Toggles,
It is in fact 18,000 BTU's. Dries pretty quickly, actually, but the clothes never seem to be scorched because the heat comes from the front around the door and is pulled through the clothes to the back. Also, I have noticed that with this dryer, no static cling. Perhaps that is solved by the electronic sensors on the drum tumblers? Any static electricity would be absorbed as a short in the bar sensors the same as a wet clothing article would be, discharging the shutoff till there were no more "shorts" to the sensors, shutting the dryer off.
Not sure about a conversion to a back heated as you mention, but seems possible with the right drum set up, not this one. It is a solid drum one peice thing, with no way to heat from the back, but in terms of using these parts to convert to an newer model, it probably could be done. Maytag was famous for not making redundant parts. Many of the parts of the early 60's fit the dryers and washers of the late 90's.
Phil
