So... This store, which I have gotten some other stuff puts a lot of their things on C/L... I have been driving by this place that had this thing in the window. I asked some friends about it, and tried to talk myself out of it. I drove past it some more. Saturday I went in and looked at it... Saturday I bought it...

What could it be?

Hint, there's more to this picture than the coppertone...

Yeah I was trying to be all suspenseful... 

selected the wrong pic to upload.

-Tim

Wow Ben, that's amazing...

Yes it is a 1958 Maytag 142...

This is the oldest Maytag I now own, being older I think than the N2L wringer by a few months.

The guy wanted some $$$ for the machine, but I got it for less and got a matched set of Coppertone 1976 model A407's with it. Basically I got this machine, plus 2 still nice Maytags for less than the original asking price.

I spent most of the day on Sunday cleaning and testing the machine, and it works well, very smooth. I need a couple of lightbulbs and there is a slow lower seal leak. This machine was taken out of service working, belonged to an older lady who passed away, all 3 machines came from the same house. Grams used the 142, no dryer, and had an E2LP in there as well. The machine was off of the kitchen in an enclosed sun porch.

I noticed a few replacement parts in the machine, like belts and a newer water valve. The pump is original to the machine is seems or was replaced by another 1958 pump. I was surprised at the differences in this early Newton/Helical machine. The motor, pump tub supprt and the old AMP lid, very cool.

Here is a pic, I think it's in VERY good shape for it's age aside from the lower oil seal. Machine has seen some use, but is not worn out.

-Tim

Oops, never mind!

I was amazed at the condition of the control panel. The chrome was good, and the glass was as well. This is such a beautiful machine all around and so much chrome and lights.

YES My washer DOES tell me that it's an "Automatic Washer"

Woo Hoo!

Obligatory money-shot...

The tub is worn a little, not through, but the white has dulled considerable. Also the agitator is well used and unfortunately stuck in for the time being. Some minor rust around some of the lower holes. As you can also see from the pic, the tub cover is NASTY. This will be dealt with. I also found a lot of what appears to be Chex Mix in and around the machine...

PS the tub is not listing, the machine is uneven in the driveway.

This is (to me) an unusual lint filter. It's copper colored, and very light. I think the entire thing is copper. It's oxidized pretty badly, maybe a vinegar soak with make it look better. I figured it would be stainless like the Highlander's.

Popped the front panel off to see what I was getting in to and to see how this thing was put together. As you can see, there is a fair bit of oil sling in the cabinet. There is also a bit of oil underneath. I have no way of knowing how old the oil is and how fast it leaks yet. Check out the non-Poly pump and that huge motor spring. Again, she didn't look bad for a 54 year-old machine inside.

The motor setup in this is like none other that I have seen on a Maytag. The motor sits in a cradle, with a pivot attached to the lower arm of it. The cradle pivots on a bearing attached to lower arm and has an adjustable tension spring attached to the pump. It works well and I can't see there being much maintenance involved with this setup as opposed to the motor carriage of the later machines.

Also notice the big, fat 2-speed GE motor...

Another 1st for me, a metal poly-pump. When cleaning I wiped the date of of the pump, but it was made in "Feb 1958" so I can only assume it's original to the machine. Look's exactly like a poly-pump, just metal. There are no issues with the pump.

 The giant spring and hook are the tensioner for the motor arm. I assume that the screw castings on the top were for a suds valve if equipped?

Time to clean that tub cover mess. I'm not sure what the mess was, but it was nasty, I got most of it off. The top is raised as normal by two 3/8" screws on each front corner. I though the black porcelain underside was neat as well. Also, while you can't really see it there, the outer tub is speckled. The rubber supply hose was still in good shape as well. I thought the aerator thing was cool as well.

Ben how would you suggest cleaning the screen section? It's a bit rough. I have no intentions right now of pulling the tub or anything, everything on the machine checks out, and I will be installing it in the laundry room soon for light use. I am going to keep an eye on the oil leak.

The machine rolls into spins very strong and the agitation is very brisk, so excess slip or bogging here. This machine is also near silent when spinning. It won't see much use, but I'm also not afraid to tear into it if needed, I'd like for it to be around for a while.

-Tim

I cleaned all of the muck from the tub guard and cleared the drain holes. Amazing how much difference that made.

This is a neat little thing. A porcelain chute connected to a hose with a copper water pipe feeding it. I'm assuming this is an aerator? The roommate was curious to what it was, he thinks the machine is screaming 1950's design, I am loving all of the little designs on this early machines as I've only really dealt with the 06' series. Even the Highlander is very different.

This was the baseplate from however many years of leaking oil. The belts looked pretty new and were not oily.

All cleaned up and ready for action!

It cleaned nicely, I was also surprised at how good of condition the baseplate was in, this machine really has no rust on it at all.

I also cleaned up the inside of the baseplate and inner cabinet of oil which also turned out nice. Again I am surprised at the lack of rust in this machine. Even the dampers were still fresh with lube.

This has been replaced at one point. This is a plastic valve and has newer Maytag logos on it. It has 3 solenoids on it, I think this is a thermostatic valve, how does that work exactly?

This is the only part of the machine that hasn't been water tested, but they all buzz. HOT is fairly quiet, COLD is sort of loud and WARM is loud.

