Penn 500, 99 Width

[fishmeluck]

I recently bought four reels, including this Penn 99, from an older gentleman who was selling off a nice collection of Penn reels which he had meticulously maintained. It came with the Tiburon frame, Accurate spool, and power handle. The gear and gear sleeve although they were in very good condition, were brass.

Another Penn I had acquired much earlier, contained a s.s. gear and pinion, which I used in this rebuild. I checked the gear ratio, and it is 5:1, so maybe the gears are Newell. Other upgrades included a new 98-505 s.s. gear sleeve from Alan Chui and one of Bryan's Drag Kits.

The only real problem with the rebuild was the new gear sleeve didn't fit the post on the existing bridge. The slot in the post was just too low, and the pin would not go through. I never had any trouble before replacing gear sleeves, so I figured the bridge might be a very old part with a slight difference in height of the slot in the post. Luckily, I have quite a few Jigmaster parts on hand from old stock Jigmasters, and the s.s. gear sleeve fit the first replacement bridge I tried.

The rebuild is finished except I still need to go back and properly clean & lubricate the pinion gear and bearings to improve the free-spool time. Also, the screws for the reel seat clamp are too long for the rod I want to mount the reel on, so I need to make a run to the store to find a couple of shorter screws.

I think that the line on the reel is 30 lb, however, with all the upgrades, I'm thinking the reel could easily be a 40 lb reel. But, I'm not sure what the best application for the reel would be.

[RowdyW]

If it is a 99 bridge you will need a Longbeach 60 sleeve. If another 500 bridge fits then use it. With a 505 sleeve you are going to need a fine thread star wheel also.

[fishmeluck]

If it is a 99 bridge you will need a Longbeach 60 sleeve. If another 500 bridge fits then use it. With a 505 sleeve you are going to need a fine thread star wheel also.

The original owner made this reel using Penn 500 side plates and not a Penn 99 Silver Beach. I think he just took a stock Jigmaster and replaced the frame, spool, and handle with a Tiburon 99 frame, Accurate 99 spool, and power handle to make himself a Jigmaster/Albacore Special.

Whatever he did, the replacement bridge I used came from a Penn Jigmaster, it accepted the new s.s. gear sleeve (which was fine thread), and it fit into the side plate, no problem. The brass gear sleeve and star that came with the reel were also fine thread, so I was able to re-use the star with the new gear sleeve.

However, I am left with a box containing a disassembled Penn 500 from which I scavenged the bridge and a bridge and brass gear sleeve that do not fit each other . Oh well, I have other boxes containing Jigmaster right side plate assemblies. When I have time, I'll find a way to mix and match bridges and gear sleeves so they all go together ... probably .