Ted Williams/Shakespeare Sea Wonder 2091

Started by mike1010, October 06, 2015, 07:33:37 PM

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mike1010

This reel came to me recently through a typically generous action of Fred Oakes, who heard me regretting the sale of a Shakespeare Sea Wonder 2070, and sent me this very nice Sears and Roebuck Ted Williams-badged Sea Wonder. See http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=15307.msg158935#msg158935.

As soon as I saw the reel, I knew it was not based on the 2070, which is a small reel, in fact too small.  I like this one much better.  It turns out to be based on the Sea Wonder 2091.




As Fred said, the reel was in great shape but cranking stiffly, and needed service.  I could not find a schematic for any Ted Williams reel or a Sea Wonder 2091, but did find one for a Sea Wonder 2081 here:  http://www.fishingtalks.com/shakespeare-sea-wonder-2081-.-52240.html.  It is very close to this reel, maybe even the same reel mechanically, but that is just a guess.  You might want to open the link and follow along.   I will try to stick to the part names and reference numbers on the schematic.  Some parts that are apparently optional or that vary across reels have codes like "(EC)" attached to them in the schematic parts list.

The main shaft assembly (X20) has some caked grease on it, but doesn't look too bad.  The clutch retaining spring on the top of the drag stack is different from what is in the schematic (X8).  The rear drag washer (X7R) under the spool assembly (X4), appears to be leather.


Here is the drag stack.  In the top row to the left of the knob (officially "drag adjusting nut assembly" (X57), but I have my limits) and spool assembly is the rear drag washer.  In the bottom row from inside the spool are three leather drag washers (X7) alternating with two keyed drag washers (X7K) and an eared drag washer in the middle.


On the back of the spool is a clicker.


The clicker components, left to right, are the washer (X6W), click spring (X5), click pawl (X6), and click pawl screw (X6S).


The bail wire assembly (X45) and bail trip lever (X54) are a sturdy mechanism typical of this reel.


This end of the bail wire assembly holds the line roller (X47) in the roller mounting bracket assembly (X49), and some more that we can't really see until we take off the roller mounting bracket screw (X53).


Now we see the bail torsion spring (X52).   Will "torsion" be a problem when reassembling?


The plastic line roller sleeve (X47S) is in the schematic parts list tagged with an (EC) code and is not in the graphic.  It fits between the roller and bail wire.  I don't know its purpose.  The roller lock nut (X50) has a nylon insert.


Now we have to work with the frame of the reel to be able to get more parts off.

The handle assembly unscrews from the outboard end of the drive gear assembly (X15) shaft in a conventional way, but it is different from my old 2070 and also different from what is shown in the schematic (X14A), and is different in such a way that threading on the shaft has to be different, too.  I wonder if that is just something that changed over time, or if Sears went to that trouble to differentiate their reel.


Things can't get much simpler.


Maybe I should have waited to see the inside of the reel before taking off the throwout lever assembly (X41). The throwout ("eccentric" in the Penn world) has rotated under spring pressure inside the reel so that the flats on its shaft will prevent the lever from easily being put back.  The plastic non-reverse throwout bushing (X39) is still visible on the reel.


All of the Sea Wonder spinners that I have seen have a drive gear shaft oiling screw (X44) that makes lubing the shaft easy, but I think grease may be a better choice here.


To open the frame assembly (X25) remove the three cover screws (X9) and remove the cover assembly (X11).  The non-reverse pawl throwout  (X38) between the reel and side plate dropped out when I opened the frame assembly (X25).  There are several different kinds of grease here, some of them dried to a crust.  It looks like the next thing that needs to come out is that curved aluminum level wind lever (X19).  Say "level wind lever" three times fast.


The level wind pin (X19) just pulls out, freeing the main shaft assembly (X20) to slide forward out of the reel.  



With the main shaft out of the way, we can remove the pickup housing assembly (X2J).  It sits over the front end of, and is driven by, the helical pinion (X23A).  The oval pickup housing lock washer (X55) engages external flats on the pinion and internal flats on the pickup housing.  Two pickup housing nuts (X56) hold the lock washer in place.


Seen on the back of the pickup housing is the rest of the bail trip lever and its spring.


To get the drive gear out, remove the level wind screw (X18) and level wind arm. THE SCREW HAS LEFT-HAND THREADS, AS STATED IN TINY TYPE ON THE SCHEMATIC GRAPHIC.  With a little pushing on the outboard end of the drive gear shaft, and a little jiggling of the pinion, the drive gear should now easily come out.


The drive gear did come out, but it took a little tapping on the end of the shaft with a dowel and a tack hammer.  The shaft had not seen lubrication in a while.  I attribute most of the reel stiffness to that, as the other machinery was moving pretty freely.

