King-Fisher/1933 Penn Long Beach

[George4741]

Here is a Kingfisher that I believe is a trade reel made by Penn for the E. K. Tryon Company.  The gear sleeve, handle retaining nut, and dog spring differ from what I think are standard Penn parts.  The bridge post was worn to the extent that the gear sleeve was very wobbly and ruined the gears.  It was definitely not a smooth winding reel.  


Question; Is this gear sleeve and dog spring correct for this reel?


There is an additional sleeve that fits over the spacing sleeve, as if to stabilize the wobbly gear sleeve.  


Luckily it didn't break the handle shaft collar.  I left this extra sleeve off when I reassembled the reel.  


Here are some before and after photos of the reel.




I temporarily replaced the bridge, gear sleeve, gears, dog and spring with parts from 1940ish Long Beach.  Now it operates very smoothly.  The hole in the original handle was made for that odd gear sleeve and won't fit on the replacement sleeve.  I installed a handle from another old Long Beach until I can find a correct replacement.  I'm shopping around for parts to bring the reel back to original condition.  Until then I have fully functioning Kingfisher, if not all correct parts.

George

[49Freak]

Hi George,
  Hope I'm not wasting your time as I'm far from any expert, but the spring in your photo looks like an eccentric spring re-purposed to work the dog. Hard to tell without seeing the inside of the handle side plate, but most pre-1953 Penn conventional reels used the 14-?? bent copper spring to hold the dog against its stop in my limited knowledge of them. The inside of the side plate would have a molded in pin or plateau for lack of a better term around which the copper spring would be bent. The 40s Long Beach parts you used are probably pretty close to what the factory installed. FWIW I have a Penn Bayhead which looks very similar and uses the bent copper spring. Looks like a fun project, good luck!

John

[George4741]

Hello John,
The inside of the head plate resembles the Bayhead.  I installed a flat copper spring and newer dog (the old dog was chewed up) as they are the correct parts for the older Long Beaches.  If I'm not able to find the correct vintage parts for an 83 year old reel, at least it has 73 year old parts. I will just have to add a disclaimer to that effect if I should ever want to sell it.

Thank you,
George

[49Freak]

Hi George,
  I didn't figure I was telling you anything you didn't already know.  The simplicity and form of these old reels just amazes me along with the fact that they're still fully functional. Good luck with your search in finding original parts although it looks pretty spiffy just as it is.

John

[George4741]

Here is a Kingfisher that I believe is a trade reel made by Penn for the E. K. Tryon Company.  The gear sleeve, handle retaining nut, and dog spring differ from what I think are standard Penn parts.  The bridge post was worn to the extent that the gear sleeve was very wobbly and ruined the gears.  It was definitely not a smooth winding reel. 

Question; Is this gear sleeve and dog spring correct for this reel?

Hmmm, no answer to my original question.   Alrightee, I'll rephrase the question in the hopes someone will take pity on me.  

I know the photo of the gear sleeve is confusing as I left a spacer sleeve on it.  However, could this gear sleeve and nut be correct for a 1933 Long Beach/Kingfisher?

Thank You,
George

[Tightlines667]

Here is a picture of my 2 1933 Tryon Kingfisher Penn reels.  The nut and sleeve on yours does not seem correct to me.

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=18840.45

[George4741]

Here is a picture of my 2 1933 Tryon Kingfisher Penn reels.  The nut and sleeve on yours dies not seem correct to me.

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=18840.45

My thoughts too.  I don't feel bad about installing 1940-ish parts in a 1933 reel.  Correct vintage parts are all but impossible to find.

[Penn Chronology]

Hello George,

Hope these photos help. My 1933 Penn Kingfisher aka Long Beach;;











This reel is basically a Penn Long Beach 60 or 65. The early reels will have the sleeve threaded for the hex head handle screw, which does not match the locking screw. Almost impossible to find the correct sleeve with the screw. Need to find a basket case parts reel.

Your kind of looks like the Nutty Professor got to it. The dog, dog spring, sleeve and handle nut look wrong. I find it amazing that the Bakelite handle shaft collar was not broken. You did an amazing job saving it. 

[George4741]

This reel is basically a Penn Long Beach 60 or 65. The early reels will have the sleeve threaded for the hex head handle screw, which does not match the locking screw. Almost impossible to find the correct sleeve with the screw. Need to find a basket case parts reel.

Your kind of looks like the Nutty Professor got to it. The dog, dog spring, sleeve and handle nut look wrong. I find it amazing that the Bakelite handle shaft collar was not broken. You did an amazing job saving it. 

Thank you, I feel very lucky the Bakelite collar wasn't broken.  With the makeshift parts replacements the Nutty Professor did, it was only a matter of time before the Bakelite was damaged.  Now I'm lacking only the proper handle nut to complete the project.  I'll continue looking and someday one will turn up.

[Penn Chronology]

Penn used the hex head handle retaining screw from 1932 to 1937. Many reels were made with the hex screw.

When I bought my Model K, the handle and hex screw were both missing. The stand was also a mess. I had many chances to buy the correct parts reel; but, I am somewhat frugal or as my wife calls me, Tight as a Clams Behind. So it took me about a month to find an affordable early Long Beach as a parts donor. Just look for a Long Beach that has about a million miles on it, they pop up all the time.

[mo65]

Cool reel George!

[George4741]

Thank you.  I especially like the looks of reels with three pillars.  However, I understand the danger of a pinched thumb and why Penn eliminated the top pillar in the Long Beach line. 

George