The one in the photo is pretty battered, a 758 that I picked up at Goodwill because I needed the 0 cam (horrible irony is that I had ordered a repro 0 cam just that same morning for the same price). Some of the plastic bits in it are broken. My house has been where plastic bits T&S machines have come to die. I had several, none of which worked for a variety of reasons, until I did a major purge in 2010 and got rid of all of the junk machines. It was after that that I learned what machines were worth saving and got interested again.
On the other hand, I found a 603 (original version not E, so no chain stitch), in case and very very clean. Once I figured out that the not E version had a different bobbin winder switch (Singer has condensed the manuals for the two versions in a way that is not helpful), I discovered that I quite like it. And I had kept all of the accessories and cams from the T&S Swarm.
I was thinking about getting a little propane blowtorch and making a nice video. I could call it Torch & Slag!
As for the water heater, it looks like it may just be time to replace it. We just have to clear out the garage enough to get a clear area for installation. Fun.