I haven't heard of that too many times on a Smith-Corona.  Turn the machine on its back and take off the bottom cover.  Press the shift key and try to get a type bar up to the platen.  Watch how the basket reacts to shifting--whether it goes down straight, or takes a little curve either to the front or to the back.  Also, take the basket by the type bar guide and try to move it backward or forward to see if it moves.  If it does, the shifting tracks may be loose, and that may be your problem.  Also, check to see if there is something lodged between the bottom cover (if your machine has one) and the bottom of the basket.  The cover itself may be slightly bent enough to cause interference.  Also, check for anything else unusual.  Let me know how you come out.  Good luck.

it seems as though this device gets stuck behind something http://imgur.com/TPYrBCZ http://i.imgur.com/HLTwrZH.jpg sorry for the garbage photos it is currently night time.

Oh yes, how many have I seen and gone through where some booger-meister has been there before me.  Had a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, thought they could fix the world and save themselves a bunch of money.  And, ashamed to say, sometimes that booger-meister has been me.