On the 15-91 the distance from the needle to the pillar is 8 inches. It is probably very close, if not the same size as your 27. You could probably swap the 27 head out of the cabinet and replace it with the 15-91. You wouldn't have to remove the treadle belt from the cabinet, just let it hang, but I don't think the cabinet will close, but to sew and use the cabinet as a work area, not a problem.

The 31-15 is an industrial with a 19 inch long bed. The distance from pillar to needle is about 10 1/4 inches give or take. Most come with a clutch motor if they have the power stand with them. They are a little noisy because a clutch motor is always on. You can swap out the motor for a servo motor which will only use power when you depress the pedal. A power stand takes up much more room than a cabinet that can be closed. My stand is 42 x 18. My top is narrow, they are usually 22 inches deep.

I paid 125.00 for mine off of CL. I posted a Want To Buy ad. It took me days, and I mean daaaays to get it clean enough to sew on. I don't even want to think about what was covering it.

I think the table on the 301 short bed is 3 1/2 inches versus 6 1/2 long bed and yes it's the drop down table.

From my "research" today (instead of housecleaning), I don't think I can convert the 27-4 to electric because it doesn't have a motor bracket and my BF (he got it for me) really didn't want me to ruin the antiquity value of it either, so, that clears me to bring another machine into the house...LOL He loves old Singers too...LOL The 15-91 is really sounding like the way to go so far... I drove 15 miles today to look at one that was on Craigslist as Vintage "Swinger" Sewing Machine but I was so disappointed when she opened it up and it was a Touch and Sew...she looked at me like I was crazy when I told her it wasn't old enough...LOL I never asked her about the "Swinger" part but I would have really been cleaning that machine! :oops: :roll:

Thanks for that info, the 301A just looks so sturdy, stocky and '50's ish that I am attracted to it but the 15-91 sounds like it might be more of what I need. But...that's not saying that in my search I was to find one begging me to take her that I wouldn't grab her up and give her a good home! :lol:

Trust me the 301 or 301A...Doing FMQ on her is heaven...you wouldn't be disappted

I like the 301 - it does a beautiful straight stitch and it handles pretty heavy tasks without balking and without making any noise about it, either. The large opening under the arm is great, too.

The vertical bobbin orientation helps make the machine more forgiving for FMQ than the other slant needle machines and for most quilting, you will like the results.

But there are some cons: I don't like the much smaller bobbin because that means more bobbin changes. I used 25 bobbins on the last quilt I finished (92" square - queen/king) and that wasn't even heavily quilted. It would have been at least 50 bobbins with the 301.

I also don't like the slant needle, which reduces the machine's piercing power and causes more of a problem with needle deflection than you have with vertical needle machines.