Green Sears Kenmore 1751 Sewing Machine

A friend asked me a while ago to find them a good, simple to use, preferably a straight stitch, low- shank sewing machine for under $30.00.  In my area of Los Angeles, it is nearly impossible to find this type of deal.  I have been looking for months and recently I stumbled upon the "good and cheaply priced" sewing machine:  a great vintage green Sears Kenmore Model 1751 made between 1968 to 1969 for $20.00.  

This machine is h-e-a-v-y, 40 pounds of all metal gears.  It is in great cosmetic shape and everything on it works. 

It uses Kenmore C cams but the machine did not come with any accessories except for this one sad zig zag cam.  

Overall it looks really good with very minor wear and scratches, it came with the foot controller and the cover for the case.  I believe the previous owner gave up on this machine because when plugged in, the machine appeared to be frozen.  However, the problem turned out to be a simple one -the ring of the clutch-disengage mechanism on the hand wheel was put on backwards. 

Even though I have a few cam-using sewing machines, I generally stay away from buying these types because the cams are made of plastic and they will eventually wear out.  In addition, finding a replacement set can be difficult and sometimes expensive.  In this case however, she will not care about the cams as she is a beginner sewist.

I just need to give it a good exterior cleaning before I contact my "lucky" friend.  I am calling her lucky because I would love to keep this machine.  Why?  First reason is that the harp seems to be slightly larger than on some of my other machines, second, it is a very well-made and sturdy  sewing machine, and third, the stitching is just fabulous.