I've had my reliable 319W for a while now. It's always been a good runner, having mostly been given a light clean and oiling when purchased. It would oddly go out of time for no apparent reason, but always adjusted back with a quick tune.
It obviously belonged to a heavy smoker some time in its; past. It doesn't smell, but it certainly had tar and gook build up in the internal spaces. It's literally everywhere; If air could get at something, the tar came with it. I figured I'd tear it down one day and do a proper cleaning, but that issue has been pushed up the schedule. In fact, it's sitting in boxes and bins right now, having been dropped in the ultrasonic cleaner several times.
The reason I tore it down to nuts and bolts was I was trying to time the hook to the needle (again) and noticed when I loosened the lock screws, the hook would turn but it was turning the mechanism further down the drive-train, thus throwing all the mechanism out of time. I don't know why I hadn't noticed it before, but it definitely is wrong.
Further investigation revealed the hook assembly was frozen on to it's shaft. So while it looked like I was timing the hook properly, the entire machine was out of time. Explains why I could time it, get it stitching and for no apparent reason, it would start hitting the shuttle and bobbin case (often snapping the needle). Once I finally got it apart, you could see the tar build up inside the drive shaft to hook, seizing the shuttle/hook to the drive shaft. Most of the rest was the same way and I ended up soaking everything else with penetrating fluid in order dissolve the tar and get things apart.
Now that it's fully apart, I'm considering changing the color. This is a mint green model:
(picture borrowed off the net)
It's not in bad shape. The usual 50 -odd years of chips and scratches. The main body is not bad, except for the usual paint "crack" around the base of the harp where it meets the bed. The covers and things like the stitch bight are a different story. Chips, peels and even a bit of rust here and there breaking through the paint.
I though about trying to match the colors and just fix up what I can, but that seems like a "halfway" measure at best. Not to mention, Singer seems to have used 20 different shades of green on this thing.
I do have a favorite blue color I use on lots of the machines I rebuild. It's called Rustoleum metallic turquoise:
That's the color on my Atlas 10" lathe I "resto-modded" a while ago. I quite like the color. It;s almost a "color shifter", depending on how the light hits it. Here it is on a Singer 327 project that's been languishing for a couple years now
So I guess I'm asking for an opinion, which means there is no right (or wrong) answer. The 319 paint is beat up enough to warrant attention, but matching it will be near impossible because of the hues and the age of the paint. I don't mind the green (it's actually funky 50's period correct), but I'm not overly fond of it either.
So, leave it the factory "couple shades of green" and try to touch it up, or "update it" to the turquoise? Of course, new OEM style gold "Singer" decals will also be added to complete the look.
What's your opinion? Multi-green or Turquoise?