penn 85 upgrades????

[fishhawk]

Good day gentleman n women! Is there any newell upgrades for the little penn 85? Like Bars or clamps? Doesn't have to be newell just something a little different'
Thanx

[Ron Jones]

Oh, how I wish.
The 85 is a very popular reel just the way it is, Newell didn't do anything with it. You can add a 60 base from Penn that will add a clamp and significantly increase the strength of the reel. If you have a steel main gear then you can add Bryan's drag kit and a SS gear sleeve. With a metal spool, you are just about done. Newell long cast bushings fit, but I don't know that they are any better than bronze with modern lubricants.

With the upgrades I've described you have a reel that will fish 40# braid all day, just make sure you don't get the line between the inner ring and the spool. I run my girls reels with 300 yards of 30# solid braid and the rest of the spool filled with 30# mono and I love these reels.

Hope that helps.
Ron

[fishhawk]

Thanx Ron! I was waiting on parts for my jigmasters n decided I would tinker with my old 85 and fell in love with it! I'm going to put carbontex washers in it and a jigmaster handle and was thinking of bars that would be really cool huh!
thanx again!
  Mark

[Ron Jones]

Bars would be great, unfortunately, the reel isn't known as a performance reel and so it was never worked over by a custom shop. I still think a right side plate that allowed jigmaster gears would be fantastic in this reel. Much cheaper than the Tiburon 112HN kit with esentially the same capacity. This diameter reel fits my hand better than a 4/0 or Jigmaster as far as casting.

Ron

[SteveL]

You can add a 60 base from Penn that will add a clamp and significantly increase the strength of the reel.

What's the part number on the 60 base with clamp?  I am only seeing 30-60 bases without attachment for rod clamp.

BTW, mysticparts.com shows the 30-60 base for both the 60 and 85 reels

"Edited as per Moderators to correct Scott's Bait & Tackle over to their new store name Mystic Reel Parts / www.mysticparts.com"

[Shark Hunter]

I used a 30-66 on this one with 112H Bars.

[fishhawk]

thanx everyone! A word of warning to those that are encouraged to clean one of these reels, Dont pull the bridge! For whenever I removed mine The dog n spring came from ? I see no pin for it to mount on nor a place for the spring to rest and the schematics don't show enough! Luckily on flebay you can purchase the bridge,gears, sideplate and all for less than $ 10.00 lol

[Shark Hunter]

That little spring is easy to lose. The dog placement is just like any other older penn. The bridge screw holds it in place. There is a spot on the side plate  for the spring when you sit the dog in place.

[Keta]

My 85 is a dust collector but they are a nice "60" like reel. 

[SteveL]

I used a 30-66 on this one with 112H Bars.

Didn't that require a change of the spool from 60 & 85 width (1-13/16") to 66 & 99 width (2-1/8")?  If so, do you recall which spool you used?

[Shark Hunter]

The Long beach spool fits right in. 66 spool and stand.

[SteveL]

The Long beach spool fits right in. 66 spool and stand.

That's good to know. 

Given the choice of the 60 or 85, I like the 60 better.  Given the option of widening the 60 or 85 to 66 width, I would rather have the 66 due the to slightly beefier gear and more drag.   

I really like the 2/0 (roughly the same gears as the 66) with same spool as the 60 and 85. 

[fishhawk]

thanx for the info! This site has some very knowledgable people that are willing to share and in this day and age I find that a rarity! Keep up the good work men!

[mhc]

The Long beach spool fits right in. 66 spool and stand.

Daron shouldn't that be 65 spool and 66 stand, to make a replica 'Deaf Guy's 86'

[Shark Hunter]

You are correct. I was waiting for someone to catch that.
I purchased the spool as a replacement for a long beach.
It came from ebay, so it is possible it could be for a 66.
Since the stand is a 66, I don't want to give incorrect info.