Make sure you're turning the correct direction.  Some Whirlpool retention rings are counter-clockwise.

Keith...I am pounding counter clockwise all the videos I can see both for DD machines and belt drive have people loosening the nut pounding counterclockwise so assumed that was it.

So do you say that my nut  may get unscrewed pounding clockwise? 

Peter: Yup  I have seen them but all I can find  offering shipping to Italy are more expensive and have a shipping cost of $20.

 The same is for the 4 nuts and all the rest I need.

If I could find everything sold from one seller that'd be great as I will combine shipping but I got to buy everything from different sellers and each order will cost some dear money for shipping and eBay is my only source because  parts shops online won't offer international shipping in fact I was thinking about having them shipped to someone in the US and once they got everything ship to me in Italy all at once. 

I also need feet. The plastic white big screw kind.

When I got it was on casters and they probably lost the feet. 

The problem is that on ebay they all offer tracked costly priority shipping via courier not mail.

Even the 4 stupid nuts kit that would easily fit in a whatever envelope and could get shipped via first class mail are indeed costly for shipping.

I also think that the coronavirus emergency has something to do with it because I can find very few stuff available.

I was told spanner nut and drive blocks are the same for all whirlpool Kenmore's.

No matter direct drive or belt driven.

Is that correct?

I have even asked the whirlpool gas dryers and top load dealer here in Italy as I know them (I even was offered a job time ago to become repair and insert person and seller for my area) if they had the spanner nut tool.

They told me that they do not, the technician said he typically used two screwdrivers...

(I will enclose pic of what he meant)

And also used a piece of wood with screws sometimes.

Which may work for young machines that did not see much oxidation as mine and anyways leaves me kinda puzzled because with the screwdrivers method you have the shaft in the way and you just can't do that.

So...not sure if that was a lie or what.

Same for the wood piece...you got to have an hole for the shaft and as hard as mine is I would break the wood first haha.

So it smell like BS.

Oh they do not have the parts either 🙄😑

Glenn, offered for overseas shipping there are 5 or 6 and the cheapest is $35 in total.

As said a bit too much for my pockets considering that I will use it this time and probably the next time on my direct drive whirlpool and that's it 

I see that even places like Lowe's have the thing for $13 which I wouldn't mind to spend if I were in the United States but the problem is the shipping.

And that I'm going to spend some $$ already for seals nuts and various things....

Oh okay, so I was doing right.

Well I would have felt teased knowing I was doing it in the wrong direction after all that effort and after this morning trying yet another time I cut my finger as my hand slipped over the now sharp nut side.

Today I heated it smoking hot with a heat gun and sprayed wd40 before leaving.

Tomorrow I will try a few more bangs or I will go grab the zip cutter and go buy a new thin disc and cut it hoping not to damage anything.

Yes but paying $35 for a stupid wrench that I will use only on one machine is a waste of money to me...

I have 30+ washers and luckily none of them required special tools.

Anyways my machine is not a compact washer it's a full-size whirlpool belt drive from 1983 it spin clockwise unlike portables.

It depends on what WP made washer you are working on. 

Some of the compact washers for example have counter-intuitive tightening schemes for the basket retainer ring.  

Just make sure you know for sure what direction your particular model is supposed to be turned for the action desired. 

Don't just assume it's R-T, L-L

That way you don't take a chance stripping threads and damaging the machine.  Not to mention making the retainer tighter and taking the chance assuming it's seized. 

I did cut through the gap opening using a zip cutter and slightly ruined the basket in a small short area hopefully It wont cause problems in the future.

But the problem now is the same I cut that but how exactly could pry It out now?

 Inserting whatever into trying to pry wont do anything 

Okay...

Managed to remove the darn thing.

I could have kept pounding forever the thing was glued to the drive block by years of oxidation and limescale.

But I have another problem by pounding to get the nut out I have distorted slightly the basket post, especially in the small point that by mistake was cut, t was less than a 0.03 inch (1mm) cut but force applied while removing the f*****g  nut enlarged It consequently ruining the perfect round shape, can I eventually bang It back? Or what? 

Do you think it will cause me any problems?

😞 

Anyways to clarify It was indeed meant to be unscrewed pounding counter clockwise.

 But again could have kept banging forever It was glued.

Gave a bit of cleaning to the tub removing the big part, it was not too much gunky.

I started  unscrewing the bolts that don't seem in bad shape, good news because I will probably re use them, though removing the rear bolt that I was thinking was the one leaking showed I wasn't that wrong adressing one leaking spot to it because removing it a piece of rust remained attached to the bolt seal revealing a thinned rusted portion of the hole.

Water was indeed making its way through it.

The other hole was pristine.

Let's go ahead with the others.

I am worried for the spin basket though hope  I didn't cause anything  that will give me problems in the future.

Also I can see a seal in the shaft right under the two drive things that fits into the drive block.

I can't determine if that seal is good and I am afraid I might have ruined it as i heated the area with a heat gun unaware there was a seal down there.

That is the spin drive seal.

Should i take the stance i did not cause any damage?

Layers of rust gunk Inside the seal lips it was actually holding the outer tub still glued to post.

Mamma mia!

What a mess!

Seal reads 96690

Thank you Glenn.