This pic was taken pre-cleanup and you can see some of the oil and mess in the machine here.

Nice machine!

Wow, VERY NICE Tim!   Congratulations!   Very purrrdy!

I'm amazed at how small the suspension springs are... TINY, wow!

On the water fill tube, I don't know that it's so much an aerator, as the old / original design of air-gap.

Kevin

P.S.... there is so little rust because of all the OIL that had been flung around, it was protecting it!  (ducks & runs....) 

This was stuck on HOT when I got it, I removed the switch and attempted to clean and lube it, but the switch, while it does work, it VERY stiff. Is there anything that can be done for this or any replacements available? If not, it will stay on HOT or Warm anyways probably.

Also does this machine automatically do a warm rinse for both WARM and HOT settings?

Also here you can see the date on the pressure switch of "3-58" which corresponds closely to the date that was on the pump.

The lid was a real treat as well, I have never seen one of these up close let alone the insides. This lid was dry inside and the wiring still soft and corrosion free. In here I found that the machine has a tub light! it's blown, but I was pretty psyched. I ended up jumpering the green and grey wires so the machine would run with the lid up, bypassing the mercury switch. This machine has a separate OOB and lid switch, so I still get OOB protection while watching the wash action. What's better is that the tub light has it's own lid switch so that it lights when the lid is up only. So I can watch the machine without worrying about out of balance AND with a tub light shining on the action. The bulb is blown, going to try the hardware store for a replacement.

These are the blown light bulbs, I'm going to try and find suitable replacements at the hardware store. The smaller one is for the timer dial indicator and the longer one is the tub light.

Last pic for now, trying the light out after repairing the switch and finding a new bulb.

BEAUTIFUL

Anyone find something else appliance related in the picture?

VERY KEWL Tim!  

Isn't this your FIRST machine with a light up or backlit, console / control panel??

YAY for lights!

On the little bulbs, I would think any small, 120V, bayonette type base, bulb with the same wattage, would work.

Kevin 

Tim very NICE Maytag washer ...

I love that cap on that model shiny maytag looks so vintage and clean.

Great find best to you on the restore.

The pair of Maytags you got in your laundry room are the best.

I have not seen them in such good condition.

Ben your Avitar is interesting new friend ?

She is working those washers Sir.

Darren k

Congratulations!!!

WOW Tim that washer is in good shape, you can sure tell that the owner liked her wringer washer. It is a good idea to clean the end of the little copper fill nosel both inside and out as Ben suggested as the mineral build up will sometimes make the fill stream squirt to the side a little and cause a leak, and Kevin is correct that this is just an air-gap more than an air-rater. The pivoting motor mount was a much better idea than the four plastic motor rollers with two equally spaced motor tension springs. This earlier system allowed the main drive belt to feather the tension for a smooth easy take-off when trying to drain and spin out the water. But when it was in agitate the motor pulled back and the machine would take off and really agitate without all the silly slipping that the later system had.

MT was the only washer builder that made a washer where if you put a heavy load in or if the transmission oil was cold and thick that the machines agitation would slow down and take it out on the main drive belt. They had it right on the first Helical drive washers and they finely corrected it on the later LAT models when they moved the tension springs to one side of the motor carriage. This was always one of our biggest headaches when fixing 1960s  Maytags and all the way through into the 1990s was trying to get the motor tension springs right so it wouldn't slip too much during agitation and yet not stall the motor going into spin.

Hi Tim have you tried squirting a combination of silicone spray and WD-40 through it?. I usually remove the switch to do this and soak it pretty well in different positions and it almost always works for sticky push-button switches.

Stories like yours always make me hopeful as well as happy!

Actually Jon the owner did die of Cancer LOL.

Super great find - that must have been a very dry basement.   54 years of exposure to the cancer waves radiating from that machine is pretty good overall, if she bought a Whirlpool with that oversized motor and all those solenoids, she'd have died long ago!

The basements in these houses are walk-out rears, but this machine was on the 1st floor in use according to the guy that sold it to me from the estate. This machine was in a back porch, sun-room thing with the louvered glass windows. There was a laundry sink in there. I picked up a Coppertone 1976 407 set that came from the same house, but they were in the basement. Only one half of the house has a basement (left half). This house is actually a duplex, hard to tell from the pic, but it has 2 front doors. The 142 was on the back porch on the right side, and the 407's were in the basement on the left, the owner lived in the right side of the duplex with no basement.

I don't know if she bought the 407's or not, I have not torn into them, but they are mint, and soon as I get another chance in the garage I'll make a post. The spanner nut under the agitator on the washer has NO BUILDUP of any kind, the nut is still shiny aluminum and you can even see the embossed MAYTAG and part number logo, tub is still gleaming and the aluminum dials have not been exposed to any moisture. Supposedly the washer doesn't pump water and the dryer doesn't heat, but we'll see what the deal is soon. I will probably move the Coppertone set along after inspection and repair, I just don't have the room.

Jon, here is the best pic I have of the transmission, you can't see it all, but it looked like a normal Newton Power Unit. Also I do not know what the lady died of, but at 94, I'd take what I get I suppose.

-Tim

Great job on the video!   That washer does look to be in pretty close to exceptional condition!   This is the first time I'm ever seen the lid mounted tub light, VERY COOL!

Congrats on finding this 142 Tim.... it's awesome!

Kevin