135 Needles Please Help

[catskin]

I have a singer 78-3 machine, and have been told on here that the original needle system needles are no longer made and to use 135-16 or 135-17 needles.

I have original singer needles for my patcher that are marked 135 but they are longer from the eye to the point then the needle that came with this machine so when I set the stitch length to the longer end of its adjustment the needle hits the bobbin case and gets pushed back until it lifts a bit then it pops back into line.( this is a needle feed walking foot machine ) I have also been told that singer no longer makes patcher needles but these were bought about 30 years ago ( I bought 100 ) and they are genuine singer with the singer numbers on them and no scarf on the side.

So my question is are the newer 135 needles shorter from the eye to the point if they are then I could use the full stich length adjustment. If I adjust the needle bar high enough so that the needle does not hit the bobbin case at longer stitch length the hook comes at the eye not above it. Being a few thousandths shorter from eye to point would not affect the forming of the stitch I don't think.

[Wizcrafts]

Set the needle bar for the 135x16 needles, then retime the hook to intersect above the eye, inside the scarf.

[catskin]

Thanks Wiz, sounds simple enough BUT everything seems pined to the shafts, the part that moves the hook is definitely pined to the shaft, the part at the end at the bottom right end has a pin AND a screw but I doubt the hole in the shaft is long to allow the part to be moved to change the hook timing. There is another topic on here about timing the hook on a machine but it has screws holding the parts to the shafts. I still would like to know if Schmetz or some other brand of needle would be shorter from eye to point as the needle that came with this machine is,, if so that would solve this problem for me.

Edited June 2, 2014 by catskin