Orvis 150A

[Midway Tommy]

I've had a couple of Orvis 150As in a tote for a few years and started cleaning them up and servicing them awhile back. I got sidetracked with some other things and finally got a chance to finish them couple weeks ago.

The Orvis 150 was introduced in late 1966 and in 1967 was redesignated as 150A. The 150A was offered through 1982. It is basically the same reel as the Orvis 100/100A with a larger rotor, bail, spool and, therefore, line capacity. There were also a couple of part revisions post the original 100 series.

Here's a photo I took when disassembling the reels. I didn't take more since it was basically the same as the previous 100 disassemblies I had done. This one was pretty dirty and needed a good cleaning & service.



After disassembly I did my usual process of soaking all the unpainted metal parts in my lacquer thinner jar. I also did my normal Original White Goop & warm water Dawn wash on all the painted and plastic parts. After a couple of days soaking, good cleaning and buffing here are all the parts ready to reassemble.



I started with the spool. The drag stack consists of a heavy coil spring, a thin flat washer, a Teflon washer, keyed metal washer, a Teflon washer, ear keyed metal washer, Teflon washer, the indented top keyed washer and a retaining clip. The indents in the top washer are to keep the drag knob from turning when the detent balls are in the holes.



Next step was to install the click dawg and spring on the under side of the spool.




As usual, before my hands get greasy I install the bail trip, bail spring and bail arm. Most Zangi made reels only use one bail spring. I use ArmorAll as a lubricant in these locations because it stays slick and doesn't collect dirt & grime. Zangi often used a plunger type rod as a bail trip. The rod slides inside a coil spring in a tube in the rotor and is retained in the tube by a very tiny brass screw/bolt. There's a hole in the bail arm that accepts the end of the plunger when the bail is opened prior to casting. I use ArmorAll to lube the plunger. After the bail trip & bail arm are installed I'll check the bail for perfect alignment and bend, or adjust it, where necessary, and then install it. Sometimes it takes multiple adjustments to get the bail to operate perfectly without binding. Once adjusted I install the line guide. Orvis reels have a hardened rolling line guide that also includes a brass bushing. 






I start the body assembly with the anti-reverse pivot & knob. This is one of the part revisions from the 100 series'. The flat springy metal strip that was used as the dawg on the 100 is replaced by a standard dawg arm and looped tension spring. There is a ratchet gear on the back side of the main gear that dawg wedges against when the anti-reverse is activated. The anti-reverse knob is retained on the pivot post by a pin. All the internal parts get lubed with Super Lube grease and synthetic oil. I grease every screw hole for easier removal down the road. The anti-reverse dawg tension spring sets in a groove in the dawg retaining screw and loops over the dawg. Here's a photo of that screw and spring.



Once the anti-reverse mechanism is installed it's time to install the pinion worm gear and ball bearing. The full length oilite bushing that supported the pinion worm gear in the 100 series was replace by an oilite bushing at the rear of the pinion tube and a pre made ball bearing at the front of the body. The bearing is retained by a washer and two threaded posts that serve as bail trip studs. The bail will trip at the top and bottom. The ball bearing was in good condition so I cleaned it with lacquer thinner and packed it with Super Lube and added a couple of drops of synthetic oil.



The next step is to install the rotor. The pinion and nut are reverse thread, i.e. lefty tighten, so there is no lock washer, just the brass nut. One has to be careful with brass nuts not to torque them too tight as they can easily crack and they're near impossible to find. 



It's now time to slip in the main gear and install the main shaft and oscillation oscillation arm. As mentioned earlier, all the internal parts get lubed with Super Lube & synthetic oil. The oscillation arm attaches to the main shaft with a threaded pin and attaches to the main gear with a reverse thread shouldered screw. The click gear spool bushing has a Teflon washer on the bottom and is threaded so it screws onto the main shaft and is removable.



Internals are all done so I'll install the handle knob to the crank handle, I use ArmorAll here, too. This is where another part revision is noticed. The two main gear retaining nuts have been eliminated and the handle threads into the main gear with an additional dust washer in between. The chrome plating on this specific reel handle, like a lot of the Italian chrome plating, shows a lot of peeling and flaking.   



Now it's time to install the handle, side plate, spool and drag knob.



Here are my two completed 150As together. They were originally marketed as a saltwater alternative to the smaller spooled 100A series.







 


   

[thorhammer]

EXCELLENT write-up, but would expect no less. I have one I've had for some years; maybe a 100, gotta check and this makes me want to get into it. I think it needs a handle arm tho.

[Gfish]

Excellent, indeed. Great pictures and explanations. I like some of the Zangi design/engineering aspects done differently from the usual ways. Never, for example, seen a bail arm with a "hole" in it. I like what I see. Now ya got me thinkin bout gettin one...

[Walter61]

Great Tommy, thanks for showing

[sandbar]

Very well done and much appreciated,Tommy.

Have you ever worked on one of the ORVIS Asian made skirted spool rear drag spinners?
I wonder about the quality of those and who they chose to make them.

-Steve

[Midway Tommy]

Very well done and much appreciated,Tommy.

Have you ever worked on one of the ORVIS Asian made skirted spool rear drag spinners?
I wonder about the quality of those and who they chose to make them.

-Steve

Thanks for the compliments, guys. Those old Zangi made Orvis spinners are pretty decent quality, especially given their circa.

I've never messed with any of the Asian made Orvis spinners. They appeared to be about the same quality as most of the other run-of-the-mill Asian made spinners from that time period, at least to me anyway.