The Ugly Duckling 970 Project Update: Updated 10/9/18

[xjchad]

**I think all the pictures are fixed and working now.**

I got what I thought was a sweet deal on this 970 Mag Power on ebay.  The pictures were bad but it was listed as best offer and I kept bugging the seller with lower offers till I got it.  Turned out to be a bit worse off than it looked so he probably still got the better end of the deal  
Anyway, I love my 990 that I use for surf fishing on my 12' Prevail and wanted to build this reel for the Tsunami Airwave I just picked up.
Warning, the following pictures might make you loose your appetite...













This reel will definitely test my abilities, but I have high hopes and some help from Adam and Sal to boost my confidence  

[thorhammer]

Chad, from what I see, you may not be as bad off as you think....the plates, rings and spool just look dirty as far as i can tell. The star and lever are both readily available, someone prolly has a 10-349 star and 200 shift lever laying around in better shape. I have a 970 / 980 handle in good shape I'll send you FOC. Note, any handle that fits the 113H sleeve works, though. I put an all-black flat rubber counterbalanced handle from 330GTI on mine and it works great for what I do with it; I don't need a power handle for it. Your MAIN focus should be disassembly / reassembly without breaking off screws. If it were mine, I would first take off handle and anything else that comes free readily and drop the whole thing in a white vinegar 50 / 50 bath for a day. You may try to loosen plate screws first but notorious for being over-torqued by people and breaking into posts or cracking plates. Normally I degrease before vinegar but those parts are getting difficult to come by if you break one. Note: simple green is aggressive on aluminum. I would personally hand clean those rings and spool rather than a soak, but that's IMO. No need to be impatient on this one. You can also replace the clamp setup with some other stock parts. IF you can get the existing ones out, and replace with SS studs from HD or Lowe's, a Strikemaster clamp is a great option (from Charkbait). Lemme know and I can get handle out Tuesday when I get home.

[Decker]

I agree with John's comments, and have bought uglier Penn Mags.  You can save yourself $30-60 on these reels by buying ugly.   Pulling the plates off can be a bear, so be careful.

[Swami805]

On the up side it has the original screws for the clamp, Those aren't easy to find

[xjchad]

Your MAIN focus should be disassembly / reassembly without breaking off screws. If it were mine, I would first take off handle and anything else that comes free readily and drop the whole thing in a white vinegar 50 / 50 bath for a day. You may try to loosen plate screws first but notorious for being over-torqued by people and breaking into posts or cracking plates. Normally I degrease before vinegar but those parts are getting difficult to come by if you break one. Note: simple green is aggressive on aluminum. I would personally hand clean those rings and spool rather than a soak, but that's IMO. No need to be impatient on this one. You can also replace the clamp setup with some other stock parts. IF you can get the existing ones out, and replace with SS studs from HD or Lowe's, a Strikemaster clamp is a great option (from Charkbait). Lemme know and I can get handle out Tuesday when I get home.

John,
Too late.... I already broke off one of the stand screws  
I ordered a couple more from PennParts so I just need to get the broken piece out of the stand now.
Thanks for the advice on the cleaning aspencts!
I really like those Strikemaster clamps, I'll have to look into those, thanks!
I'm good to go on a handle and star, hopefully a new shifter lever too.
Also have a few other goodies on the way  

[thorhammer]

Sweet. keep us up to date with pics on this one. what Penn-head doesn't like to see  Magpower back to life!

[xjchad]

Thanks John, the vinegar soak worked.
Got it apart today. Not too pretty, but not horrible.
Only broke off one stand bolt, thankfully mysticparts had them so I ordered a couple.
The eccentric spring was missing so I ordered one of those as well.








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

[thorhammer]

That reel found the right home. It aint know no lovin, clearly, lol.

[xjchad]

Well it looks like this reel may stay an ugly duckling, at least on the outside.  My plans for the visual bling factor keep getting blocked, so I'm proceeding with rest of the upgrades and if the plans to pretty it up don't come through then I'll fish it as is.  I have an event on the 31st that I want it ready for.

On a positive note, I finished the double dog today  

[Decker]

Rugged good looks beat bling! Nice job on the double-dog, Chad. Could you adapt one of your magnet knobs to this reel? Would be nice to have a magnet that can be finger-adjusted on the 970.

[Alto Mare]

Nice job on the DD Chad😉

Best,

Sal

[xjchad]

Rugged good looks beat bling! Nice job on the double-dog, Chad. Could you adapt one of your magnet knobs to this reel? Would be nice to have a magnet that can be finger-adjusted on the 970.

"Rugged", I like that, thanks!
Don't know why I didn't think about adapting a knob to the mag, great idea! I'm on it!

Nice job on the DD Chad😉

Best,

Sal

Thank you Sal!
Couldn't have done it without all your great info!

[gstours]

Thanks for your post/pictures.  You did great.  And showed us how.   That's what makes this place great 🎣

[Carl L]

I usually buy reels in worse condition than that !!  You did a fine job with that Chad !!  Please post pics of your catch when you use it😁..

[Decker]

Don't know why I didn't think about adapting a knob to the mag, great idea! I'm on it!

Chad,  think that would be very useful for the 970, 980, and 990, and would be willing to buy a few.  It would be nice too if it were possible to install a larger magnet.