surfmaster 200 refurb

[wolvie]

OK.  Upgrade complete.  Went pretty smoothly, although that little metal tab spring for the dog is a bit tedious.  I got the drags upgraded and greased with Cal's, bushings with TSI321, internals and threads with penn lube.  Spins ok, but a little noisy.  No bearings, just bushings, so I am not sure how good of a spin I should expect, even with the TSI.  Is there anything worth doing to improve things?

I do not have a spring scale, so I am not sure how to test the drag right now, but it feels nice and smooth and pretty strong.  I am more worried about rounding off the bronze gear sleeve if I torque it down too much.

Pics:
Here are the old washers - felt like cardboard and one had a rough spot.

The dog has a wear spot on it, not from preventing reverse, but apparently just from sliding along the gear

Here is the dog and its strip spring - not a big fan, since you can inadvertently change the tension while installing it, if you are not careful.
It's a bit out of focus - I will work on my pics.  So much to learn!

There are no bearings, just bushings on the right

and left side plates

The finished product.  As you can see, there is some corrosion on the side rings and stand.  

This is an Ocean City 996, which I checked to see if the 6-155s would fit as replacement for the leather   washers I found there. YES, they fit.  
It has some nice features - looks like all stainless, a clip to remove the eccentric jack without needing to remove the yoke or the springs.  And the dog and spring don't fall out when you take things apart.  

I am also missing a clicker for it.  Looks like the one in the surfmaster will fit, but it is riveted, so how would I install it if I ordered it?

[Alto Mare]

Nice job Wolvie, you shouldn't be hearing any noises from the spool when spinning it. I would make sure that the spool has a little sideway movement, it should never be tight,( I'm sure that you already know) you do this by adjusting the left side bushing, it's also a good idea to soak the bushings overnight in TSI. I usually replace The dog when I see a mark on it, but in your case I think you'll be ok, the wear is from the tension spring being too open. Sorry I never opened an Ocean City reel, I did have a few larger reels in my collection. You should be getting aroun 15 lb. on that reel, I would fish it around 8lb. to keep the sleeve and gears nice and happy. Thanks for sharing, Sal

[Bryan Young]

The noise is probably coming from the spool coming in contact with the sideplate or inner end rings.  When spinning the spool try to listen to where the sound is coming from will help you locate the problem.

I get a good 15-20 second spin from my LongBeach 259, which uses the same spool bushings lubed with CorrosionX.  You should get a little more with TSI.  It will start off slow and after use, and the excess TSI is spun out, the spool should spin faster.

Penn, at the time, did not have any stainless steel parts.  The main gear is made out of steel.  You are luck to find one in such great shape.  Make sure it's coated with a good marine grease.

The bridge, I believe, is chrome plated brass.  You should lightly greased with marine grease as well.

Hope this helps.

[wolvie]

Hi Bryan and Sal,

I should have mentioned that the spool spins silently at arm's length; only when I hold it up to my ear do I hear the noise.  It just sounds like a bit of corrosion, but I do get 20 seconds of spin. I am hoping it will improve a bit with a good soak in TSI.  If not, I will consider new bushings, but I think it is pretty good as it is.  I will probably use this reel for friends and relatives new to cod and haddock fishing, keeping the drag low so they can get used to not tearing the hook out of the haddock's mouth or freaking out and snapping the line when a big cod gets on.  

I think you are right about the bridge being chrome plated brass, since I think I see a bit of wear through in the first pic.  I will bee keeping everything coated with a little grease to keep it in good shape.  

Thanks for the feedback.  Let's see if I can redo the Ocean City 996 without losing any pieces or rendering it non-functional . . .

I will post my results, and maybe some better pics.

[Alto Mare]

I think 20 seconds is good for that reel. If after soaking the bushings the noise still bothers you, you could get new bushings from Scott's, they're abot $4 a piece. I don't beleive you will increase the speed though, it's  only a jigmaster ( not that it's a bad reel ) you just can't get blood from a stone.

[Bryan Young]

Sounds like your surfmaster is good to go.

Let us know how the ocean city reel goes. I may be working on and selling a bunch of reels, including ocean city, penn, and a few other older reels that were donated for kids fishing program where Alan Tani is a great supporter and sponsor. If you are interested in an older penn, serviced or not, pm me and I'll hunt through what's in the bin.

[cito2490]

hi i have a ocean city reel that i took apart and now i cant seem to get the eccentric spring to fall in place on your pics you have the same style of parts just wondering if you can take a pic on how the eccentric spring goes

[redsetta]

Place the spring long-side down and tuck the curved end under the top edge of the eccentric.
There should be a dip on the eccentric to accommodate the curve of the eccentric spring



PS It appears your eccentric is positioned incorrectly at present and likely needs to be pivoted 180 degrees before attaching the eccentric lever.
Hope that helps.
Good luck, Justin

[cito2490]

i try but the the spring wont tense up or stay in place

[redsetta]

Pity. It seems most likely now that the eccentric spring may be damaged, ie missing a small bend at the short end.
Here's a sample schematic: https://reelschematic.com/schematics/Ocean%20City/OCEAN%20CITY%20BIG%20GAME%20REEL%20603%20PART%202(1950).pdf
You can see the little kink at the end of the eccentric spring (part #15).
Not sure how easy it'll be to find a replacement - good luck!
Other Ocean City schematics can be found here: https://reelschematic.com/schematics/oceancity.php
All the best, Justin