So. The Kenmore has been freed up, cleaned up, oiled and polished up, and is all back together. (And it only took a couple of tries to get it right!
)
The problem now is the needle is ticking on something in the bobbin/hook area. The hook, I think, or some part of it; there's no bobbin or bobbin case in it currently. I don't know if it did before or not (frozen) but I had the needle bar out to clean everything, so I'm assuming that's what did it.
I'm using the old needle; I have no idea what size it is. It *looks* like a standard HA 15x1 when compared side by side, but I just don't know. I have several close-but-not-quite Kenmore manuals, and all they say about size is to mention that your machine is a rotary and give the serial number when buying needles. (How helpful!)
Assuming I've got the correct needle, can I retime this myself? Got any good links showing me how? Anything I should know before I give it a try?