Pflueger Supreme Model 1576

[mike1010]

A fishing buddy found this at an estate auction, and, knowing my interest in reels, gave it to me.  There was no identifying information beyond what you see in the pictures.  The name "Pflueger Supreme" is still used today, and is about as specific as "Chevy Impala."  Google searches suggest this reel is a model 1576, which went into production in 1964.

I knew nothing about the reel.  It obviously had a slip drag because of the star, and the little knob at 11 o'clock on the head plate appeared to be cast control, but there was no working anti-reverse, and I wondered about free spool.  So going through the reel was an exercise in discovering what was there and how it should work.




It turns out that the reel has a disengaging anti-reverse that was stuck in the off position.  There is free spool, and the free spool and drag mechanisms are different from others I've seen.  The main gear is always engaged with the pinion gear.  Free spool happens by disengaging the main gear from the drag.

There are no ball bearings in this reel. The side plates appear to be nickel-plated brass.

Earlier models of the Supreme lack free spool slip drags, and anti-reverse, typical of older bait casters.  Later models have more conventional drive trains.

This presentation focuses on the drive train, especially the free spool mechanism. With no schematic yet, I have to make up names for the unfamiliar pieces.  I'm omitting discussion of cleaning and lubrication, as I just did the usual things practiced by folks on alantani.com.  

The hard, white gunk on the tail plate appears to be from a rubber cover that rotted.  I think this because of a picture of such a cover that I found somewhere on the web, but cannot find now :-<.


There were several kinds of line on the reel.  Under them was a very nice aluminum spool.  The clearances between the spool and side plates are close enough that you could probably fish spectra.  Mostly, this is a well made reel.


Unscrewing what turns out to be the free spool button, there's a return spring and then an e-clip inside the free spool collar.  The e-clip contacts the inside walls of the collar, and so a little coaxing is needed to get the collar off.


The collar fits tightly inside this little recess on the star as well.  The star sits on top of the handle, not under it, and pulls rather than pushes the drag stack to compress it.


After removing the e-clip, the star unscrews from the sleeve.  Under the star is this spring washer.  It engages flats on the gear sleeve, and the stud on the handle.  The spring washer just lifts off.


Taking the eight frame screws out of the head and tail plates lets us separate the reel into its major subassemblies.

There's lots going on in the next figure, which shows the two halves of the head plate, the handle side on the right.  There's a plastic gasket on the mating surface.

See at 11 o'clock on the left side a lever that engages the plastic cam at 1 o'clock on the right hand side.  That's cast control, with the lever actuating a brake shoe behind the left side.  At 3 o'clock on the left side is the brass idler gear for the level wind.  Be careful of your fingers when using this reel.  At 9 o'clock on the right side is a plastic bushing that supports the idler gear.  In the center of the left side is a brass shroud that covers the pinion gear.  I don't know the purpose of the shroud.  The main gear is always engaged with the pinion and idler gears.

North of the main gear on the right side is a small, complicated, delicate AR dog assembly.  The dog is engaged or disengaged by the black plastic slide on top of the head plate right side.  Yes, this reel has a knuckle breaker feature, like Squidders and some of the Penn 349 reels.   Dried, hardened grease had glued the dog into the disengaged position, easy to do because the dog spring is very fine and weak.

At 3 o'clock on the right side is a compartment holding a spare level wind pawl and cover.  Dead center in the right side is a plastic spool bushing.


Here is a better view of the pinion shroud.


And here are the spare pawl and cover.



Here is a post-service picture showing the wispy AR dog spring.


Here is the plastic spool bushing from the head plate.  I wonder why Pflueger chose plastic.



Here is the side of the head plate that faces the spool.  That's an interesting choice of springs.  On the left spring see the brake shoe for the cast control.  The spring on the right turns out to be part of the free spool mechanism, as we will see later.


Putting the head plate aside for now, see the good, loud clicker inside the tail plate.
 

Here is the nice aluminum spool again, and its clicker ratchet.


The pinion is removable, but stays on the spool in operation.


The level wind mechanism is conventional, except the legs of the line guide are offset from each other, front to back.  That is not damage; the reel was made that way.  Why?
 


Here are the details of the drive train.

Ignoring the pinion and level wind, the drive train pieces inside the head plate are the main gear and free spool shaft, the drag head and shaft, a single drag washer of unknown material, the drive crown, a fiber washer, and the AR ratchet and shaft.


The pieces outside the head plate are the handle, spring washer, star, e-clip, free spool collar, free spool return spring, free spool button, and free spool button screw.


The handle, AR ratchet, spring washer, drag head, and free spool shaft rotate as a unit.  The drive head rotates with them, subject to drag slip.  The main gear rotates if engaged with the drive head.

Here is a better look at the main gear and free spool shaft.  The gear rotates freely on the shaft.  The holes in the gear face are engaged by the teeth on the drive crown.  The flats on the free spool shaft engage flats inside the drag head shaft. The groove on the short end of the shaft is part of the free spool mechanism explained shortly.


A closer look at the drag head shows a spring around the circumference.  I don't know the spring's purpose, but if you don't get that little ear tucked into the crown, it prevents the drag head from seating properly.  The ear also tends to pop out during handling, so it bears watching.


The flats on the drag head shaft are engaged by the spring washer.


We are going to assemble the drive train without the head plate or return spring, to show how the pieces work together.

The handle threads onto the AR shaft.


