Drive Gear Shims on a 300

[reelynew]

Hey All,

I am putting back together an older 300 reel from the 50's my Dad gave me.  I don't recall seeing any Drive Gear Shims when I took it apart (Part 81-035).  It seems to be a unique size shim as the other shims I have do not fit and are loose around this particular shaft. 

Does anyone know if it's possible that the reel was shipped without one?  If not, I must have misplaced it when I was taking it apart. 

Would adding shim(s) to the drive gear reduce the slop in the handle?  I am noticing that I can pull on the handle and the drive gear moves in and out of the shaft by say .025".  Would putting a shim around the drive shaft gear take up that slack or do I need some kind of washer between the main body and the handle?  I did not see a washer in that area which is why I ask.  I only have a 308 to compare against, but that doesn't appear to have any shims.

I am using the following schematic: https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=30597.0

Thanks All for any thoughts or advice on this one,

Matt

[jtwill98]

Some Mitchell's were missing drive shims, some required them and others were lost during servicing. 

It is not uncommon for the drive gear to be missing a shim.  If the drive gear is rubbing the housing then you will need a shim and foakes (a member on this forum) will most likely have one.

If not, I can dig thru my parts and see if I have one. 

[foakes]

Hi Matt —-

Show us some photos of what you have.

And I will send out some shims at N/C.

Still need the photo of the trip lever you also need —- since the one I sent you was for a different version.

Once we see what you have, we can compare it with the shop manual schematics and parts lists.

Best, Fred

[reelynew]

Thank you Gentlemen,

Here's a couple of photos of what I am looking at.  The shims I am looking to place, would be for this gear (photo 300-1).  Would placing a couple shims here reduce the ability to pull out the handle or take up the slop?

Fred,

Thank you for following-up with me on the trip.  My trip is in photo 300-3 and my bail and trip are in the forefront of photo 300-2, while the one you had sent me is in the back.  I couldn't get my trip to work with the bail you had sent me, so I am thinking, that they must work together.   Is that a valid statement?  Maybe there was a redesign in the bail. 

Fred, I think I may need an additional part or two, which I'll send you a message on shortly.

Thanks All,

Matt 

[jtwill98]

You could use a main gear shim. Is would give you relief between the housing and the main gear while raking up some slack.

How many shims are on the rotor underneath the rotor between the rotor and baffle plate?  Can you provide pictures of that area and the layout of the shims, washers and nut?   

The trip if I remember correctly is triggered when it hits the baffle arm and if the baffle plate sits too high, is bent, is worn or upside down it might not work at all or properly.  Watch this video: 

[reelynew]

Thank you for posting the video.  It was very informative.  I took the schematic I was working from and posted it in this message marking up and notating where I have shims and how many of them.  I noticed that the shims inside of the reel fit very nicely around the gears or shafts.  As a test, I did take a shim from the head/housing as it was the smallest one that would fit, but it appears to still be too large. 

Thank you for posting about the symptoms of the bail not tripping.  I remember taking the reel apart, that one of shims was outside the baffle and now the bail takes a few revolutions to trip.  When I place them in the order that the schematic shows (behind the baffle), the rotor is nice and tight, but doesn't trip.  I will experiment by placing a shim outside the baffle again.

Thank you,

Matt

[Gfish]

I have a NIB '74. Came with no main gear to side-plate shim. The parts schematic notes that you godda buy them if needed. Your '50's 300 should have one, though. Make sure after you shim and remove the slop, the main and transfer gears are still not rubbing on the other gears.
Jtwill98 has the "proper" way to get the trip lever working(using shims), but you can try bending the baffle plate cut-out down a bit so it smacks the trip lever harder. This is probably best done only when you are out fishing and the bail stops tripping, but you can get an idea of how it works, then try reducing the number of shims under the baffle plate.

[reelynew]

Thank you for that post.  The reel had a decent amount of corrosion and built-up tarnished grease in it.  If it by chance did not come with one, do you think cleaning all that up with a wired rotary tool decreased the tolerances enough to cause that play?

I will checkout his other videos.

[jtwill98]

The baffle plate cut-out down that Gfish mentioned is the key to triggering the trip lever.  Sometime you can see noticeable wear on it.  I've had to bend it down and in some cases bend it sideways slightly such that it contacts the trip lever.

Removing the spool you should be able to look down past the cut-out around the edges and see where if contacts the trip lever.  The trip lever catches the edge of that cut-out arm, triggering the bail to release. Bending it down or sideways slightly should correct the issue. 

From your description, it sounds like the previous owner may have attempted to address the issue by moving one of the shims from below the baffle plate to above it, thus hoping to correct the issue.

Play around with it, I'm sure you'll figure it out.  Don't worry about damaging it.
If you do damage the baffle plate and need a replacement, I'm sure Fred will have a replacement. 

I may have one as well.  If you decide you need to go that route, it's probably best you post a picture of the baffle plate to get the correct match.

[happyhooker]

If I remember right, the drive gear shim was eventually eliminated, although I don't recall when.  I thought Mitchell had added a raised area on the back of the gear that took the place of the shim.  That is not to say that, in an appropriate situation, an added shim might not help things.

Frank