I am picking up a craftsman model 101.07403 12" lathe tomorrow and I am a
bit confused on the actual bed length, and the 'between centers' dimension.

I searched the web and newsgroups for this model lathe and found it to be
called a 12"x24" and a 12"x36" lathe. Does it come in two sizes?

The person I am purchasing it from actually measured the distance between
the front of the 3 jaw chuck (mounted on the headstock) and the front tip of
the tailstock without anything installed into it. It measured at around
30". So you can see why I am confused. Is this lathe considered to have
24" or 36" between centers. He also stated it has a 40" bed, but I think
he is measuring with a tape measure and not quite sure where to measure from
since I believe these only came in 42" and 54" beds. The lathe is mounted
on a 60" long table, with about 4 to 6 inches of exposed table (length).
So this leads me to believe the overall length of the lathe is around 54".
I am really confused now.

The only problem with the lathe (which he doesn't consider a problem) is
that the threads on the feedscrew right near the headstock are starting to
show a little wear. He said it should not affect anything, but wanted to
disclose every thing he noticed. Also, there is a bit of backlash on the
carriage. He said by slightly tightening the gibs he can eliminate that
problem. I priced a new leadscrew from sears, just in case it was really
bad, and they want $543.33. Is there any other source or way to replace
this item if needed.

One last question, I want to put a quick change gearbox on it. Will this
adapt to this lathe since it did not originally come with it?

Thanks for the help. If it looks clean and everything works as stated, I
will be happy. He is letting it go for $600.00. I think it is a fair
price.