A small about of play is normal like Oldsewnsew said. Make sure that you didn't loose any of the spacers that look like washers that are on the shaft to prevent too much play. As far as your alignment goes, as long as the belt is straight on the pulleys, it is good.
~G~

Yay! Reporting back I had good success with the "test" motor! Your tut really gave me some confidence in working on it because it is an almost exact replica to the one you showed. After getting the new wires on I used the CRC Lectra-Motive spray to clean it really well. It seems to have taken care of the oily bits. After allowing it to dry I used rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab to carefully clean the commutator. That did a pretty good job without me having to try sanding it. I got the motor back on the machine last night and I would call it a success! Now I have some good practice in before working on my green 15. :thumbup:

*I just realized that the saved motor/saved machine is the one in my avatar! Pinky thanks you!

If you do have discernible play, I like to run the motor with no belt, and see if I need to adjust the bracket to improve the lineup, that way the brushes aren't on the edge of the commutator. If you take another one apart, you might see if you can salvage shim washers from a "junk" motor and take out some of the play. (but not all)

Thank you Jim. I did adjust it to the point where the brushes weren't running right at the edge of the commutator. That looked like it could cause problems. Then I adjusted with the bracket when I attached it to the head to line up the belt well. I feel so good today. It's such a nice feeling to save a piece of the past from the junk bin. Now if I can just find a zig-zag foot for it! :D

Is it low or high shank zz foot?

It's a low shank one. :)

very easy to find low shank - check sew-classic - she has good prices and she is fast. There maybe some place more local for you if you dig around.

I am such a noob lol! I had to find a site that explaned low-shank vs. high shank feet to figure that out. Thank you Miriam. I am guessing that any low shank feet will fit then? It has the 2 forks that wrap around the bar. I should try my Elna feet. Maybe that would fit?

Grant,

Ah ha! Now I understand. I'll bet the kind commonly available at the local hardware and auto pts stores is the harder plastic kind. I've never found the rubber type.

I tried to open the link on heat shrink yesterday and my machine wouldn't open it, I'll try again.

Joe

Elna uses short shank so they should fit.