Issue upon reassembly of Penn Peerless No 9

[Matt300ZXT]

I followed 2nd Chance Tackle's video on Youtube and got the gear side back together, and before attaching to the frame, I checked for anti reverse and it worked (that dog and spring were a pain) but once I joined the 2 halves with the worm gear, line guide, line guide channel bar and pawl and the drag and handle on, the spool won't turn with the handle.  When I turn the spool with my fingers, it's very stiff and does not spin freely at all.  The handle spins pretty good whether the switch it in On or Off, but the spool won't spin.  What did I do wrong?

[foakes]

Could be a few things, Matt —

Typically just an assembly issue.

First two thing to check would be —

Check to see if the spool bearing on the off handle side is too tight.  Back it off, then adjust inward until there is just a slight amount of side play with the spool.

Other two things would be if the Pawl in the levelwind assembly is not seating properly with the worm rod.

Also, the worm rod needs to be seated properly — on both ends.

There are other things — but these check first.

Best,

Fred

[Matt300ZXT]

Is the spool bearing on the off handle side the screw like thing with the spring on it? I can see by adjusting it the spool has more side to side play.  I've been playing with the reel some and now in the casting position, it does spin a bit more freely, maybe 4 or 5 rotations of the spool, though it's hard to judge when it's spinning.  I noticed by slightly loosening the screws that thread into the cross bars to pull the reel together, it spins better than it did at first.

I am currently playing with the worm gear and pawl to get them to work.  I wish it was like the Abu's setup, those pawls are a lot easier to install and use.  I have the worm gear out of the reel now trying to figure out how to get this pawl to seat properly.

[Matt300ZXT]

Ok I think I figured out the pawl...it pulls out of the screw cap lol I guess the one in it just had too much nasty oil and it was kinda stuck.  It now goes up and down the worm gear fairly decent, occasionally it'll get caught and the handle will spin but no worm action until I nudge the line guide and it'll work right again, usually on the handle side.  With the worm gear installed, it spins over in free spool much less than it did because now the worm gear is in adding friction. 

[festus]

Pawls and worm gears are still available and don't cost much.  BTW, the first Penns I ever serviced were a couple of Penn No. 9 I found at a yard sale in Kingston, TN for 8 bucks apiece a couple years ago. 

[Matt300ZXT]

Small world, my grandparents lived in Kingston and we were up there several times through my childhood.  My parents actually live a little over an hour from there on Hwy 58 in Chattanooga.  Ive been thinking of going up there to fish at the lake and see if we can catch anything.

I think I got the Penn figured out.  I probably am going to buy another worm gear and pawl while Im ordering a new line guide.

[festus]

Yes, small world. We passed through Chattanooga not long ago, are between Dalton. GA and Calhoun right now headed to Marietta.