nut that is down in the agitator. So we took the cabinet and top off and tried loosening the agitator nut that way, and still! We couldn't get that d*mned thing to budge!

So we decided to take the cabinet off of Ross's ALMOND 1977 Custom 1-18, and we put the POPPY 1973 Gold Crown 1-18 cabinet on the 1977 1-18 base & guts.

So we now have a 1973 POPPY cabinet with 1977 insides. Which wasn't a bad thing to do because the ALMOND cabinet had some rusting all throughout. And the POPPY cabinet had a couple minor rust spots.

So really... we just combined the best from both machines to make 1 machine.

I hope you all enjoy the videos. I will take pictures tomorrow and post them when there's better lighting (the sun).
:o)
♡♡♡

 
Washerlover/Todd:

Thank you.
And, you got that right! It is all about keeping them going! I'm still buzzing over the fact that I got it for FREE! Even though we couldn't get it to work properly, POPPY is working GREAT now with the transplant!
 
Peteski50/Peter:

Thank you.
I always remember that about your aunt painting a basement wall to match her Frigidaire POPPY set. And if I'm remembering correctly, it was also a 1973 washer, right? I loves color but, moms would KILL me if I painted one of the walls POPPY RED!
Hahaha...
:oD
 
gregingotham/Greg:

Thank you.
POPPY is definitely a different color, but it still seems so 70's. It's not exactly like a CHERRY RED color. To me it's seems more of a dark BURNT-ORANGE color. Which still reminds me of them funky 70's colors because when I was little, moms had a SEARS pot & pans set in an ORANGE color with black teflon inside. And we had a leafy ceramic canister set that had the ORANGE, DARK GOLD, and DARK GREEN colors. So to me POPPY definitely has that 70's vibe to it.
I LOVE IT!
:oD
 
You Go Girl!

I am so thrilled for you, and taking on the challenge of swapping cabinets....proof positive, anything is possible....

we have done it before with control panels, why not whole cabinets....many times we have swapped just the insides, this works just as well....

are you missing the bleach/dye dispenser and cap?....or just not included in the vid?
 
Poppy!

Christina, my Aunt got hers in 74 but it is exactly the same one as you have. She always says thats the best washer she ever had! When she moved in 82 she sold the set! To bad you cant paint the wall to match!
Best Wishes
 
Gosh, Hippoedooll I was going nuts, thinking it would ....

OVERFLOW, hahah! Haven't seen a 1-18 filled up all the way up to the top like that. And what monster of a load; all the heavy loaders will be beaming, (smile). And where is Uncle Bob? I know we have Bob-loaded Dishwashers, but I can't remember if his signature applies to clothes washers as well. If not, then henceforth, we will have certification for Christina loads.

Now we know why people back in the day were crazy about their 1-18's. I had a few people in my life who absolutely swore by these machines. Pete Petek could wash his entire week's laundry in one load--maybe even two week's worth, LOL.

The Maxi-fill, Maxi-load turnover was fascinating to watch: the sections kind of wait their turn, then go gushing down. Wonderful. I loved it . And a completely new experience for me. Thank you, Christina. This happy dance is quickly becoming a ....... RAVE !!!! ;'D
 
Christina/Hippiedoll, I watched both of your videos (are you a regular YouTuber, as in you post regularly and/or have more?) and whenever everything finally settles down, I hope you can post some good, still pics of this “other” Gold Crown...

A wonder Poppy couldn’t define ‘70’s appliances the way the few other colors did, or there simply couldn’t be a more numerous, diverse palette as the ‘60’s had offered...

And congratulations on your very colorful (inside and out) find...

— Dave
 

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