Thanks for the suggestion Miriam! :)

I agree with Miriam. If you see a 503 too, it's pretty much the same machine.

They are the same machine - just a different body - you might feel like Judy Jedson when you use it.

So tiny update. The other morning I poked the actuator and it actually moved really easily. I was kind of surprised. Guess leaving it sit worked! I need to put the slide plate on and see if that activates from bobbin winding mode to sewing mode. If it does I'm ready for some test stitches. :) wish I had more time to work on my machines. GuesS the holidays are rolling around so I can probably work with them then.

I purchased a Singer 778, very similiar to your machine in 1976. I used it a lot at first then not so much while I worked. In 2009, I retired , took machine sewing Dr for refurbish, clean etc. Now my DH does it, saves me tons of money. This is a work horse machine. Since I've retired I use mine daily many times for 4-6 hrs. at a time. The main thing is to regularly oil and clean bobbin area every time you change bobbin. My only complaint is bobbin does not hold enough thread.

Good to hear!! Yup. leaving it sit in oil (in the short term) is great for them. Letting it harden over years, not so much. Now get using it :)

Even if the slide plate doesn't put it into sewing mode, just push the little creme colored lever to the right and you're good. There may be a trick to installing that plate, I don't recall, but I will look while I service the one that's here. The general rule of thumb is to install from the back to the front, and I usually have to use a tiny blade screw driver to help it grab the spring, but I'll double check.

The feed dogs for the one that's been sitting on my bench for months finally arrived, so I hope to get some time to fire this one up today or tomorrow to see how it sounds and runs.

Ah I didn't know about putting it in backwards. I figured I'd need a screw driver to lift the plate. After my art show this weekend I'm hoping to have more time to sew and get my machines up and running. :)

Happy Art show then! And post if you have any more questions. I should get to this one today or tomorrow, so it should all be fresh in my mind for a bit.