Van staal vr50 problem

[sebastianr240]

Went in to replace the seal in the side plate. Screwed on side plate no problem, spool moving up and down nicely and smooth when I turn the rotor. As soon as I go to put the handle on, the reel locks up and gets progressively tighter to turn as I tighten the handle. If I tighten down the handle all the way, I can't crank, but if I turn the rotor is spins and then the handle loosens off again. Anyone have any idea what's going on here? I've disassembled the reel several times and never had this problem when putting it back together.

Thanks