Sweet set!!

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

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Story behind the set

The gentleman I purchased them from had just moved into a house which stood in the 60's and apparently never moved forward. He had been doing a lot of renovations and was not interested in the set in the least.

He is keeping a few of the vintage items of the house such as a light that pulls down from the ceiling and can retract back when done. He said he will be posting more stuff up soon, so everyone should keep an eye on that section of Craigslist if your interested in any older items.

The lucky part was that he already had a friend help him pull these out of the basement and into the back of his truck. I met him at a building that he maintains, so all we had to do was transfer from one vehicle to the other easily. (They didn't look like they spent too much time in the truck luckily.)
 
Saveable Set

The washer looks like it was allowed to sit with a few inches of water in it at some point in time.

 

The dryer does indeed have a constant burning pilot which accounts for the rust on the hinges etc. The dryer was also in a very damp environment for a good period of time, the corrosion and rust from the pilot usually will not cause rust on the base pan as the moisture from the pilots flame raises and condenses under the top etc.

 

But these are very savable, first I would convert to electric ignition [ I have saved several EI duel level gas valve assemblies for this purposes ] and it would be ideal if you could find another Avocado WP dryer as a donor, almost any standard cap AWPD from 1966-about 1976 would work including an electric model.
 
Converting to electronic ignition was one of my top priorities after de-rusting the cabinet. What would anyone recommend for the cabinet and drum? I was thinking of the rust-oleum rust converter product for the cabinet after sanding out the rust, but considering the drum is exposed to such high heat and the clothes, I want to make sure whatever it is doesn't rust off.

What could be done to the washer drum if anything?
 
VERY Cool machines Brian!

That's a shame about the rust in the dryer, it otherwise looks very lightly used. Note the lack of lint underneath. Those door hinges ought to be easy to find, maybe even new still as they were used into the 1990s on a few KM and WP models.

I have a slightly similar situation with drum rust in that I have a 1962 Kenmore 70 dryer that has never been used. Sitting in a Connecticut basement for nearly 50 years allowed some humidity to collect inside the drum, and cause some light surface rust spots in one part of it. My thought was to try to buff it off with some automotive buffing compound, with the goal being to to save the original drum finish otherwise, but I don't have nearly the amount of work you do in your drum Brian. Please let us know what you decide and how it works!

As to the washer, I have a feeling that the dirt and dried up whatever on the bottom of the basket will wipe off, or come off fairly easily with a wrag or a yellow and green scrubby kitchen sponge.

That's a cool washer in that it has, among other things, the powder blue agitator, which I believe was the first splined, plastic Super Surgilator after the black bakelite Surgilator. It wasn't very long (few years?) and these were switched to white.

Gordon
 
Powder blue agitator

I am glad you clarified that, as I wasn't sure what to make of the color. Was that agitator supposed to be a darker blue, or was that about right for powder blue?

I thought Super Surgilators had to have the wings at the bottom like my '80's WP Supreme? Otherwise I thought they were known just as Surgilators.

As you can tell, the washer tub does look very faded, but then again that could just be scale buildup. Is there a good cleaner to use? I know I've seen threads before about this, but I want to make sure I am extra careful with the tub.
 
Dating and misc info

The seller's claim is that the machine does work well and goes through all its cycles and pumps out. I haven't water tested myself but hope he was being honest. Apparently the dryer run's too but he said was running rough maybe due to the idler pulley or maybe the rollers are flat spotted. I guess I will know more when I get in deeper.

Based on the dryer tag, can anyone date this dryer. I didn't have access to snap a picture of the washer tag, but perhaps someone could identify it based on the dryer tag? The seller said 60's and John feels 70's, but I was curious about a more exact age.

Thanks!
 
 
BrianL,

Super Surgilators have the three large fins extending beyond the edge of the skirt, IIRC.

The winged specimens (on belt-drive machines) were formally called Double-Duty Super Surgilators.
 
Thank you DADoES!

for the information. I'm getting my Surgilators mixed up. Well I'm happy to know that the Chrome cap is correct then for the agitator. So that means my '80's WP is a Double-Duty Super Surgilator then. I do have a '66 or '67 RCA WP that has a black Bakelite Surgilator in it. I'll have to look closer at it and note the differences.

As for the dating, glad to have an idea when they were made. If I did my math right, that would be July 13-19th, 1969.
 

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