Well, it is only from 1983 not that old, I am finding out these whirlpool are really not as strong as I thought and I'm a bit disappointed, wonderful machines and wash action is something extraordinary, but thought of these being stronger and more well thought, at least is not as strong as the filter flo is to me, it seems to me it had by far better materials and much thicker and was more well-thought, of course different system suspended wash tub vs outer tub, the outer tub is so filmsey in it and wash tub too, am amazed to see how lightweight they are, porcelain enamel  seems very  thin quality... Speed Queen (Amana) is about the same but thought it was because it was more modern and for modern standards is anyways out of every league, anyways better than plastic,  but honestly thought they were built better...

Am also puzzled at how much water still sit in its tub after drain, no water slides  to have left water getting into the hole.. no wonder rust would appear soon in these.

Addd to everything evident neglect from whoever had it before...

I am sure it developed small occasional leakage from pump and post seal and the german Frau called Mr Mann that put casters to have her easily cleaning the leakage instead of repairing it and kept using it that way.

I will look into the sleeve approach maybe I can do that without actually welding it but using jb weld or similar stuff.

Anyways, I also wonder if gluing something above the seal kinda pro long it will do the job, just the portion where seal lips are is rusted, I was thinking of Sugru as I used it a lot of times to fix washer tubs.

I managed to fix several holes and a large rusted joint area in my 1964 Ignis tub and several dishwashers, the thing last ages and withstand boiling water perfectly.

But am afraid in the long run it will start detaching from the seal as the post is subject to vibrations.

You might want to wait to find another "parts" machine so you can combine parts.

If this is your first time working on these, realize it's normal to have some disasters.

Also, any parts that go in the tub need to end up being water tight and sealed from exposure to water if they are metal, or they will just get rusty and disintegrate.

That torn basket top where the retainer ring is......others would know better but it might be difficult getting that to fit right on the sleeve again.  

Yes when you're working in these you need a plethora of chemicals including :

liquid wrench- which you use to soften nuts and bolts where they're rusted, 

lithium or silicone grease, 

lime-a-way, 

dish soap, 

marine caulk

paint thinner

baking soda

fine grade/sewing machine lubricating oil

rusty metal primer

spray paint

rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle

white vinegar in spray bottle

automotive polish

iron-out

in addition to 

cellulose sponges, several sizes of scrub brushes, rubber gloves, latex gloves, paper towels, 5 gallon bucket, other buckets for soaking parts,

masking tape, sheet plastic, safety glasses,  .....

And patience.  Sometimes the repairs on these machines will require 10-20 steps and some of the steps will require drying times or soaking times.

Finding another belt drive whirlpool over here in Europe is so very rare.

You do find a good amount of direct drive stuff but belt drive are almost impossible to be found.

 On the bright side it didn't have motor problem or I would have had to convert it to 120-volt hoping to find one in the United States or look for or 240 volt  malleys whirlpool Motors in Australia.

Lots of washers I have of course I used  donor machines to fix them, but whirlpool like these or Kenmore are impossible findings, that is why I had it shipped all the way from Germany.

And if I get one it might be in better conditions than this one is for sure.

Except for the spin tub  that I cut I wouldn't say I had disasters  happened but that this machine kind of is one itself 

I didn't think it was such in a bad shape.

Lady said was fully working... Yeah..my a**! 

By the way I got it thanks to a gentleman up here that made me the courtesy of go grabbing it and ship it to me as the lady was "come and get it".

The rules about those things being water tight  are rules for whatever machine you work into  and I know that.

Hopefully for what concerns the spin tub I can bang it normal round shape once I fit it in the new drive thingy and cover the cut area with some liquid stainless epoxy.

That glue is super strong and should  protect the exposed metal.

As the basket sit on the drive on the bottom part my hopes are that the cut is not going to cause issues, the lip portion is just to retain the thing still and pushed and if I manage to bang it back and glue with that thing my hopes are that will stay that way and protected from water and rust.

I use Wd40  that's the best thing for me.

Equipment for Restorations are pretty much the same for every machine.

And most of the times you have to go creative but I always seek advice.

 Like fixing muffs with a bike wheen air chamber.

Or gloves and glue to fix a particular pressure switch.

 I have everything I need even bearing extractors...except for machines like this that you need a special wp tool, say the wrench that even if I got it at this point I'm not even sure it would have helped me budge the thing one bit..

I actually typically do less of much of the stuff you mention.

Granted that some products have a multi function.

My regret is that I brought it upstairs thinking it had nothing as I tried it 4 years ago  when I got  and it seemed fine. if I knew I would have repaired it  in the workshop where also had space to work well on tub cleaing n and treat whatever had to be treated.

Now I need to bring stuff down there.

It's not the first time working and restoring a machine for me but sure is the first time for a whirlpool belt drive and access to diagrams are limited.

While I am disappointed about the quality of some components I am amazed of how they managed to get everything so complicated in It.

A machine you have to detach half of the transmission ( and I still have to completely get what to do exactly)  just to replace the belt is a bit Crazy. Haha

As you link me polymer silicone I remember my first attempt to fix my Ignis washer tub.

I tried the polymer grey sealant but the thing lasted like a blind cat in a highway.

It was supposed to withstand everything temperature and chemical but could not make it over the 2nd boilwash.

Hi Federico, at this point you only need a center post seal and a tube of really good Marine sealant I use a 3M product and this washer can be cleaned up and put back together and you will have no leaks from the outer for at least a decade or more of use.

I will send you my phone # through the message system and you can call me if you have any questions.

John L.