Penn no. 9 teardown and refresh

[Lingwendil]

Family friend dropped by to help my uncle replace a shaft seal/bearing for the transom on his boat, and I mentioned I've been into older Penn reels, and was looking for a couple more models to complete my collection of all the older levelwind style reels. He mentioned that he had half a dozen no.9 reels, and he would bring one by the next day to see if we could work something out. The next day comes, we work out a trade of one of my 209 reels, and here we are

It's a newer reel, so it already has the HT-100 drags, aluminum spool, and the larger paddle style knob. It felt stiff but not gritty, so I decided to tear it down to clean it up and oil/grease everything. It's been in a garage for quite a while so was quite dusty and absolutely reeked of cigarettes and burnt oil.

First the teardown, I won't talk too much here, other than some observations as I go on differences between this and other Penn reels I've worked on so far. Complete album of pictures is located here- https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1IiBqSocJBk9wVLime3oS606i8h4i9gtR

First lets take a look at it, and start tearing it down. Some of the screws were very, very tight. Lots of sticky, dirty grime was present in the recessed areas.



Spool is loaded with reasonably fresh Trilene/Berkley Big Game already, unsure the weight, looks like 15~17# or so moss green?


Nylon/graphite(?) clicker wishbone spring. Nice and loud too.


Levelwind assembly comes out. Operation was not very smooth, and the pawl had some oily black thick dust on it. No visible burrs or issues.





Interestingly, this reel does not have a provision to adjust the play in the levelwind worm gear- and uses a simple endcap like the 10 and 210 reels.


Handle bolt does not have an oil port like in the other earlier reels.




Anti-reverse ratchet uses a small copper leaf spring, and it is very easy to lose! watch out for it when disassembling!


Main gear is brass, but is sleeved with another metal on the inside edge.


Gear sleeve looks good, but the post it rides on is not as nicely finished as earlier reels. There are obvious machine marks on it, but nothing bad.


And here we leave all the greasy dirty bits to soak overnight.


Continued next post-

[Lingwendil]

Next morning we lay out all the parts and wipe them dry. I use PB Blaster to saok parts, and it leaves very little scrubbing or cleanup work. Simply wiping them down with paper towels is usually all it takes.


Let's start with the gear sleeve, main, and drag stack. add some oil on the shaft, and grease between each component as we go. These washers (both metal and fiber) all looked very much like new, so they were reused.


I install the freespool lever, pivot, and spring here, it makes the rest a bit easier.


Then we populate the parts for the pinion yoke, springs, and associated bits.


Here's how the ratchet pawl sits in place-


And here is where the leaf spring sits. This next part isn't very fun, and hard to take pictures of.


I found that the easiest way was to thread a screw in from the back to keep the ratchet pawl in place, and then carefully lower it into position. From here you can finagle the leafspring into position with a set of tweezers or needlenose pliers.


Loosely install a screw from the other side to keep it all in place, and the remove the temporary screw from the opposite side.


Then we start greasing all the moving parts. Work everything a few times, and reapply grease as necessary. Not shown, but I did add grease to the ain gears at this time as well. It's pretty easy if you glob it on strategically with a toothpick


Tighten down all screws, and install the spool bushing, as well as worm bushing.


Next I install the posts and stand, with a drop of oil on the threads of each screw before installing them.


Then I assemble the worm, line guide, and pawl. The worm feels much, much smoother after a good soak and rubdown with a rag. Make sure to add oil to the socket that the pawl sits in. Wiggle the worm while slowly turning the screw that retains it, and it'll gently drop into place- do not force it.


Interestingly, The side rings appear to be chrome plated brass, while nearly every other part appears to be stainless steel.


Now we start assembling the clicker side. I like to test fit first, the apply grease and oil once parts are in place.



A lot of folks make a big deal about lining these up for reassembly, but I find holding them like this, and wiggling the worm shield into place is very easy and trouble free. Just start the screws once it lines up, and just get them snug for now.


Now we go and install the spool bushing, and worm bushing. I like to set them loose for now, tighten all the other screws, and then tighten them slowly to make sure nothing binds. Don't forget the oil!


I find that the best spool clearance for me is to set it so that there is a small gap, just enough to feel and hear a perceptible "tink" when wiggling the spool side to side. It should not be large enough to allow line to get between the rings and the spool.


Now we install the drag star, the handle, and the bolt/screw. Done!


Now it's ready to use! It feels like a brand new reel and should last a very long time with simple care and maintenance.




Now I just need to source a no.109, 309, and a 350 to have a full set of the classic style levelwind reels.

[Crow]

Great job !

[foakes]

Nice job -- and great explanations!

I personally use a lot of 9's & 209's where we live for trolling trout and kokanee.

Every time I service or restore an old 9, 109, 209, 309, or even a 350 for my clients -- the quality and materials still impress me after 40+ years of working on these Penn Levelwinds.

Thanks, Fred

[Lingwendil]

These reels are so well made that they are just plain fun to use and very enjoyable to clean up and maintain. And they're like chips- you can't have just one!

[festus]

Great tutorial!

Maybe now I understand sometimes a reel on ebay is listed as from "a smoke-free home."

[Lingwendil]

Thanks to XJchad I had a couple extra handles to try, and this green torpedo fits my hand perfectly on here. I'm not a fan of the paddle types on the modern reels.

The reel lives on a 7' medium Ugly Stik lite Pro now, and casts surprisingly well, if not the farthest. Good pier reel

[xjchad]

Looks great Anthony!!

[Donnyboat]

Great tutorial Anthony, you say, it cast surprisingly well, did you do any special polishing, internally of the brass bush bearings, and what did you oil them with, thanks again cheers Don.

[Lingwendil]

Nothing special- just cleaned it all really well, lubricated with ReelX oil on all bushings and the levelwind worm. Cal's grease on the gear teeth. It's not super far (maybe 30-40 yards?) but will work great for the places I usually get to fish. I can get farther with my Mag 10 (on the same model rod) so I put that one out far, the 9 in about half as far, and the kid's poles are usually a lob cast or straight down.

It casts much better than any of the 209's I've attempted, that's for sure

[Gfish]

The click spring is graphite. Interesting. Is the reel made in the USA?

[Sharkb8]

Great tutorial I have not seen a graphite  spring clicker yet on any of my reels yet, I like the old handles better than them rubber ones they look and feel better.

Kim

[Alto Mare]

Nice clean job with lots of good pics.
Thanks for sharing.

Sal

[Lingwendil]

The click spring is graphite. Interesting. Is the reel made in the USA?

Sideplate says "Made in USA"

I thought it was interesting too.

[Gfish]

Cool. Less corrosion issues. Good job buddy!