Upgrading drags on a 700&704

[Alto Mare]

Here are a couple of options to upgrade your drags on the 700 series reels.
These will also work on the newer Penn 704Z&706Z. That's right, we also upgrade the latest brand new reels from Penn here :

On the left I'm showing a 700 spool, drilled round from Penn. The orange arrow shows the new upgrade and the green arrow shows the stock washers.
The first metal washer has a little glue, you could pop it off with a small flat head screwdriver fro the underside. You will replace that washer with a thinner eared washer with the ears sanded off.

On the right I'm showing the 704 spool, drilled in the shape of an octagon.
On this one keep the first octagon metal washer in the spool and start from there.

The new keyed metal washers That I'm using are from Bryan Young and are  .47mm in thickness.
The Carbon Fiber sheet is from Dawn ( Smoothdrag.com ) and is .50mm in thickness.
A perfect fit on both.
Sal

[Cone]

Very nice Sal.    You always start something that ends up costing us money! 
Bob

[Alto Mare]

Very nice Sal.    You always start something that ends up costing us money! 
Bob

Ok Bob, no more suggestions from me , well maybe just one more:
Replace the Teflon washer with a Delrin washer for under the spool, part # 60-710

[Doug]

Ok Sal  Now I understand , The post I saw on this you where using the original metal washers and a 3 stack drag  with this version  you have a 5 stack and new thin metals .  Doug

[Alto Mare]

Ok Sal  Now I understand , The post I saw on this you where using the original metal washers and a 3 stack drag  with this version  you have a 5 stack and new thin metals .  Doug

Correct!
You could try with the (3) and see how it feels to you, it is still a good upgrade.
If you're going with (3), use the stock keyed washers and get yourself a carbon fiber sheet in .90mm from Erik:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Carbon-Fiber-Drag-Sheet-Fishing-Reel-Upgrade-/121243650722?pt=US_Taxidermy&var=&hash=item1c3aaf4aa2
The (3) washer stack is stronger, but the (5) would make it a little smoother.
both are a better choice.

[Alto Mare]

The older vintage 700 series could also be upgraded, actually even better. You will need to cut the slots
I like the first metal washer not to rotate


don't forget the Delrin for under the spool


and a nice fit


If you want to give it a shot, go for it, it took me about a minute.
I used a dremel and did it freehand, the bit that I used came from Newell Nut (Dwight), he could probably let us know where he got it from.
some grease should  work for the slots.
I easily doubled the numbers on the drag, I did not test with the scale, but could tell.
This is a nice upgrade and the reel should be able to handle it nicely, lots of travel with the drags.
I'm not sure if the .50mm octagon cf washers will hold up in the 704-706 and The SS series, I know the .90mm with the (3) stack do.
It would be nice to get Bryan to make us some octagon metal washers of the same thickness as the kit,
we wouldn't have to worry then.... (5) washers sure feel nice.

Sal

[CroMonty]

How much you reckon an upgraded drag can handle on newer 704z?!

[Alto Mare]

How much you reckon an upgraded drag can handle on newer 704z?!

I would say around 20/22 lbs.
Penn is listing their 704 at 15lbs, I think they went up a little from the previous numbers, they probably realized the reel was underrated. The Z series are built like tanks, to me even better tan their V series and those have some crazy numbers on drags.
Their reels are just fine as they are, but if you want to experiment, get yourself some .90mm carbon fiber sheets and make yourself some octagon washers. The (3) washer stack is the best at the moment, this will give you (5) working surfaces on the drags.
The reel will feel smoother and the drags will increase.
When Bryan gets back, I will ask if he could make us some octagon metal washers of the same thickness as his kits.
That will feel very nice, I'm already experiencing it on the older 700.

[CroMonty]

Tnx Alto

[SacFly]

It's nice to see the 704 family of reels getting some love.  Even with the standard upgraded drag stack and greased washers I get smooth drag at a tighter setting than I fish the reels at.  It would be interesting to see how your upgrades compare.

[Doug]

The 700 series is still very popular here on the East Coast. I see quite a few still being used to surf fish. There must be a pretty good demand for them for Penn to bring back the 704z after not producing it for 30 some years. Can you imagine if GM or Ford reintroduced a car they made in the 70's?    Doug

[CroMonty]

Doug, they were not produced for about 10 years.

[Doug]

Youre are right  I was thinking about the green ones  Doug

[Alto Mare]

Doug, they knew what they were doing .

Sacfly, yes you're right, these are nice reels out of the box. Increasing drags will make that reel even smoother at the numbers you're  fishing it at and it is nice to have a little more in reserve for when needed.

By the way, I tested the drags on the 700 and was very pleased, no effort turning the knob to get it to 20lb. I recommend what I did on the 700 to everyone.
On the 704, I would like to get some custom octagon metal washers, but the (3) will sure help it.

[Newell Nut]

I used a dremel and did it freehand, the bit that I used came from Newell Nut (Dwight), he could probably let us know where he got it from.
[/quote]

http://www.kyoceratycom.com/products/pcb_routers_series4100.html

Okay guys it has been a long time ago since I bought any of these cutters since they last a very long time. They are designed for cutting circuit boards. Scroll to the bottom of the link to see the numbers for the ones that I use. 1/8 is the largest size. You may find something you like better. They are eating machines and tough.