Time to ask for help

[cbar45]

When I start to assemble it pretty good retrieval until I tighten down drag.

Unlikely, but perhaps one of the wavy washers is bottoming out on the side plate?

A bent or damaged gear sleeve pin may also be the culprit.

This pin is visible right below the gear sleeve threads, in your last photo posted of the side plate.

*Edit
Disregard that sentence about the wavy washer; I forgot this is an older 114 with outside-access drags.

[Maxed Out]

Did you upgrade the spool on this reel ?? This one would have came with the old style 3 piece spool and some modern spools may not be compatible.

  Just a guess, that's all.

  Ted

[Saaben]

Guys I really appreciate all the encouragement, advice and patience. I leave for Cape San Blas tomorrow morning. My plan is to stop by two bait stores and see if there is a Penn wizard around. If that does not work I plan drinking vast quantities of wine with my Father n law and get him to give me a hand. He is the one that bought it for me so maybe the universe wants us to get drunk. If we cannot get it done I am going to send it off when I get home to any of you that repair them or  Penn. Oddly enough I live on a farm and always seem to be tinkering with stuff but this one has me baffled. I realize in the scheme of things this is such a minor inconvenience so I will get it taken care of. My whole family has seen me working on this thing non-stop and it will stay in our family till I pass it on to my son. Oddly enough I can see myself working on a 113 to add to the collection. Stay tuned as I am sure I will be posting updates. 

[Maxed Out]

  Hi Saaben, I could only see it in the very first pic, but it looks like you installed a new eccentric. The newer reels are opposite as far as shifting into gear and freespool. In other words, older reels you push the lever forward to put in freespool, newer models you pull it towards you for freespool. Those have completely different lobe on the eccentrics and will fit in your reel, but may not function properly. Try putting the old eccentric back in.

 Ted

[ez2cdave]

Saaben,

Hang in there . . . This reel WILL be fixed and FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION !!!

Tight Lines !

[Saaben]

Hey everyone, I wanted to take the time to let you know what happened with the reel. We made it to Cape San Blas and went to a bait store. They ended up recommending a guy named Phil who worked on reels in Mexico Beach. They called him and he was working so we shot over there. I can't say enough good things about him. He originally said it would take a day but ended up working on it then and there. I had wayyyy too much grease on my washers and had one of the eared one's in had kinda popped out. He got me up and running in 20 minutes and $20. We made it to the beach and began fishing. Anyone who fishes for sharks knows it is a waiting process. On day two I had a hook up and was thrilled. 20 minutes into the battle my reel quit retrieving line. Obviously I was trying everything at that point but could not get it to crank. I had to come up with something. I ended up walking backwards pulling as much line as possible. I had a stranger hold the rod and waded into the surf with a kids shovel and wrapped line around it and started slowly pulling it in. I would have someone hold the shovel and go out with another into the surf and repeat. I did this maybe 4 times but really had a problem bringing it over the sandbar. Once I had her over we got a good glimpse of her and she was a good looking 7 ft Hammerhead. I then took another shovel and walked parallel to the shore just pulling her closer and closer. Once we had her close to shore my wife came over and tried to help. I had begun pulling her closer with the leader but the pressure was too much and the line popped. It was still great and I was pretty happy. We ended up taking the reel back to Phil who informed us that the non-handle side bearing had been too tight. Totally my fault. We ended up getting one more little run but nothing became of it. A couple of things: Phil actually uses this site so a huge shout out to him. Secondly and more importantly is my admiration and appreciation to so many of you guys that offered to help. People were offering to fix it for free, someone joked about coming to my place and so many online were pulling for me. I really can't thank everyone enough. If I can ever return the favor please let me know ss I would be happy to. Thanks again to everyone!!!

[Shark Hunter]

A 7 footer on a 6/0 that doesn't reel is quite an accomplishment.
Any pictures?

[Saaben]

Here you go SharkHunter. Hopefully they came out. I would not want to duplicate it. Cant wait to head back down and do it again. Really do appreciate everything.

[Saaben]

Trying one more time SharkHunter.

[Saaben]

Sorry for the multiple post SharkHunter. Really hard to tell how big he is. I had been holding onto the leader but was really concerned if he started thrashing I was going to get my hand tore up. The shovel handle I was using just did not have any give to it so it put a tremendous amount of stress on the line at that point. I felt like I "almost" could have grabbed him with my hand but I have grabbed a couple by the tail and know it is easier said than done. I was also aware I had a 10 foot leader in that water so just thought better of it.

[Shark Hunter]

Nice Shark.
Good work My Man!

[RowdyW]

How about the tackle you used, rod, line & leader weight, terminal tackle, hook size, etc.

[Saaben]

Hey Rowdy, I make my own leaders. At that time I was using 60lb Ande mono. My other Penn 9/0 I run 80lb mono. I start with a 600lb swivel that connects to 10 ft or so of 490lb mono leader material. I connect with metal crimp sleeves and use a thimble on swivels. The leader runs into another swivel and then into 2 strands of 105lb piano wire. Halyard knot into either a size 8 or 16 Mustad hook. I shrink wrap the 2 feet or so of piano wire and swivels. Thanks

[Saaben]

Hey Rowdy, in regards to the rod. One pix has a little rod we got off Amazon. It just felt too small for me so I switched to a Penn Senator off their website. Thanks

[cbar45]

Saaben--

Thanks for the update and sharing your fishing trip. Glad you got that reel sorted out.