The non-reverse ratchet (X16) is not a unit with the drive gear, except for the dried grease holding it there.  There were two shim washers (X16W) inside the ratchet; there could have been more or fewer.  Visible inside the frame at 11 o'clock are the substantial non-reverse pawl (X34), the non-reverse pawl spring (X37) and non-reverse spring washer (X36), and a very small retainer spring (X36S).  CAUTION:  The retainer spring is even more prone to get airborne than your average e-clip or Penn dog spring.  I would not consider going near it except inside a plastic bag.


Here are the non-reverse pawl, pawl spring and washer.  The retainer spring had flown away, but was recovered later.


Still on the reel, with the pinion protruding through, is the cup-shaped bearing cover (X32), which holds the bail brake spring (X29).  Two bearing cover screws (X32S) and one bail trip screws (X33) hold the spring in place and also hold the bearing cover to the frame.  The position of the screws and spring has to be preserved for the bail to trip.


With the drive gear out of the way, and after removing the bail break spring and bearing cover, the pinion bearing and pinion easily slide out.  The bearing is big, seems to be in fine shape, and is the only ball bearing in the reel.  The only thing left in the reel frame is the throwout tension spring (X40).  I will leave it there rather then risk breaking the end that is wrapped around a post peened into the frame.


It's easy to get the seals out of such a big bearing.    I was surprised to find clean grease inside.  I will degrease and repack it anyway.


I had been thinking about leaving the reel foot on, but decided to do the right thing.  This also lets the reel frame fit into the degreasing bath.  I don't have an ultrasonic cleaner, and just let most things sit in a jar of Simple Green for however long it takes.


With degreasing and other cleaning done, it is time to reassemble the reel, reversing steps.  Mostly I used Yamaha marine grease cut with Corrosion-X to cover all internal surfaces and lubricate most of the reel, but hit the smaller rotating parts with straight Corrosion-X before reassembling, and used Cal's purple grease on the drags.  I don't discuss lubrication much more.

The bearing got the carb cleaner treatment instead of Simple Green, and was repacked.


The throwout washer (X42) and shim had been covered by dried grease, stuck to the frame, and invisible.  I'm glad to have found them.


Now it's time to deal with the throwout, and it is tricky.  We have to get the spring under the throwout and the spring end in the little throwout hole.  Then, without losing what we just did, and against spring tension, we have to crank the throwout into position to accept the lever, and get the lever secured with the screw.  The throwout bushing has to be in place, too.

First insert the shim, washer, and throwout.  Don't worry about the relative positions of the spring end and throwout hole just yet.


Then insert the throwout lever screw to keep the throwout from dropping out of the reel as we fiddle with it.  Leave out the bushing and lever to allow enough room to get the spring under the throwout.


Sorry, but there are no pictures of this part of the procedure.  I don't have enough hands.  It is Alan Tani's method for Penn eccentrics and springs.  Get the throwout positioned with the little hole at about 7 o'clock.  Support it from outside the reel to get clearance with the reel frame. Grab the spring with some good, sturdy long-nose pliers, haul it under the throwout, and get the spring end into the small hole.  This may take more than one try.

Hold the spring and throwout in place with one hand, and turn to the outside of the reel.  The throwout is rotated such that the lever cannot yet be installed properly.  Remove the throwout lever screw.  Use the lever, turned around so that the reel does not interfere with it, as a wrench to rotate the throwout counterclockwise into position so that the lever, when turned back around, will fit onto the reel.  I think this idea comes from a Scott's video on YouTube.


I again did not have enough hands to take pictures here.  While holding the throwout in place against the spring with your greasy hand, remove the lever, and then put the bushing and lever in place, securing them with the screw.  This may also take more than one try.


Inside the reel, you will have this.


If working on this reel again, I would think long and hard before taking apart the throwout assembly.  If I did, I would put it back together with as little grease as possible (preferably none), and would grease it only AFTER assembly.

Replace the non-reverse pawl, pawl spring and washer, and retainer spring.  Work with the reel in a plastic bag to keep from losing the retainer spring.


Replace the helical pinion and bearing, and the bearing cover and bail brake spring.



Degreasing let the non-reverse ratchet be separated from the drive gear shaft.  Assemble the gear, ratchet, and shims, and put the assembly in the reel.  You will have to jiggle the pinion to get the drive gear fully in place.



You can reinstall the handle assembly any time now.  Doing it now will keep the drive gear in place.

Using the LEFT-HAND threaded level wind screw, attach the level wind lever to the main gear with the level wind lever washer between the lever and gear.  Grab the flats of the pinion with a wrench to provide resistance for tightening the screw.


Install the pickup housing on the pinion gear using the lock washer and nuts


Insert  the main shaft assembly through the front of the pinion.  Line up the hole in the shaft with the one in the level wind actuator arm, and insert the level wind pin.


