The Sailfisher 130 Project

mo65 · January 13, 2018, 08:58:42 PM

Here's a reel I knew nothing about, but the more I looked at it, the more I liked it. It's not a reel with parts that are easily found. Some of it's parts are used only on Sailfishers, like the odd size gear sleeve. This limits cross use of other parts like the main gear, drag washers, even the tension spring/wave washer. I wanted to tinker with one of these babies so I found a decent one to tear into.
These first two pics show what I bought. It's no shelf queen...could use a face lift for sure...but fully functional. Look close and you'll see it's loaded with old lead core line. The first thing I did was remove that.

Wow, the spool is clean under that line. Obviously that line has been dry, or it would have been corroded under it. The rest of the reel is going to need a vinegar bath. This is a strong reel, with a top post and lugs, and a 6 screw stand. I like the large #24-49 handle too.

After removing the head plate and seeing the condition inside it, I'm convinced this is another reel that wasn't fished. When you see these reels that are clean inside the side plate and under the line, but corroded on all exposed areas, it's a safe bet it has just been sitting around in the salt air.

It's a roll of the dice when you dip these corroded parts in vinegar. Sometimes the chrome peels off in chunks, leaving you with parts so ugly you wonder why you even tried to clean them! Then other times...like on this reel...the parts come out great. It all depends on how deep the corrosion is into the brass, and you really can't tell just by looking. You just have to go for it...and cross your fingers. The only seriously damaged part is the tension spring/wave washer, but I had to use it, as a normal size tension spring won't slide over that goofy size gear sleeve.

You may have noticed I have the original drag washers in the parts photo above. That's because I'm actually going to use them. Normally I would change to greased carbon fiber discs...but this time I wanted to test the old style set up...and I was surprised how well it worked. The Sailfisher's drag stack is as odd as it gets for a Penn. A 5-stack...2 leather and 3 red fiber discs. What's that? Yep, the same red fiber discs used under the gear on all vintage Penn reels. I was dumbfounded, it produced 17lbs. easily. It wasn't as smooth as greased carbon fiber...but it was damn close...very usable. Back in the day these leather and red fiber drags were used dry, but I put a light smear of Cal's on them, because it's my party.

Holy Cannoli, this thing looks a lot better than I anticipated. I need to buy a new spool of 40lb. mono, what's on the reel is all I had. I'll probably change that drag stack to carbon fiber also, because I have an itch to fish this dude. It would make a killer catfishing reel. After sitting and gazing at it a while I had a revelation. This reel is a bigger, faster, stronger Long Beach 60! How about that? A Penn custom, from way back in the early 1950s.

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STRIPER LOU · January 13, 2018, 09:13:19 PM

Looks very nice Mo. For some reason, the chrome on these reels, especially the rings seems to be quite heavy. The only reason I know this as I've stripped a few.

The plastic take a nice sheen too.

Love it with the red handle and just an overall great job! Excellent work Bud!

.............Lou

thorhammer · January 13, 2018, 09:20:09 PM

Mo! That's your sea bass reel. No question. I just rebuilt mine and it will take jiggy drags with a few rats Tail strokes. Sand the wavy and rattle can it black and call it done. This actually may be the perfect bass reel. I thought it overbuilt fir sailfish. You can pop in a power handle fir the trip. Or not. Btw it takes a 33-49 clamp.

Shark Hunter · January 13, 2018, 09:50:13 PM

Nice Job on that reel Mo.

mo65 · January 13, 2018, 10:15:15 PM

Quote from: thorhammer on January 13, 2018, 09:20:09 PM
Sand the wavy and rattle can it black and call it done. Btw it takes a 33-49 clamp.

I believe I will sand that wavy...it may be contributing roughness. Hey...the clamp...it's on the reel in the first two pics. I yanked it off and forgot about it...Ha! I think you're right John, with a full spool she'd be a great bass reel.

Thanks also Lou and Daron.

Alto Mare · January 13, 2018, 11:34:37 PM

Sweet looking reel Mo, enjoy it!

Sal

Cor · January 14, 2018, 04:02:42 AM

Looks good again from where you started! Nice work.

basto · January 14, 2018, 05:15:57 AM

Hey Mo
That drag stack of 2 leather and 3 red fibre washers is exactly what I found in two 3/0 senators.

cheers Basto

mo65 · January 14, 2018, 03:16:50 PM

Quote from: basto on January 14, 2018, 05:15:57 AM
Hey Mo
That drag stack of 2 leather and 3 red fibre washers is exactly what I found in two 3/0 senators.

