Blackie 220-F

[plankton]

Hi guys, I've been coming to this site for years and have learned heaps about reel maintenance, so thanks Alan and everybody else. Never had a need to post something until now though.

I was poking around in a local pawn shop and saw this little Newell reel for $29. I had a feel and it seemed in good mechanical condition so I bought it.
From what I've gathered looking at other posts on here, it's a "Blackie" which was the first run of production reels from Newell.

I want to open it up and give it a service, but the only tutorials and schematics I've seen on here are for later models. Is there much difference in these early models? Is there anything in particular I should look out for? I just really want to avoid that dreaded moment of opening a reel and have spring loaded parts come flying out and then have no way of knowing where they came from. It seems like these reels have a reputation for being easily serviceable, but better safe than sorry.

Here's some photos, I think it's in fairly good condition for a 40 year old reel, hopefully it's not a horror show of corrosion when I open it up!

[plankton]

A couple more photos.

[vilters]

great little reel! welcome to the world of newell. same basic design and service procedures as later models. main difference is unsupported plastic side plates, newer models have stainless trim ring. these ones crack, especially @ the screw holes, so be careful to tighten no more than necessary.. can still be fished with cracks though. install carbon fiber drags, it uses the same set as a penn 500 jigmaster, and service as normal, and you are good to go.

[Swami805]

Good price for that one. X2 what Vitters said. Pretty much the same as the later ones, nothing will go flying when you open it. It has a 4 stack I think so you'll need 4 CF washers. Looks to have a fair amount of corrosion so be careful you don't snap a screw getting it apart.If I had it I'd put some penetrating oil at all the screw holes and let it sit overnight to be on the safe side.  I'd order some new bearings with the drag washers, good bet those are shot and they don't cost too much. Fun reel to fish,good score

[reel man]

From your pics there are cracks visible adjacent to the side plate screws, so when reassembling don't over tighten these screws. If the bearings cleanup and spin smoothly they may be original and were the best bearing Newell ever used. Visually the original bearings only had a shield on one side, and I believe were made in Germany.

[plankton]

Got a chance to take this reel apart and have an initial look. Doesn't seem like this thing has seen a lot of use in its 40 years. Aside from lots of dirty old grease, it's pretty decent inside.

The drag washers look really good, although I'm definitely going to replace them. An initial look online seems that it will be easier to source the Smooth Drag carbontex washers over here rather than the HT-100s, but I'll check my local tackle store and see what they can do.

The bearings seem in good shape and spin well without much noise, and they are open on one side. Any tips for getting them out of the cups when they're a bit stuck?

Some of the washers around the reel handle are different to the schematic and tutorial on here. The first, second and fourth from the left are really wonky bellevilles.

I'm going to start cleaning all the old grease and dirt off, and once I get the new drag washers I'll reassemble everything. I saw another thread on here about painting the metal parts, which I'll probably do more for protection that looks.

[Swami805]

For the bearing bend the tip of a small screw driver or use one of those tools for opening paint cans and file the tip like a mini crow bar. Looks like it should clean up nicely.