Penn 710z mod project

[circlehook]

Vinegar can be pretty rough on brass and bronze components. I have seen numerous cracks in brass gearing, etc., caused by vinegar soaks so it's best to be tentative with vinegar around brass.

Yeah. I only soaked the housing and rotor. Not the gears.

In any case, after an hour, I rinsed the parts off and went to town with an old tooth brush . I got rid of a lot of the superficial rust on the trip lever and bail arm . I'd like to eventually replace them if this project turns out well but these should do for now, once I dry and coat them with a bit of WD40

Parts of the housing look pretty rough.
If I scuff this down, I feel I'm bound to miss parts of the compromised paint so I'd rather proceed directly to the paint stripping stage.

I guess we'll see how Walmarts finest  (or rather their only ) paint remover works. It was the cheapest I could find , and worst case it doesn't work and we all learn something .  I guess I could try and find someone to dip & strip these parts but I wanted to see how far I could get on my own using off the shelf products

[JasonGotaProblem]

I guess we'll know in a few minutes

[circlehook]

How would I best approach the removal of the 704z emblem from the housing cover. It's kind of beat up , and not in a good way . Would a hair dryer help soften up whatever adhesive was used ? Or should I scour the auction site for a cover (perhaps from a greenie with the metallic emblem intact)

[Midway Tommy]

Heat should soften the glue enough to pry it out.

[Brewcrafter]

Circlehook - We are all on this journey together; thanks for sharing.  I am going to take a moment to "state the obvious" so if you are already on top of this I apologize - but if it helps someone else it may be beneficial.  Once you are done with the stripping stage (I hope the local stripper worked for you, looking forward to a report) it is imperative, no, really important  to absolutely clean, rinse, neutralize, lather, rinse, repeat and clean again getting ALL traces of the stripper removed from the components.  And sometimes with all those nooks and crannys it is easier said than done.  part of what makes those chemicals work is that they are very tenacious and like to "stick" to what they are applied to, so removing them is most likely not just going to be a simple rinse, it will take some work and some neutralizing chemical rinse.  That will insure that your future coatings get full and good adhesion for maximum longevity (and no bubbles!).  It is surprising how miniscule residue can remains that can barely be seen but will come back to ruin the paint, and without high tech cleaning (ultrasonic) it can be easy to miss small spots. 

[circlehook]

I let the 2 minute stripper work for an hour this morning . It loosened up some of the paint enough that I could scrape it off with a teaspoon and a putty scraper. I've reapplied and will repeat the process . After that, I'll work with sandpaper and / or a rotary tool + wire wheel

[JasonGotaProblem]

I tend to use the sandpaper while the stripper is still present. (With gloves, and i use citristrip)

[Midway Tommy]

I hope it ends up turning out really well because it sure seems to be more work than it might end up being worth.   

[circlehook]

I hope it ends up turning out really well because it sure seems to be more work than it might end up being worth. 

I'm just gonna try and get some enjoyment out of the process , for better or worse .

Initial stripping done. Wet sanded a bit with 220 grit lubricated by some stripper .

I guess if I were going for a distressed look, I could stop here

[circlehook]

Sanded & scrubbed a bit more using thumb grease and a small rotary tool . I got the pieces looking semi decent but the aluminium surface isn't perfect (pores and other imperfections ).

I could commit to more work to prep this for either a brushed or polished finished but either approach is still going to result in a "grungy" aesthetic unless I put in some real effort into the finish work.

I'm going to research  VHT wheel paints and engine epoxies

[Midway Tommy]

Looks like you need to do more sanding with finer sand paper, maybe 320-600, those scratches look pretty deep. Then you should probably give it a couple of coats of filler primer with sanding in between and a fine sand afterwards prior to your first finish coat.

[circlehook]

They're not too bad, the pics make them look worse than they are .

[foakes]

Reel manufacturers only paint reels for (2) reasons —-

To look more attractive and sell more reels.

And, to hide imperfections in the castings.

While shiny, chromey, bling reels may look sharp on a shelf —- without a tremendous amount of labor, expense, and ongoing maintenance —- they are seldom practical.

Been there, done that, got the shirt...

Best, Fred

[jurelometer]

The surface quality of those old cast aluminum Penns was not that great. You can see the artifacts from the mold, and those pits are sub-surface voids that get exposed from corrosion and/or prepping.  I think that was probably one of the reasons that Penn used such a thick coat of paint.  Tommy's advice about primer is good if you are going to go the rattle can route.

If you are going to do any baking of the paint to finish it, you will need to out-gas the parts first.  The porous cast aluminum absorbs oils though the years, and it will come out back to the surface when heated.  The trick is to bake the reel around 275F or so for a half hour, clean and repeat, until  the oil leaching stops. Might need to relube the oilite  handle bushing after painting is completed.

Powder coating works real well on these reels.  I did a couple threads on powder coating old Penns when I first joined.  You can see a spinner with a hot-roll /charcoal finish in the first thread, and a more gaudy candy finish Senator in the second.  I was (am) still learning, but think that the info is still useful.

https://alantani.com/index.php/topic,9257.msg83482.html#msg83482

https://alantani.com/index.php/topic,9622.msg88315.html#msg88315

-J

[circlehook]

What would be the consequences, if any, if I decided to do nothing more apart from maybe periodically apply some marine sealant or ceramic or similar snake oil product - ie let the reel wear it's battle scars and patina ? 

Would the housing and rotor corrode if occasionally exposed to salt spray ( I don't abuse my gear but don't baby them either)?