At this point, all internals are back in the frame; we might as well button it up.


Now reinstall the bail assembly.  Get the torsion spring and roller mounting bracket in place first, because they are challenging.  Insert the torsion spring. The hooked end that engages the bracket is at 9'oclock, and the slot in the bracket is at 12 o'clock.


The bracket has to be rotated ninety degrees counterclockwise to grab the end of the spring, then rotated back and held firmly to the pickup housing, keeping the spring from escaping while inserting the screw.  This is made more difficult by the shape of the bracket and the fact that spring end does not hook around the bracket.  It just sticks up into it.  I wish I had a better picture, but my hands were pretty full.


Install the line roller and sleeve on the bail wire in the roller mounting bracket.


Attach the other end of the bail wire to the pickup housing.


It might be prudent to try to leave the torsion spring and roller bracket undisturbed if possible on a future service.

Now we move onto the spool and drag stack.

To reinstall the clicker, put the washer and spring in place, and then attach the clicker.  Only when the clicker is installed worry about attaching the spring.  I found it easiest the hook the spring around the clicker before pushing the other end into the little hole in the spool.



I am reinstalling the leather washers for now.  They are working okay.  Don't forget the bottom drag washer before the spool.



The retaining washer is installed just by pushing down on the ears with a screwdriver or similar.  I had some concern about the soundness of this old washer, but it did me the favor of not breaking.


Put the spool back on, reinstall the reel foot, and we are done.



The reel now cranks smoothly and easily.  It is a tough reel, dead simple in design, and well constructed using good materials and beefy components.   The spool, pickup housing, frame, and reel foot are all heavy aluminum castings.  The only stampings are the bearing cover and cover assembly.  The pinion, oversized pinion bearing, and bail wire are stainless.  The bail mechanisms are sturdy, with the possible exception of the torsion spring. Even with the leather washers, the drag starts up smoothly and is strong.  I will fish this reel, probably spooling it with 30 lb. BBG and using it to beat up gator blues on our local party boats.

Fred, thanks again.

Mike

Alto Mare

Another great job by Mike, nice going buddy.
I give you lots of credit on how comfortable you are opening up these vintage reels, I would be worried about losing something.
But then again, you're probably aware that Fred has anything you might need ;D.
Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.

foakes

Great tutorial, Mike --

Also, excellent pics and narration detail.

Thanks!

The code EC denotes a 1968 year model -- the code EM denotes 1969.

Super job!

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

mike1010

Quote from: Alto Mare on October 06, 2015, 08:44:16 PM
Another great job by Mike, nice going buddy.
I give you lots of credit on how comfortable you are opening up these vintage reels, I would be worried about losing something.
But then again, you're probably aware that Fred has anything you might need ;D.

Sal,  "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread," is my explanation.  Losing parts shouldn't be a concern for you, though.  You just replace them all with new stainless, anyway  :).

Fred, thanks for the decoding of EC and EM.

mizmo67

Still reading through your post, but wanted to say thank you for this.

QuoteCAUTION:  The retainer spring is even more prone to get airborne than your average e-clip or Penn dog spring.  I would not consider going near it except inside a plastic bag.

It never occurred to me to slip a plastic bag over the reel to save the spring!

~Mo

Maureen Albertson :)
Scott's Bait & Tackle / Mystic Reel Parts (Formerly PennParts.com)
Contact Me Via Store Website Please!
Orders/Support# +1 (609) 488-4637 (parts ordering or troubleshooting)
customerservice@mysticparts.com

handi2

Before I sold my huge collection of Spinning reels I had all of the Shakespeare reels with many NIB. Many of the Sea Wonders I had the factory manual bail systems.

I kick myself in the butt for selling what I had. Penn, Mitchell, Shakespeare, Quick, etc.

Very strong reels..!!
OCD Reel Service & Repair
Gulf Breeze, FL

mike1010

Maureen, you are welcome.  I would like to call myself the inventor of the plastic bag trick, but I'm not.  Pretty sure I picked it up somewhere here on alantani.com.

mo65

   I happened onto one of these old Shakespeare 2091-A Sea Wonders...and after cleaning it up it appears to be a member of the "beastly built" guild. Like early Penn Spinfishers and D.A.M. Quicks, it has the worm drive gearing and extra-heavy construction. The anti- reverse spring was broken, and the under spool drag washer was missing, but other than that everything seemed to be in place.
   The first pic shows it was really rusty inside...but cleaning revealed why...it's ALL steel! The main, the pinion, the ratchet, the dog, the most steel I ever saw in a stock reel! In the second photo you'll see the stock drag stack. It felt powerful and smooth, but a set of #6-60 Penn drags would drop in easy enough if needed. I used a Penn #4-60 for the washer under the spool. Zoom on that anti-reverse dog and you'll see what I used for a spring. It's a guitar string! Works damn good too! Photo three is after reassembly. I bet if you polished all that steel and applied a good gun blueing you'd have one awesome looking reel. I love the color of these reels...a really bold statement from a time when other manufacturers were hung up on black and brown. 8)
~YOU CAN TUNA GEETAR...BUT YOU CAN'T TUNA FEESH~


