Westy L5 - tubs almost ready

[turquoisedude]

This past weekend saw some more good progess on the Westy - it will be the last for a bit, though. I will be in Peoria this weekend and the weekend after I'll be picking up the Viking Spray-Jet Dishwasher that Robert posted here!
Saturday was sunny and warm (for a change!) so I pre-treated the inner and outer tubs with Metal-Ready (the stuff the POR-15 folks recommended) and gave them a thorough wash. Here they are drying in the yard.

 

[turquoisedude]

And how they looked after painting

That POR-15 stuff is pretty amazing. Stinks like hell, stains like hell, but wow, does it ever put a nice finish on a washer tub!
This is the rear tub, patched and painted

 

[turquoisedude]

Front of the inner tub

Also nice and shiny again!

 

[turquoisedude]

And the wash tub

Now here's where I messed up... I painted the outside of the tub, thinking that I would keep the inside 'original'. I'm not sure that is such a great idea anymore.
Would it be better to repaint the inside as well??

 

[turquoisedude]

This will be waiting for me...

As soon as get back, I will be itching to finish up the cabinet because I should then have most of the parts to start putting the Westy back together again! Wheee!!
Hubby will thrilled to have the garage back... Well until the next two dishwashers get to Ogden... lol

 

[gyrafoam]

When restoring my '55 Unimatic, I used a lot of POR-15. At the time I did not have a replacement tub and the original I had to work with was VERY rough! Lots of rust on the inside and out.

I determined to POR-15 the whole damned thing. I put a brush on my drill and roughed up the smooth interior of the tub. This also helped get rid of a lot of the rust. Then I carefully painted Two good coats of POR-15 taking care not to put it on too thick (so it wouldn't run) and letting it dry a couple of days between coats. I let it dry a couple of weeks before installing it in the machine.

It was just beautiful when it was done. Pure black and smooth as glass. Combined with the all-black energy-ring and detergent column/cap of the '55 it really looks sharp.

I have never used this machine as a daily driver, so I have no experience as far as wearability is concerned.
All I know is if I had to do it again I would. The end result is really good looking.

 

[christfr]

lookin good......your gettin there cant wait to see her run