Traded for a Boss Magnum 665H - Have a Few Questions

[MACflyer]

Never owned or serviced an Accurate, but now have a Boss Magnum 665H. It's the 4:1 model. I'm guessing it's probably over 20 years old, but not sure how to determine age. Is it possible to determine age? I've also read that parts are scarce, but this reel seems to be in good working condition. Any mechanical issues or parts in particular I should be concerned with? Going to disassemble it in the next day or two to check bearings, drag washers, etc. Plan to use it for bottom fishing for red grouper, most under 20lbs. Thanks.

[JasonGotaProblem]

Be careful with the body screws they are small and easy to strip the threads. I had to modify a torx bit to fit into one of the recesses and it's clear the prior owner tried without a modified bit because that screw hole was ruined. I got really lucky and found a NOS reel body on the 'bay that worked. Everything else was pretty straight forward.

That and I sprayed the AR clutch with brake cleaner and like 6 of the rollers shot out onto my driveway and it took a week to find them. Don't do that.

[MACflyer]

Thanks Jason. I saw where Alan recommended working in a bag with those rollers.

[Gfish]

I'd like to see if you have the A/R roller clutch and a back-up ratchet/dog style A/R in that reel.

[MACflyer]

No ratchet dog Gregg. Just 2 Anti-reverse bearings, and the outside bearing is missing 1 roller. Pretty sure I didn't lose it as I kept my work area really clean. Reel feels really great now that I cleaned and lubed all the bearings and the drag washers. Should I be concerned with the missing roller? If so, where might I buy just a roller? Don't really want to have to press those two bearings out.

[JasonGotaProblem]

Mine is missing 3. 2 from one, one from the other. No sign of trouble and I've fought some big fish and also snagged the bottom a few times. (40# braid on my accurate 270)

I've considered finding what size roller clutch it is and buying one to steal some rollers from it. But that screw I described above still felt funny going in and scared me so I resolved to avoid issues and not open the reel again until I need to. Sucks to break something trying to improve it.

[MACflyer]

Well that's good to hear Jason. I'll look for a roller, but probably fish it in the meantime. Thanks!

[MACflyer]

Should the drag washers be dry or lightly greased? I usually grease with Cal's, but thought I read somewhere that Accurate recommends dry. Never mind: found an old post by Alan that recommended greasing, so grease it is.

[oc1]

But that screw I described above still felt funny going in and scared me so I resolved to avoid issues and not open the reel again until I need to. Sucks to break something trying to improve it.

Whether or not there are screws threaded directly into plastic without a metal insert should be a major consideration when selecting a reel.  Every time a metal screw is snugged up in a plastic hole the plastic threads are further deformed.  With a short, or even regular, service interval the threads fail.  PEEK is the only plastic I know that can withstand this sort of abuse, but PEEK is too expensive to use for making fishing reels.

[JasonGotaProblem]

It was going into a metal housing. It's just a tiny steel screw in a deep recess (aluminum body) with a lot of room for error. I suspect accurate improved upon this design since then.

Reel is still going strong though. It had clearly seen A LOT of rough use.

[MACflyer]

Of the 4 screws holding the side cover, 3 were T7 and 1 was T6. Also, Accurate emailed me back; the reel was made in 2006. Going to fish it this weekend. I have to say it is very well made, easy to work on, and the drag is very smooth.  One of only a few reels I have made in the 21st century 

[Gfish]

Of the 4 screws holding the side cover, 3 were T7 and 1 was T6. Also, Accurate emailed me back; the reel was made in 2006. Going to fish it this weekend. I have to say it is very well made, easy to work on, and the drag is very smooth.  One of only a few reels I have made in the 21st century 

That was my experience with the crank-side cover. A t-7 was too tight for one of them so used a t6. A 2011 Boss Extreme 600, DPX2 "DAWG". Only 4 oddly spaced skinny torx screws.