Having been careful to tuck the drag head spring ear into the crown, we have a subassembly including the drag head, drag washer, and crown, with the fiber washer on the drag head shaft under the crown.



We slide the drag head shaft into the AR ratchet shaft.


Then we put the spring washer in place, making sure to engage the raised stud on the handle.


Then thread the star on and install the e-clip.  Only now do we know that the drag head spring ear will not escape the drive crown.


Now install the main gear and free spool shaft, inserting the free spool shaft into the head shaft.  The flats on the two shafts are aligned properly, because otherwise things won't go together.


Finally install the free spool collar, free spool button and free spool screw.  Leave out the free spool return spring to make picture-taking easier.  With the free spool button in the "engaged" position (not depressed), the main gear engages the drive crown.


With the free spool button in the "free" position (depressed), the main gear is disengaged from the drive crown, and so the reel is in free spool.


In an assembled reel, the free spool return spring pulls the main gear back against the drive crown, so turning the handle causes the gear and crown to engage.  So what keeps the gear off the crown while we cast?

Remember the groove machined on the short end of the free spool shaft, and the second spring in the left side of the head plate in figures above?  When we depress the free spool button, disengaging the gear and crown, we also push the free spool shaft through the head plate so the spring engages the groove. The fit is tight enough and the spring strong enough to defeat the free spool return spring.


But the fit is not tight enough to resist the spring if we are turning the shaft.  Basically, we are pulling (with the return spring) and twisting (with the handle) the free spool shaft out of its trap in the head plate.


An interesting experiment with the disassembled reel is to push the free spool shaft into the free spool position in the head plate, and then try to pull it out.  It's hard.  Now pull and twist the shaft.  The shaft comes out easily.

That's it for the drive train.

Reassembly is typical of baitcasters, meaning that it's very easy except when very difficult.   Here's what I found easiest, after some trial and error.   This procedure could be made less challenging with some masking tape temporarily holding subassemblies together.

First back off both spool bushings.  Then loosely screw together a subassembly of the tail plate, frame posts, reel foot, level wind post, spool, and pinion.  Put it aside.


Make another subassembly of the head plate right side, worm gear, worm gear cover, line guide, pawl, and pawl cover.


The ears on the worm gear cover must fit into the head plate.


Use one hand to steady the tail plate subassembly.  With the other two hands, hold the head plate subassembly together, and fit the pinion into the shroud and all posts into all holes.  Profanity is encouraged.  Tears are acceptable.  Be kind to your loved ones.  Put the idler gear in place, and leave the result in this position.  Don't let it fall over.


Make a subassembly of the drive train components we went through in detail and the handle side of the head plate.  Include the free spool return spring this time, and be sure the spring doesn't launch the free spool button and screw into the stratosphere.

To make inserting the main gear and free spool shaft easier, disengage the AR dog by positioning the plastic slide toward the back of the reel, over the red dot.  Do not make the handle too tight against the head plate.  Back it off about 1/8th turn from contact.  Otherwise, it will bind when the star is tightened.

Steady the subassembly with the spool with one hand.  With the other hand, fit the drive train subassembly in place.  Jiggling the handle a little can help the gears to mesh.  When things click together, hold the reel together with one hand while operating it with the other, to make sure everything is in place.

Put in the head plate screws loosely.  Then tighten the tail plate screws and head plate screws.  Check operation again.  Adjust the spool bushings so that the spool is centered and, in free spool, has a couple of thousandths of side play.

Done.




My thoughts about the reel:

I do have some reservations.  The AR dog mechanism is delicate, but to be fair I don't think the drag can generate numbers big enough to hurt the AR.  Fighting a fish of any size, I would use this reel like an older baitcaster:  button the star down, turn off the AR, and thumb the spool for drag.  Another issue is the weak dog spring, which can let the dog stick in the disabled position if not properly serviced.  The spring could be upgraded, but then dog wear might become an issue.  The way the spring washer engages the handle, just grabbing the raised stud, doesn't look strong.

Overall, I am happy to have the reel.  It's interesting mechanically, well made, and uses high quality materials.  I haven't given special attention to the spool and level wind bushings, but see about 7 seconds of free spool with no line installed.  I consider that reasonable for a synchronous level wind reel with no ball bearings.  The reel would probably hold about 150 yards or so of 12 lb. mono.  It could be fished, and is worth putting on a display shelf.

[Tightlines667]

Mike,
Thanks for doing this! 

I know these tutorials can take alot of work.  I almost bought one of these the other day, just so I could take a look inside.  Now that you've shown me this reel's inner workings, I may go ahead and buy one anyways simply cause it is a cool little reel.  48+ years of age, and it still works...pretry cool.  You shouldn't need too much drag to cast surface plugs for Bass or many other freshwater applications.  Might be fun to fish, but it would also look nice on the shelf.

[Alto Mare]

Interesting reel Mike, that gear sleeve really caught my eye. Thanks for doing this for us, I know it isn't easy taking a vintage reel as such completely apart.
Great job buddy. If you don't have a wrench already, I believe you deserve one .
Thanks for sharing.

Sal

[foakes]

Thanks for this effort, Mike --

You take really good photos.

Best,

Fred

[mike1010]

You are certainly welcome, guys.  I do what I can to give back to this great community.

Fred, regarding the photo quality, chalk it up to a new phone with a decent camera.  I take the highest resolution pictures I can, throw out most of them, and then edit what is left.  With this project done I can now give my attention to that spinner you sent.