Very interesting Basto...I found this same stack in a Long Beach 66...so it appears folks were converting other models to the Sailfisher set up. It must have performed well for this to be happening. I can say that in my tests it was much better than a stack of all leather or even the old brake lining discs. Those set ups are famous for "chattering" at high settings. The Sailfisher set up didn't do that, it was less pronounced as it varied, smoother. I actually hit 20lbs. on the scale, but by backing off to 17lbs. it pulled more to our liking.
I read many of the older threads here pertaining to the Sailfisher 130 while I was working on mine. Most folks had converted their reels to a carbon fiber 5-stack...making 20-25lbs. of drag. I'd like to do this too...but...having the stock brass gear sleeve under that kind of load might be trouble. Here's my idea: Instead of 5 carbon fiber washers, substitute one or two with a Delrin washer. Not only should that hold max power to 15-20lbs., it should also be super smooth.

Bill B · January 15, 2018, 06:06:20 PM

Good save Mo......I was doubting your sanity after looking at the first photos, but it cleaned up really well....Im assuming you used the dish soap/ baking soda mixture for the initial clean up.....Bill

mo65 · January 15, 2018, 07:08:27 PM

Quote from: Bill B (Tarfu) on January 15, 2018, 06:06:20 PM
Good save Mo......I was doubting your sanity after looking at the first photos, but it cleaned up really well....Im assuming you used the dish soap/ baking soda mixture for the initial clean up.....Bill

Correct Bill, after the vinegar soak I cleaned the parts with the dish soap/baking soda method. The baking soda bubbles like crazy as it neutralizes the vinegar. I believe it's some sort of "oxy-clean" deal, those scrubbing bubbles work.

boon · January 16, 2018, 02:00:46 AM

Try scaling the reel again with a full spool... if you got 17lb with it that empty I'll be surprised if it gets to 10lb with the spool full.

Carl L · January 16, 2018, 03:20:53 AM

I can't get enough of this.. Nice job Mo ! Now I gotta put a sailfisher on my list ha... p.s. I think the red knobs make em' fish better.... Carl

mo65 · January 16, 2018, 04:14:36 AM

Quote from: boon on January 16, 2018, 02:00:46 AM
Try scaling the reel again with a full spool... if you got 17lb with it that empty I'll be surprised if it gets to 10lb with the spool full.

Recently I've been testing drags at 3/4 to 1/2 spool...it only makes sense. I doubt if I ever hook a fish at full spool.

mo65 · February 12, 2018, 09:27:51 PM

Earlier in this thread I mentioned a hybrid drag stack because I was uncomfortable with the amount of power a carbon fiber 5-stack can develop in this reel. With no steel gear sleeve option you could get into trouble here, as that carbon fiber 5-stack can hit the 25lb.+ mark. Let's put a governor on it...cap it at 20 pounds. Here's the proposed drag stack. I subbed the top carbon fiber disc with a Delrin washer. This is to loose some power, the Delrin doesn't bite like the carbon fiber. Hopefully, it will contribute no power. I'll be happy if it just scrubs a few pounds off, just to safeguard my stock brass sleeve. The carbon fiber discs are Penn HT-100s, and the washer at the far left is the under gear Delrin.

Since I had to increase the inside diameter of these drag washers I slipped them all on a #98-155 gear sleeve. I then taped them together so I could slip them back off the sleeve but held in place.

The 130's sleeve is only a few thousandths bigger than a #98-155 so a little dremeling should put us in business.

BOOYAH! They slid right on the 130's gear sleeve. The 130's sleeve was a bit sloppy, so I added a shim behind it while I was under the hood.

I also stated earlier the stock wave washer was bugging me...so I replaced it too...with a big ol' honkin' 9/0 Senator wave washer! It's so much thicker I didn't need the spacer, the pic below shows the 9/0 washer above the stock washer and spacer. Now the drag star reacts like I always wished they would. Instead of going from 0 to full on within a half a turn it has more range.

What reel hop-up would be complete without some stainless steel? Since no gear sleeve is available, this stainless yoke should get us by...

I greased all the drags with Cal's, filled 'er up with new 40lb. mono, and broke out the scale. It smoothly reached 19lbs...fully tightened star was barely over 20lbs...success!! I feel like with that power cap, plus the perfectly tight fit of Ted's handle, I can fish this puppy with confidence.