Tony, I've got a 1942 South Bend 9 x 24 (between centers) in my shop, fully equiped except for taper attachment. You're welcome to try it out to see if this fits your needs (note to readers: Tony lives in the same town as I do!).
If I was going to get a different lathe, however, I'd go for a used South Bend 10", which is much stiffer (important for accuracy, particularly with carbide cutting tools) and has a cam-type chuck holder, rather than threaded as on the 9". Also, the taper attachment is much better than that available for the 9" and the drive for the apron uses a separate drive, rather than the lead screw. The 9" (and perhaps other small lathes) uses the lead screw both for threading and for longitudinal feed. The problem is wear - the lead screw wears in the 2-3" in front of the chuck due to its regular use as a feed drive. Bigger (and more expensive) lathes have a separate lead screw for threading independent of the drive shaft (usally a spline) for feed. Jeff
