Wolverine toy washer restoration

[hoover300]

Found this heap a couple days ago for the whopping price of $7. The back and bottom were covered in rust and it only had half the lid. After opening it up, I discovered that it had been modified to fit a motor, explaining the lack of the crank. It had the original batteries in it, which is what leaked and covered the bottom in heavy rust. Yesterday I threw away the base after tearing it off the back and ground off the rusted through spot. It was so bad that it dripped rust when moved around. Thankfully, The battery hole and rusted out spots made a big enough hole to stick my hand through and move the gear, enabling it to work until I can get a donor with a nice shell and crank. Yesterday I gave it a test wash to clean it out, It is still water tight! It even has both a wash and spin dry setting! I will make more updates through the restoration.
~K

 

[madman]

"Leakproof" LOL

Cool little washer, I'm amazed it's meant to be (somewhat) functional. Modified to use a motor and batteries?

 

[hoover300]

It was

And by someone who actually knew what they were doing. It had stuff out of a Suzy Homemaker washer and custom made riveted brackets for the motor and batteries. Forgot to mention, the circled part in pic 7 is the other battery and terminal before I opened it up.
Basically what it is supposed to do:

~K

 

[texaskirbyguy]

Why ain't that the schizzels.....

I have never seen anything like that! Both wash and spin - will it actually drain when spinning?
Sadly I bet that thing would be a safety hazard now days since there is no lid lock.

Time to get some doll clothes and see what it really does!

Great work - keep the thread going. )

 

[hoover300]

I don't know if it will while spinning, as I already need one hand to use it(now) and the hose needs to be held down and the washer lifted up. I will try it once I get the donor.
Thanks!
~K

 

[gregvacs28]

Such mechanical detail.  I always thought these toy appliances were just for show.  Certainly didn't think they'd go as far as putting in gears.


 


Nice save.

 

[lesinutah]

Color

If you have a restore/habitat for humanity old sheet metal or appliance to get one off of. You could use e6000 adhere back on.
You just have to match paint.
Les

 

[hoover300]

Got the donor, it had an intact lever and a nicer body. I could not replace the top as it is riveted to the tub. On the donor, the agitator stopped connecting with the gear, and one of its gears was completely worn out. The mechanism was also more rusted. I need to figure out how to get the wash setting to work, so right now it just works on the spin dry setting. I might end up drilling out the rivets to replace the top in the future, but for now this is it.
~K

 

[gregvacs28]

Drilling the rivets should be easy enough.  Have some new, sharp bits available.  A drill press is also helpful.  


 


It's such a cute toy.  If it were me I would clean up what I could, mask, prime, and paint back the sections I could to it's original color(s).


 


I hope it goes well.

 

[kirbyklekter]

If you haven't posted this over at

Automatic Washer.org yet that might be an option for you. They mostly collect "mommy/daddy" washers but might be able to provide you with some ideas or workarounds for this project.