Frame corrosion - to paint or not?

[Ruffy]

Hi all,
I was over dropping my kids at a friends house for a playdate, we were talking fishing, and he mentioned he had a few reels he needed to get fixed. I kindly offered, and he produced two Daiwa zillions that he received as a wedding present 11 years ago. He's done zero maintenance, and they look worse for wear. I've torn down one, the pinion and spool shaft were frozen, with a few other issues as well. As it stands they should clean up mechanically okay, but both have corrosion +++.

My mates not that fussed and not overly sentimental, if these can't be brought back he has said he will pick up a few new reels. My question is do I clean up all the corrosion and just keep some wax or grease up to the frame, or try and hit the bare parts with some spray paint? Would a spray paint hold up if I just did a few coats to the affected areas? Then there is the issue of colour matching with the rest of the reel as well, do Daiwa sell touch up paint? Any thoughts you can offer would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Andrew

[oldmanjoe]

I would clean up the reel and paint the whole thing with the closest color  i can get .

[Wolli]

can recommend the Email Paint from REVELL (not the water based paint!)

www.revell.de/en/products/colors-accessories/email-colours/

[JRD]

If it's going to be another 11 years before maintenance nothing is going to work.  The prep necessary to get a decent paint job to last  is probably not worth the time.  Brush off the flaking paint, give them a good spray with kroil and teach your buddy basic maintenance.  The reels will have "character" and "patina" plus your friend can make up fishing stories about how they got that way.

[Gfish]

Agree with JRD. If they were my reels though, I would keep all non-corroded parts for replacements and buy one in better shape. Godda find some freshwater and rinse, then dry!

[Porthos]

...received as a wedding present 11 years ago. He's done zero maintenance...not overly sentimental, if these can't be brought back he has said he will pick up a few new reels....

Your buddy is playing right into the fishing reel industry's unspoken marketing plans..."Why maintain when you can buy new???"

...My question is do I clean up all the corrosion and just keep some wax or grease up to the frame, or try and hit the bare parts with some spray paint? Would a spray paint hold up if I just did a few coats to the affected areas?...

Remove corrosion (e.g., CorrosionX, etc). Evenly apply visible coat (i.e., don't wipe off "excess") of marine grease to interior, and let it do it's job. "Routinely" clean and apply fresh coat.

...Then there is the issue of colour matching with the rest of the reel as well, do Daiwa sell touch up paint?...

Ha ha...good one...too bad that would be counter to the fishing reel industry's marketing plans. After a reasonable cleaning, I'd leave the exterior as-is, FW rinse after each fishing session, wipe thoroughly with mineral oil (was never fond of any non-biological substance that's not food-safe on reel exteriors), and do a thorough wipedown with a clean dry rag.

After all your restoration work, your buddy has two options:

• Continue fishing them (and hope they receive maintenance going forward); or
• put them on display as conversation pieces (yeah, even though he's "...not overly sentimental," it's more for maintaining the fishing story aspect)

[nelz]

Wow, the Zillions are not exactly disposable price-range reels! What a shame to see them so neglected. 

[oc1]

Remove corrosion (e.g., CorrosionX, etc). Evenly apply visible coat (i.e., don't wipe off "excess") of marine grease, and let it do it's job. "Routinely" clean and apply fresh coat.

I agree.  Scrape off the loose stuff and then stabilize the surface with grease.

If the owner cared about what they look like then they wouldn't look like that.  Your aesthetic might not be the same as his.