Special 307

[Brendan]

Way out of my element. A friend was cleaning house and found this reel. Special because Lenard sold me my first real combo. Sabre Stroker with a jig master from his store Sports World. Without diving all in, I noticed no anti reverse, a rusty tension washer under drag knob. Thanks in advance for any input. Brendan.

[ExcessiveAngler]

You'll have to wait for foakes to wake up!
He's one of the master guru, walking encyclopedia's of old, spinners here!
Don't think there's much, he couldn't tell you, about these old GM reels
So hopefully he will chime in, in the a.m.

[Gfish]

Nice. If you disassemble it, beware of 2 small parts in the pinion/rotor area. Pretty sure there's a thread that includes disassembly here.

[Brendan]

The reel is very clean probably old grease is the main issue. I'm not at all comfortable in the spinning reel world. Appreciate any and all input.
Brendan.

[jtwill98]

Brendan,

What are you asking?  Are you looking for parts, general instructions, reel servicing, other?   

Here's a video on servicing the reel:

The spool tensioning spring should be replaced and the reel will need to be cracked open to see why the anti-reverse is not working.

[foakes]

This is, of course, a left-handers version of the Mitchell 306 —- which means the crank is used with the Anglers less dominant right hand.

While the majority of the parts on a 306/307 are the same —- there are around (15) parts that are specific to the lefty 307.

This is crazy —- because for most other reel manufacturers of the same era —- all that is needed is maybe one part or no parts to switch from right to left cranking.

To manufacturer, stock, mirror design special parts for the 5% of production —- is, IMO, a tremendous waste of resources. 

Of course, this is Mitchell in the day.  Very proud of their reels (and rightfully so) —- but unwilling to make design changes that would allow a simple changeover of the crank handle. 

Fortunately I have plenty of parts for the 306/307 reels.

Regional Distributors for the major tackle shops who ordered and sold a lot of tackle —- would get reels from time to time with their names engraved on them from the manufacturer.

These are one of the easiest Mitchell reels to Service and work on.  Like others pointed out —- the pinion lock key is a part often sent to the lost & found —- and maybe discovered when sweeping the shop or in a tub of grease —- or never heard from again.

This reel filled a need between the smaller 300/400 sized Mitchells —- and the much larger Salt Water 302's.

A full disassembly, cleaning, removing all greases, and replacement of the tension drag spring — and inspecting the A/R area to see if it is just hard, set up grease — or a new part or two are needed — is all this neat old reel needs.

Very good reels!

Best, Fred

[Brendan]

Thanks everyone. I'll follow up when I get to breaking it down.