Midway Tommy

#8
The "A"s were Shakespeare's last USA hurrah before farming out to the Japanese manufacturers. Interestingly, the 2091A is the same reel as the Ted Williams 930. They're well made reels. I like your spring adaptation, Mike.  :) Probably quite a bit stronger than the original.  I wonder, though, if a single strand "G" string would accumulate less dirt & grit. Just a thought. I save the 3 worn out high strings for similar situations. Used an "E" sting to replace the wire on a boiled egg slicer once and a "B" string to replace the wire on a cheese slicer. The quality strings don't rust.  ;)  Making parts from scratch is fun and rewarding!  8)  
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

Crow

There's nothing wrong with a few "F's" on your record....Food, Fun, Flowers, Fishing, Friends, and Fun....to name just a few !

happyhooker

Interesting read--just found it.  Will keep it in mind; someday, I'd like to get into that group of Shakespeares a little more.  I gather the "Royal Maroon" series included the 2052, 2062, 2081 and 2091, even though the last 2 ("Sea Wonders") weren't really the same as the smaller reels. There was also something called a "Sport Wonder 2068" that might be considered part of the series, but was only offered for 2 yrs.  I think all of these had the 6-disk drag with leather washers which, for their time, were considered among the best drag set-ups in spinning reels.

I wonder, did the "A" (like in 2091A) signify any real big change from the plain 'ole 2091?  I know the 2062s, for example changed over the years (diff. spool, black handle vs. chrome, etc.), but I don't think they added an "A" to the 2062 just for those changes.

Frank

Midway Tommy

#11
In 1970 Shakespeare decided to cheapen their spinners and give the exclusive sales rights to KMart. The main change was to eliminate the two piece folding handle and go to a one piece screw on handle with a plastic dust cover. They changed the 2062 metal spool to plastic and some of the later reels had a plastic ratchet gear.

The 2068 was somewhat of a transition reel. The previous models were the dark charcoal gray 2064 & 2065 (same exact reels they just changed the 4 to a 5), 2070, 2080 & 2090. The 2068 came in '63, toward the end of those reels and near the beginning "maroons". The 2062 took the place of the 2065 and the 2071, 2081 & 2091 were similar in size to, and took the place of, the 0s. The 2068 is a little hard to come by and when in nice condition bring a fairly high price in comparison to the other models. Some people feel the 2068 may be one of the finest spinning reels ever manufactured in the US, especially from that era.

Shakespeare bought Pflueger in 1966 and in '67 Pflueger came out with the 550, 551 & 600 Supremes. They were a light/medium gray color and were the exact same reels as the early 2052, 2062 & 2081, only more expensive.

Shakespeare also made reels for Wright McGill/Eagle Claw. They were the earlier models and bronze in color. The ECH is the same as the 2081, the ECL is the same as the 2052 and the ECM is the same as the 2062.

The Ted Williams spinners made by Shakespeare were the later cheapened models.

All the above mentioned Shakespeare made spinning reels had the multiple disc drag system. 
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

happyhooker

I was hoping you'd still be monitoring these posts, Tommy, as I figured you'd have an insight on these Shakespeares.

Funny, you mention reels made by Shakespeare for Wright-McGill/Eagle Claw, as I was just reading something about the Eagle Claw "Mediterranean" spinning reels and noticed the designations of models by ECO, ECQ, ECP, ECR, ECRU, ECS and ECU, all in a brown color.  These would have been from the mid-1970s, and so I gather would not be in the same grouping as the 3 models you noted.  But, did Shakespeare have a hand in them too, do you know?  Seems like the mid-'70s would have been the time when Shakespeare and Eagle Claw were getting reels from Japan.

Frank

Midway Tommy

Frank,

Models ECO, ECQ, ECP, ECR, ECRU, ECS and ECU, all were made by Ofmer of Italy. There was also a large saltwater model, ECT. They were  all the standard Wright & McGill bronzeish color, including the Shakespeare models. The Shakespeare models started around '68 and the Ofmers came in the early '70s. The Ofmers are very high quality reels. You are correct, they went to Japanese manufactures in the mid/late '70s.   
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

happyhooker

Wow, Italian Eagle Claws; who'd a thunk it, when the flow seemed to be toward Asia, the Italians had still had some bullets left.

Frank

Tommy, I thought I had replied to your 12/2 posts earlier, but I must've hit the wrong button, or it got lost, or....