eBay reeled me in.. Was this a good choice?

[troutman561]

Well, even if it was not, I guess its too late now lol.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/192196258468

Guy had a black plate 4/0, a Long Beach 66, and a 209 level wind. I figure the 209 can be used for my kids when it comes to bottom fishing. I plan on doing whatever upgrades I can within reason. Pretty sure my wife is not going to like that I found this site.. Might have to start use private browsing when I am on here so the eBay transactions stay a mystery .

Anyhow, was this a decent deal for $52? And I found a little on here, but are the black plate 4/0 Senators limited to just a handle and drag upgrade? I am assuming I cannot buy that SS bridge and gear sleeve with the double dogs for this one?

[Swami805]

Depends on how you look at it I guess. If you enjoy tinkering and upgrading them it was money well spent. It's cheaper than dinner and a movie or a round of golf.  Gives you a good excuse for you and the kids to go fishing too. I think you can double dog the 4/0 with a little dremel work, lots of options with the Long beach and Mo on here is a magician with penn levelwinds.. You did fine in my book, $52 seems reasonable.

[sdlehr]

was this a decent deal for $52?

Most definitely, IMHO. Any Penn Senator is worth that by itself. The handle on the 4/0 is not original but should be fully functional. Depending on your experience and level of interest this could potentially keep you busy (in a good way, at least for me) for anywhere from one night to a week or more. If you've not done this before you've got a good selection of reels to learn on. The Senator and the LB are almost identical internally, and the 209 is pretty much the same except for the level wind mechanism, which isn't difficult (about 5 moving parts). The tutorials here should help you get through. We like to answer questions, so if you have problems post away! Take pics along the way. Make sure you use some penetrating oil (that should be step one) and the proper sized screwdriver in disassembly, and if I were you I would replace the drag washers on all of them for sure. Soak chrome parts in 1:1 vinegar:water (anywhere from an hour to overnight) to remove the green verdigris if present. There are lots of upgrades available for the 114h, not so many for the 114, I think you've already found the limitations. If you're going to fish the 114 you'll want to either use braid or replace the spool to a one-piece chromed bronze (I may have one if you are interested, perhaps a trade could be worked out). If you're going to put it on a shelf that spool is better, but based on your selection I'm guessing you'll be fishing these.

Any more questions, just ask away. Make sure you check out the tutorials here http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=659.0, here http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=1738.0 (all the Senators are the same internally, just check the schematics for the drag stack details, they are different between models) and you can pretty much use that same tutorial for the Long Beach, do that one last and you'll have the few minor differences between the two figured out. Not sure offhand, but the kind of minor differences I'm talking about should be pretty obvious to you by the third reel -  and there may not be more than 2 or 3 differences - additional trim rings on the Senator, perhaps the eccentric operates in a reverse manner, but not much more - the drags will be different, go here for schematics https://www.mysticparts.com//PennParts/Conventional.aspx

Good luck. We're here if you need us.

Sid

"Edited as per Moderators to correct Scott's Bait & Tackle over to their new store name Mystic Reel Parts / www.mysticparts.com"

[mo65]

   Most of the "ready made mods" like that dd bridge are reserved for red plate Senators and Jigmasters, but as the swami says, there are still many options for your reels. Stainless steel gear sleeves, ss dogs,
steel gears, better spools, and of coarse drag upgrades. Just do like Sid suggested...poke about the tutorials and threads here...great info is everywhere. 

[troutman561]

Thanks for the info Sid! I just rebuilt a 6/0 as my first dive into modifying Penn conventionals so hopefully what I learned there can be applied here. I may end up flipping or trading the 4/0 for the one with the red side plates (113h). It's main use with be bottom fishing but I would like it to be a back up trolling reel for dolphin/wahoo/sailfish and I know the higher speed gear would be better for this. May even try to sell it and the graphite framed 113h I have and put that towards a US 113hn and save a couple bucks. I'm torn between that and building one from the ground up. I know which route saves me $$, but it isn't all about that. We shall see when the time comes. Just got a notification that they are being shipped today and I'll likely have them by Tuesday.

-Ryan

[troutman561]

   Most of the "ready made mods" like that dd bridge are reserved for red plate Senators and Jigmasters, but as the swami says, there are still many options for your reels. Stainless steel gear sleeves, ss dogs,
steel gears, better spools, and of coarse drag upgrades. Just do like Sid suggested...poke about the tutorials and threads here...great info is everywhere. 

Yea I saw that, which is what is prompting me to try and flip this reel or work out a trade. I also have to sit down and see what is cheaper: tanking a 113h or buying the new US Senator and throwing a new handle and the DD bridge into it.

[troutman561]

Just checked the 113h I have. Didn't pay much attention to it as I assumed it was a newer non- US made reels I got in a deal I found for 2 rods and that reel. This was before I got an interest in modding them. . Turns out she is older and domestic. Guess I should have paid a little attention.  Guess that saves some guessing on what to do.