[QUOTE=Mornigstar;7225367] Yes, I had removed all I could to clean and oiled before I went to all this trouble . don't think cams are involved with this one.
This has a built-in cam stack under the hood, has to in order to make the decorative stitches.
Now we have to confirm spring under shelf ---how it should be --before we put machine back on so it is able to be lowered and then lifted back up. We own a singer cabinet that one machine is sitting on but hubby is away then he can look under and compare. We don't want the machine to drop if spring is wrong.
That spring assembly should be connected to the inside wall of the cabinet and to the bottom of the cabinet piece that the machine was bolted to. Unless you removed it in getting the machine out, I wouldn't worry about messing it up. If you did detach it, just put it back with screws in the same holes. I think this is where some vaseline rubbed onto the spring and shaft could help. I'm no good at cut & paste, so will type this in for an ebay link that has good photos of one of these spring assisted lift mechanisms, picture 12 shows it installed. http://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-kenm...-/191587568069
They are different than the ones for the old Singer cabinets.
Have not taken off the bottom to oil which manual shows but I did free up the one dial
I would not even consider sewing a line of stitches until both top and bottom mechanisms had been well lubricated, they all work together.
As for what year the machine was made, I would guess in the 70s, but year of manufacture has never interested me as much as metal gears versus nylon/plastic. You can google Sears Archives and look for the year.