Consew 206RB Needle and Feed Dog issue

[Fixer35]

Greetings from a new member but longtime lurker. Purchased my first machine, Consew 206RB. Not -1 thru -5.  Just RB.  Lady had it for some time on her closed in porch and there is rust scarring on some shafts. Somebody in the past tried to pretty it up with paint and new parts, but that wasn’t obvious at first to a newby. Some noticeable wear on a part or two. I’ve been learning with research (leatherworker.net) and some great videos.

Problem.   Cannot get the feed dog to align in the needle plate and have the needle be centered in the feed dog hole, left to right. Front to back is an easy adjustment.

Obvious new feed dog and needle plate.  Needle bar rock frame position bracket is securely keeping the needle bar rock frame in position.  I am surprised that the screw holes in the feed dog allow for some movement of the feed dog around the screws. The screws appear original and have vertical shoulders, (sometimes called a cheese head screw).  Needle plate screws look to be original oval head machine screws and correctly center the plate.  When the needle plate is removed, the feed dog can be positioned to allow the needle to be centered. New needle correctly installed to eliminate that question. I suspect that the feed dog and needle plate are not precisely made. Other posts have indicated that there is some lack of precision and crappy parts out there in the replacement market.  

Some concern that the feed base may not be correctly aligned. Feed base support pin screws in the feed rock shaft base look new and maybe too long. Feed base is very close to, if not touching, the tip of hook supporting plate, also new. I don’t know if that is proper. Somebody has been in there before based on that, new parts, and an old needle bar and hook supporting plate in the junk drawer.

 What do you think? File down the feed dog and make it work or get a new feed dog and needle plate? Should the feed base be that close to the hook supporting plate? I can’t find documentation on feed base alignment.    

Thanks in advance.