Originally Posted by
yroger54
Thanks for any advice you might have.
Roger, I would grab the bottom of the bar with pliers (wrap the bar with a piece of canvas first) and twist it. It'll be obvious if it's bent or just rusted. It's unlikely to be bent unless there are other signs the machine has been dropped (I had one dropped machine about a year ago) but twisting should be sufficient to release the bar from its rusty manacle (one glass of wine on Friday night and I get flowery). If bent, it will be possible to twist it but the pressure required to turn will be inconsistent. If rusted it will just free up and remain so.
I had a 66 about 18 months ago that had a frozen up needlebar. It took a while but it was just rusty and was as good as new within 5 minutes.