Penn 80 Travesty

[thorhammer]

I picked up this old warhorse for a fair price a bit ago; going to get on it and put this one in service as a wahoo meat reel for high speed trolling  / planer rig. It deserves much better than it got;I've got it broken down and already looking better than this pic. John (Tightlines 666) is helping me figure out out best belleville placement for the intended application.

I don't understand why someone would spend hundreds of bucks on a piece of fine equipment and do this to it...


Oh, and please, please, please don't dremel your name into both sides of an International...

[thorhammer]

Debating on upgrading stand and clamp from Cal's but not sure I want to go in another buck and quarter.

[foakes]

John,

If it were me, I would hold off on the clamp and stand for now -- see where you are at.

Check under the hood, first...

Rebuild and restore the reel, if it makes sense to do so -- new drag, etc

Then, if after getting it operational to your satisfaction -- look for a used stand and clamp on our site or ebay.  Or, if you did not end up spending too much -- go ahead and get the stand and clamp.

The problem becomes -- as we get into these Internationals -- that a seemingly insignificant interior part/parts may need replacing -- and that could cost $100 - $300.  Best to do the reel first before any exterior upgrades.

My rule of thumb on these, is -- whatever we spend for the reel, we could spend that much or more again, just on bringing it back to whole -- just for parts.

So, a guy could  have $600 - $700 into a $300 reel -- so you need to diagram your plan for completion on these.  That is what I advise clients when they bring me a thrashed International or Tiagra.

Just my opinions.

Looking forward to seeing your results on this one.

As you know, John over in the Islands is your strongest resource on these -- along with others like Chad & Keith.

Best,

Fred

[thorhammer]

Fred, agree completely...I'm in $240 as of now, and I'm good with that for an 80-class meat reel. Drags, clamp, and stand gets it to four bills....I could've just bought a really nice 80 TW for that. I'm not after marlin or bluefin, so although high speed trolling puts some stress on it, I think it will be fine as is. I previously used Everol Super 50's on Star 50 lb rods just fine, so these set-ups should fill the bill (the other is an 80T).

John

[David Hall]

I have a couple of really nice 750.00 internationals i could easily sell for 250.00 each!
Buy hi sell lo

[johndtuttle]

Yea, those poor old war horses get miles of line left on them for years and get left on boats in the harbor far too long.