Singer 306K - Freeing up zig zag and needle position L-C-R levers, and eliminating clacking sound

I picked up this Singer 306K a little over 4 years ago. The thing actually showed up in a *free* ad! It was, however, in much need of some pretty serious attention and was missing some minor bits (one of two locking thumb screws on zig zag assembly and the stitch length stop, from what I recall). Oh, and the bobbin case lever was snapped off. Not sure how that could happen.

Be that as it may, I was still up for the challenge. Here the condition, before doing anything to it:

Downsizing...... a LOT.

I remember reading Ed Lamoureux's "Sometimes You Gotta Let Go!" blog a number of years ago, when I was but a novice sewing machine buff.
http://sewing-machines.blogspot.com/2010/01/sometimes-you-gotta-let-go.html

In his blog in 2010, he reposted "The Phases of Sewing Machine Collecting" that he mentioned he'd written around 2000, when he was at Phase 3. It was accurate in many respects and humorous, although I didn't have the wild dream of retiring in luxury after selling my collection to a museum. I was probably nearing the end of Phase 3 when I came across Ed's list, since friends knew of my affliction. Between them and the local thrift stores, I was amassing a great empire in a hurry.

Alas, times change. I have achieved Phase 7, and have started to "dispose of [my] space-hogging old sewing machines". In other words, craigslist was my friend.

Garage Sale Score - Wright N-370 3/4"-Drive Ratchet

Most garage sale days come up empty, or at the very best, some small trinket is found. But last weekend my dear wife and I each scored majorly. At one particular "guy-stuff" sale the seller had a bunch of old wooden military boxes full of tractor parts and hydraulic fittings. I didn't need any of those but then one other box caught my eye. It contained an assortment of tap handles and a couple pipe threading handles. I didn't really need any of these items but they looked cool. The seller had remarked in passing that he'd make me a deal on any of the wooden boxes, $5 to $7 each, so when I ran across the box of tap handles, I just kind of figured they weren't in the same league as the tractor parts and I figured he would hit it out of the park with a $ figure for the box I was craving. I was very pleasantly surprised when he said, "How about 10 bucks?" SOLD.

Singer 319W - un-sticking the hook shaft and hook timing.

I was fiddling with my fairly new-to-me green 319W and it seemed to be running fine, but then all of a sudden it tightened up to the point that the motor would no longer operate the machine. I wondered if a piece of thread had bunged up the works but on inspection I didn't find anything. I ascertained that the lower main shaft (Singer terminology: "rotating hook driving shaft") was somehow the culprit, and from there I narrowed it down to the shaft going into the hook gearbox on the left end. At least, I hoped that was the problem because it was a major endeavor to pull the gearbox.

So......