I also acquired another Singer 401a with issues. DD, now officially an enabler, spotted it. First it was missing the foot control & cord. It's rubber boots on the bottom were very much in need of replacement - she was setting on the screws and remnants of the little boots. She needed new spindles/felts & a bobbin tire. I rarely find one with the cam stack working correctly - even if it does work ok, I take it apart and clean the whole thing thoroughly. It moves a lot smoother. The gears were full of black grit. I cleaned them up and pulled a LOT of lint out of the bobbin/feed dog area. I thoroughly cleaned up the zigzag pins - I'm not sure what they are called but if they gum up the machine sure won't zigzag right. The machine body was pretty dirty so I polished her up. She is a good one. At least she came with a pretty good kit - I've had to spend a bundle on some machines just to get a kit. Then I spent some time sewing with it. WOW. I'm always amazed when I try something new. I now have a walking foot for the slants. I started making a mat for my 3 way table. DH has painted the legs and box black. I zigzagged around the edges of a piece of teflon quilted stuff. It is heavy and seems to stay put. I was thinking I would put just some bias tape or something around the edges and be done with it. At least if it slides off I won't be as mad as I would be if it didn't work... I pieced together a quilt a few years ago and never finished it. So I need that pad. Well, in the mean time we got a different bed and it won't fit. I'll have to decide what to do with it. My sister says if I can get it to her by the end of September she will quilt it for me on her doo-hicky quilter thingy for Christmas. I've never had one done like that - all mine have been tied.