I just took this machine to a guy who has been servicing the old ones forever, and learned some stuff. He says needle length has not changed in these old domestic machines (my imagination at work, I guess), and all the old ones sold around here in the 60's were made by Singer. In his little shop he actually had the exact same machine - model number and all - that he took as a trade in! He has the actual manual, and I am going to try to get him to sell me a copy of it - hope that's not a copyright issue. Oh yeah, he says the adjustments I need are the usual ones and I'll get it back later today.