Custom Hardy Altex n°2 mk.IIII and a half??

[Woodbilly]

As you all know, I love using the early Hardy Altex mk.IIII mechanical gear bail arm reels and am quite fond of the Altex line, in general.
Some of my favorite to fish with and stripdown.

The early made Hardy reels have no anti-reverse function at all.

Not a big deal for me, but sometimes, on bigger catches, it's easier to switch on the a/r to land the big one vs. finger on the flier method when no a/r is available.

Sooooo.... Idle hands are the devil's playground and the devil came to play! Lol

I've created a n°2 mk.IIII and a half!

The only early mk.IIII  mechanical gear bail Altex with a later mk.V switchable anti reverse set up, in existence!

I had both mk.IIII and mk.V reel parts and pieces in my bin, but not enough of either to complete a stock reel of one or the other, so I transferred the mk.IIII dust cover and flier onto a mk.V body shell with mk.V internals.

Sounded easy enough to start, but was pretty tedious, to say the least, and I wasn't even sure the reel would function properly with the a/r activated, as the mechanical gears and flier, both have to back peddle a slight bit, in order to mesh, as the bail arm is opened.
I didn't know if the a/r activated, would allow this reverse backturn.

Turns out, this action is still possible even with the a/r switched on!
So, no switching on and off, in order to cast every time.
Great!

The 2 body shells are different where the dust cover screws mount.

The mk.IIII has threaded mounting holes on external tabs and the mk.V  has the holes drilled directly into body shell.
So, dust cover holes are not compatible and the mk.IIII dust cover is also threaded for the brass ring gear machine screws, so a mk.IIII cover must be used.

I filled original holes on the mk.IIII dust cover with JB Weld and used the mk.V cover to scribe and drill holes in correct positions on the mk.IIII dust cover, in order to mount it onto the mk.V body.

I had to hand fit everything to get all mounted correctly and rotating smoothly, both at dust cover and flier, and also the actual bail arm actuation via the gears.

Lots of micro fetting of tiny screws, hoping not to damage or bust one off in it's mounting hole, after many assembly and disassembly turns, in order to get it all dialed in correctly, as I was using Altex hardware, but not always the correct screws.
I just had to use what fit right out of what I had in the parts bin, with still some trimming and filing of tiny screws, as these reels were incomplete and disassembled parts.

Also, some of the screw heads have to be filed down after final placement, for flier rotation clearance and brass ring gear to mount flush on dust cover, so all must be test fit multiple times before filing, as once that screwdriver slot is gone after filing, it's no going back!

You also must file in small turns, test fit for clearance, remove flier for a bit more filing, etc, as you do not want to remove too much material, as then the screw will hold nothing, with too small of a head, and dust cover will pop right off. Not what you want. Plus, spare Altex hardware is nil, but from parts reels, so every screw matters.

ALL DONE!

I gathered all the correct mk.V parts for the brightwork and internals, but kept a mk.IIII two piece nut crank handle.
Just like the looks of it better.

I also had to hone down the diameter of the non rotating shaft from the mk.V, in order for it to sleeve into the smaller diameter mk.IIII flier worm gear sleeve.
The mk.V non rotating shaft must be used with the mk.V brass sliding blocks, so this had to be done.

I polished and left her with an all alloy finish and I have both an alloy and Bakelite spool to choose from for that.

Everything reassembled easily, after the initial groundwork, with reel lubed, shined and ready for line and test run on some feisty crappie!

Included a link to a YouTube video of this beauty, as well.
Enjoy!!

https://youtube.com/shorts/aNNI42UQwG8?is=wX2o8QkM8ts8PZwp

Peace!

[Donnyboat]

Interesting, and very sweet, thanks for posting, cheers Don.

[Woodbilly]

Interesting, and very sweet, thanks for posting, cheers Don.

 Yes, sir.
Thank you!

[Midway Tommy]

Well done! 👍

[Woodbilly]

Well done! 👍

 Thanks, man!!

[Woodbilly]

was able to take the freshly built mk.4.5 out yesterday and performance was outstanding!

I also took my duplicated duckfoot, but got hung up on using this girl and never put her down.

Anti reverse working flawlessly and all functions of reel are smooth and solid.

I pretty much kept the a/r activated the whole time. It was really nice not having to focus on the finger on the flier method, and just land the fish easily.

The mk.IIII mechanical gear bail arm is the only way to go, IMO.
So smooth and quiet. An effortless flip over with no harsh snap, ever.

We caught 128 to get our 30 keepers, so the day was a blast and it gave the old girl a really good trial run.

Lake of the Ozarks Missouri!

Peace!!

[Donnyboat]

Nice feed man, what breaking strain line were you using, cheers Don.

[Woodbilly]

Nice feed man, what breaking strain line were you using, cheers Don.

Thank you!

It is CrappieMax hi vis camo 6lb test.

Tri color. Chartreuse, clear, red.

Colors alternate every 2'. Use the clear as your leader and count your clear section passes, to simply tell when you've hit desired depth.

 It works awesome for vertical jigging, as you can easily drop to same depth and prevent snagging into sunken cedar tree beds.

[Midway Tommy]

It is CrappieMax hi vis camo 6lb test.

Tri color. Chartreuse, clear, red.

Colors alternate every 2'. Use the clear as your leader and count your clear section passes, to simply tell when you've hit desired depth.

 It works awesome for vertical jigging, as you can easily drop to same depth and prevent snagging into sunken cedar tree beds.

How's it compare to Trilene XL Clear of the same # test in suppleness and loop memory?  It looks to be interesting.

[Woodbilly]

 I have not used the Trilene, so I can't say.

 This is all I use for river and lake, both.

 Maker states to use the clear as the leader, as it is more sensitive to bite.

 I've landed spoonbill, blue cat, Carp, gar, bass, and monster crappie, bluegill with this line.

 Never an issue. Line lay is always good and no loop memory after setting a bit.

 All I use.

[JasonGotaProblem]

That's awesome. There's something extra satisfying about using factory/stock parts in a way that wasn't done by the factory.

"It's not my fault you guys made this upgrade an option."

[Woodbilly]

"It's not my fault you guys made this upgrade an option."

 I need a sign, that states this, above my stripdown bench. 😂

[Midway Tommy]

The reason I asked is that many people have sworn by Ande, Platil & Cajun Red in the past. I have tried all of them and ended up pitching them all because they were way too stiff and wiry for my liking. I've never been able to find any mono as soft and supple as Trilene XL clear.

[Woodbilly]

The reason I asked is that many people have sworn by Ande, Platil & Cajun Red in the past. I have tried all of them and ended up pitching them all because they were way to stiff and wiry for my liking. I've never been able to find any mono as soft and sipple as Trilene XL clear.

 I love the CrappieMax line.
As you can see from my posts, it's ALL I use.

 Very good line. Smooth, strong, no memory, and the tri color is sweet when jigging or shallow bed fishing.

 I order from Bass Pro online

Be sure it's the hi vis camo type

[oc1]

It only takes about an hour for Power Pro Spectra to lose every hint of stiffness and wiriness.