Ocean City 609?

[tlanzilotta]

I have seen a bunch of these on eBay for sale pretty cheap. Anyone know anything about these. If they can be upgraded or if they are a good reel at all?

[Bryan Young]

These are have Penn 60 sized drags.  I've upgraded a few who wanted to fish them in memory of their grandfather or father.

[tlanzilotta]

So for a decent price would it hold up against some sharks. I have a Daiwa 910 with the drag upgrade, and a Penn 115 with smooth drag upgrade.... Worth spending a bit of money on or no?

[Alto Mare]

I'm not sure about the size of the drags, but that reel is similar to a Penn 9/0. Personally, I would upgrade the drags and try it out.
Here is some info on theat reel:
http://66.51.163.9/fishing/collection/index.cfm?hierarchy=2&depth=2&finalLevel=2&category=2&level1=Ocean%20City&;

[Bryan Young]

I'm pretty sure the drags were tiny.  Doubting myself now...  I'm not sure if it would handle a shark.

[raumati01]

I sold mine to a collector I never actually took it apart I don't think the drag washers are huge on them , here's another link with more info. http://www.oceancityreelphotos.com/ocean-city-big-game-and-the-salt-water-numbered-reels.html
They stopped making them a long time ago, a Daiwa 910 is the same size as a 900 isn't it? Probably better off buying another one of those.

[Shark Hunter]

I bought one of these Dinosaurs on a whim. Mike C. says they are up to the task. That is enough for me. I know its heavy. Mine is a later 50's version with the True Temper Logo, but I really like the handle. I'll let you know what I find inside. My first impression is good. I turned the star about half way and gripped the spool. I can't turn it with my bare hands.

[Maxed Out]

 Daron, I just looked at the close up pics of your reel and it looks like it is in immaculate condition. Very nice find, and I love that log style knob !!

[Shark Hunter]

Well,
I have good new and bad new about this reel. I am impressed with its features. I know the original design came Vom Hofe himself. I however think it has a few shortcomings.
The clutch is the weak point. It is spindled to the spool. The parts are robust and are quality, but I really don't know if I would really trust this reel on big fish.
It has extra bridge screws on the top to hold the pinion assembly and the upper bridge. The main gear is quite deep and has a three stack of asbestos with very thick metal washers.
The OD matches a 113H, The ID will have to be reamed to make it a 5 stack, but it can be done.
The main gear is pinned to stack, I think it could take it, It is just the clutch setup that concerns me.
It really reminds me of a cross breed of a Daiwa and a Penn. I see where they got their inspiration.

[Shark Hunter]

The more I work on this reel, the more I like it. The reassembly went quite smooth. The notched jack tab screws are a nice touch. I polished everything and put it back together with the original stack.
If I had  another thick eared washer, the five stack would be easier.

Everything greased and polished. Back together.

[The Great Maudu]

That turned out beautiful!! Is there a link that has a tutorial on how to clean and polish a reel like that? Thanks Daron.

[Shark Hunter]

Just a couple hours. Some Penn Blue, Chrome Polish, some rags and elbow grease.

[tristan]

Since Daron's review and takedown, I've located a 605 for trade.   I'm looking forward to see if the insides are in as good a shape as his...

[cbar45]

Some nice photos in this thread, thought I'd add a few of the latter model Ocean City (True Temper) 609A...I picked up this reel for a song and a project, ended up lucking out as it had a few things going which allowed it to clean up better than expected:



Not much to look at, but almost all of this corrosion/tarnish is only on the surface...It helps that the parts are heavily chrome plated..



Removal of decades-old dacron revealed this gleaming spool untouched!...I am quite positive that the line was washed at some point as it was extremely brittle and showed definite use, but had almost none of the residue and accompanying spool corrosion you normally find when dacron or linen is fished hard and put away wet..



Gear-sleeve, dog, and bridge scream heavy duty...Separate main gear bushing is a nice touch..


Gears are smooth, stout, and showed hardly any wear..


This reel came with a home-made looking handle a bit worn out...Would be nice to have one made from stainless, but since that is a bit beyond my skill set, what I have been doing is carefully filing the gear sleeve opening of pre-cut handle blanks such that it fits the square drive of Ocean City's..



Time will tell how well it holds up, but so far no problem...If anything the softer handle blank will deform before the gear sleeve; a fail-safe of sorts..


All in all it took probably 3 hours to get the old 609 this clean...My process is nothing special and very similar to others...First I will wash the whole outside of the reel with soap and hot water, helps dissolve salt/remove dirt and get a better look at what I'm working with...Next is disassembly and removal of old oil and grease using either WD-40 or PB Blaster and lots of rags/paper towels...At this point the parts are allowed to soak in distilled white vinegar for about 45 min, scrubbed with dawn dishwashing liquid and a non-scratch brush/sponge for 5 min, then rinsed and repeat--2-3 times for heavily tarnished areas...Sometimes I will lightly polish dull parts using clear-coat safe automotive rubbing compound, but none was used in this photo...Testament not to my own work, but more so of the manufacturing quality found in yesteryear--and probably of one fisherman's/woman's diligence at washing their line..

[Shark Hunter]

Good work on that 609 Chad. It really turned out nice.