Basket case Bantam 200

[Florida Cracker]

This one was given to me a couple months back and now she fishes again. It was covered with green corrosion and barely turned. I had one similar in the early 80's and loved it (Bantam 100) so I quickly got to work on her. Didn't paint it, but I will soon.
It's currently on an Ugly Stik Inshore Select rod. (yes, I like Ugly Stiks).

[xjchad]

Cool!
I love the look of those older lowpro baitcasters!

[happyhooker]

She's a beauty--another one "saved".

Frank

[Bill B]

Good save brother.....my bantam 10x is my go to....Bill

[mo65]

Love those Bantams! 

[festus]

Good looking Bantam.  What's the difference between the 200 and 100, line capacity?

[Florida Cracker]

I'm not sure.

[nelz]

Nice reels except for...

The level wind, all the stainless steel Bantam's I've owned had it fail. Never had an Abu fail!

Also, the crappy plastic sideplate always cracks around the screw holes and is totally inconsistent with the all-metal construction on the rest of the reel.

I had a gear sleeve wear out on my 400 so now the main gear is off center too.

Never had so many problems in one reel model, I've owned a couple of 400's. Otherwise, they're great!  

[Florida Cracker]

They just need a little TLC and some sweet talking. Your a pretty reel... a pretty, pretty reel.

[oc1]

In their day, the Bantams were an important part of a revolution.  Low profile for palming, disengaging levelwind.  A disengaging levelwind will get more lateral pressure though so maybe there was a learning curve to beef that up.  The plastic side plate is mostly for comfort and cosmetics.  You can throw it away and still fish the reel.  In its heyday, grinding down the tail plate to make it palm even better was sort of a thing to do.
-steve