need help with a penn 49

[fyafish]

got an old penn 49 in pretty  much perfect condition still in box.  the problem is that the spool seems to be binding on something.  feels like its binding on the right side inner chrome ring.  when i loosen the tension on the spool and push the spool over to the left, it seems to work fine but for some reason when i try to push the spool over to the right side, it seems like its binding.  any ideas on what the problem might be?  any help would be greatly appreciated.  thanks in advance.

[George4741]

The spool may be warped.  Does it appear to be true when you spin it?

I had a 49 with a plastic spool that did the same thing.  I swapped the right side bushing with one from another reel and that corrected the problem.  Just a thought.

George

[fyafish]

i tried switching the bushing out but it does the same thing.  it does have a plastic spool like you mentioned. but the spool seems fine when i push the spool toward the left sideplate.  when i push it to the right, it seems like it gets stuck into the sideplate somehow.  i think it may have somthing to do with the bushing but im not sure.  anyone else have any ideas.  this is driving me crazy.

[Alto Mare]

You need to center the spool, play around with some shims. On  bushings, you won't be able to use washers, there isn't too much room there, It wouldn't have been a problem on larger reels. You'll need to make some shims that will fit in the bushing, you could use an aluminum can. Add as many pieces as you need.  I heard of some dropping a BB in there.

[akfish]

49 spools are notorious for warping and I suspect that is your problem. A new right side bearing (26-60) may solve the problem but I suspect you need a new spool. (Plastic spools don't hold up even on a good day anyway...) The problem is that new spools are not only expensive but are cut differently than old spools such that you'll either need a new bridge or do some serious filing on the bridge to keep it from rubbing against the spool.

[Jimmer]

Have you opened the reel up? Is the pinion gear free on the spool shaft?

[Norcal Pescador]

I just rebuilt a couple of 49's - one with a plastic spool and another with the chromed spool. The plastic-spooled got a new aluminum spool and it went together fine. The chromed spool on the other one was warped. I tried new bushings to no avail. I replaced that spool with a 29L-49 also but then it was custom-fit time.

When in gear everything was great, but in "freespool" the handle clunked as I turned it and it started to catch about every 1/2 turn. Long story short, I had to get out the Dremel and grind down the height of the shoulders on the spool shaft that engage the slots in the pinion. Make sense? Very, very slight occasional tick now as the handle is turned while in freespool, but it's okay.

My guess is there was a production change on the reel or 29L-49 spools somewhere that caused it to be different with the two reels. (The new spool boxes and spools looked identical.)