The Born-Again Frigidaire!

[swestoyz]

Woo - what a fun weekend!

On Friday Robert, Nate, and myself conveyed upon Omaha with a single mission in mind: to re-operate the 1956 Frigidaire Unimatic mechanism. Greg graciously opened up his home and garage for the procedure.

All in all it was a great time, and the rebuild couldn't have gone easier. I'll let the experts chime in, but once we got into the mechanism there was little needed to be done - it was in fantastic shape!

So, with the replacement clutch spring installed, the WI-56 can again live up to the intended promise General Motors proclaimed: 1140 RPM!

Here are a few shots of the rebuild. As always, no pictures were taken of us in our pressed lab coats, but pretend each of us had the appropriate attire on.

Here we have said mechanism, with the bell removed.

 

[swestoyz]

Close-up. I had wiped the cage down a bit, but all in all I was impressed that it was in such good shape. No water was found here!

 

[swestoyz]

Spin cage and brake removed. The remains of the clutch spring can be seen here around the motor shaft.

 

[swestoyz]

Moments later the replacement spring was installed (check your local Ace hardware for various clutch springs in stock) and was ready for some fresh non-detergent Air Compressor oil. NOT Rotary Screw air compressor oil which I had brought with by mistake. Blue fluid = bad. Yellow-green fluid = good.

 

[swestoyz]

Testing the oil pump. I won't post the video Nate, but the quote of the night goes, "I never thought of it as a Unimatic sound!"

 

[swestoyz]

Fresh new SKF bearing installed in the bell housing. Very cool.

 

[swestoyz]

Every is officially back in place, ready for installation.

 

[swestoyz]

I had to run over to Ace in search of new hose for the water valve to flume. When I came back it seems that the WI-56 is having an identity crisis.

 

[swestoyz]

After a brief test, she is ready for her first wash load in decades!

 

[swestoyz]

Filling....

 

[swestoyz]

Pulsating....

 

[swestoyz]

And hold your breath - spinning!

There are a few small issues that will need attention before she sees full-field duty, but all in all, the coaches and apprentices were very happy with the end results. Isn't she pretty?

Again, a big thanks to Greg, Robert, and Nate.

Ben

 

[pturo]

Well, Jesus Christ riding shotgun with Moses on G-d's chariot, I have never seen anything like that Unimatic transmission assembly. It looks like it could be the transmission for the engine on the Titanic. No wonder the g*ddamn things spun so fast! Thanks for posting!

 

[toploader55]

To the Unimatic Consortium...

If I ever found a Unimatic that needed work,would you guys make a trip to the East Coast ??? Sounds like a fun time. Eddie

 

[tlee618]

Wow guys, what a fascinating operation! It must have been so much fun to restore this beautiful machine back to its orginal glory!! I know that you guys had a lot of fun along the way! Congratulations Ben!!!

 

[easyspindry]

Bendix Economat

Is that a Bendix Economat in the background of one of the pictures? I love it.

Jerry Gay

 

[filterflo]

Great work Ben, Jim Frigiman and I did his 1952 Unimatic a couple of weeks ago. Rebuilding is always a learning experience. Good for you, for getting right in there and learning to rebuild and get your hands dirty....The more you do it the easier it gets.......

 

[golittlesport]

very beautiful machine! Congrats on the rebuild!

 

[tuthill]

NIce job guys, what'd you do to repair the hole in the tub?