What to do with an extra Singer 401A
I acquired a Singer 401A a few months ago, and recently found a nice cabinet for her. What really sold me on the cabinet was that it had ANOTHER Singer 401A in it. The handwheel wouldn't turn at first, but with some gentle persuasion and a little machine oil it's moving now. There's no apparent rust, feed dogs and needle move appropriately, but she's missing the slide plate (an easy thing to replace). The problem is that she's 'growly' and while the handwheel turns, it doesn't turn as easily as it should. I'd considered keeping her for parts, but now I'm wondering if I should see about fixing her.
I do have a repair manual, and one person on another site suggested that the bobbin assembly might need a good cleaning. Others suggested using a hair dryer to heat her up to get the grease moving a bit, and also greasing the gears.
Anyone have any input to share? I know it's a fantastic machine, and I suspect that the second machine has better feed dog function than the first one I got. Tension on the first machine is great, but I don't know how it is on the second one.