Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Carbon Sea Streak and the Internals of the earlier red version (getting ready for cleaning and re-assembly).

I have a bit of an obsession for a very common UK built vintage reel (common in the UK at least; also sold in the US courtesy of Gladding, under the 'South Bend' name), Namely KP Morritt's Intrepid Sea Streak Multiplier/Baitcaster.

This reel was quite innovative at the time (around 1966) and was marketed as a 'Beach casting reel'

It had a rotary switch with four settings; AR with clicker, silent Forward and reverse, silent with AR (quiet clicker) and a forward / reverse ratchet they called 'Tru-Play'which allowed the angler to control the fish runs by hand, but with a click drag feature. This switch would soon change to a much more finger friendly design.
 
It also had a freespool switch, and a unique fanned spool with centifugal brakes (I am writing this without the handbook, so my terminology may be a bit out here, my apologies).

Down sides are (the colour?) weight, a slow retrieve ratio and a tendency to sound like a thousand screaming banshees when casting, hence their nickname 'Sea Scream' or Sea Screach'
They also have the strange (incredibly annoying) ability to absorb grease and grime into the red fiberglass filled nylon end plates, which is almost impossible to remove.

Another unpleasant tendency, was (is) for the chrome plated cages to bubble with corrosion if not washed properly after use.

The earliest have what I call the 'cloverleaf' rotary switch and a satin chrome finish. These came in cool display boxes, as did a few with bright chrome and the new switch.

Subtle design changes are found thoughout their time span (approx 1966-79), notably the change to bright chrome and loss of the Morritt name moulding on the R/H panel, also the box design changed at least twice, until Gladding got more of a foothold over the company from the mid 70's, and cut costs, with a plain white box with a blue and yellow band around the base, first wavy then straight.

When they are found in great condition, I think they look very cool, though most look horrendous, having probably been dumped in a box in the garage unwashed since their last outing over 50 years ago.

In a last ditch attempt to save the company in 1979, a carbon version was released, with a presentation box, but these are hard to find having been made for only around a year.

For beach or boat, they still get the job done.

For better or worse, here are mine:

   I changed the supply spool arbor to coarse thread rod and dressed the end so i can use a drill to strip line off a reel . All i need to do is loosen the end post nuts so the arbor will spin. 

     When I tighten the nuts to the end posts , than I can adjust the supply spool nuts to set drag.   I have been using 10 pounds running 11 pounds startup .   This set up will get cleaned up at a latter date , it`s just a starting point rite now .

          That little pulley in the front served it`s purpose , now it`s time to go big .  A compass set at 5 3/4 to draw a circle and make a pulley with a circumference of 36 inches . 
          It will serve two purposes , I can put a counter on it to keeptrack of yardage going on reel .  It will also serve as a brake wheel for the higher drag pressures for the big boys 20-30 pounds ,like a step up brake .
 

Quote from: foakes on Today at 05:04:49 AMThat looks like a capacitor, Joe —-

On a DC motor, it stores a charge of voltage very quickly —- and then releases it also just as quickly.

They are used in many electronic applications, and have been useful for years. 

On a DC motor, it overcomes any variation speed or resistance in the rotation of the armatures —- to keep things steady and constant.

Best, Fred

I kinder understand the capacitor , as in start capacitor .    When it was hooked up ,I got forward on one leg and reverse on the other leg .  At first I though it might be a blocking diode for the park feature for the wipper .   Also noted it was only high speed in both directions .  Once removed than it became high on one leg and low on the other leg .   I was looking at some picture to try to identify the closest I found was a  Varistor ?   This is the first for me with this surprize .  And I didn't make magic smoke .

That looks like a capacitor, Joe —-

On a DC motor, it stores a charge of voltage very quickly —- and then releases it also just as quickly.

They are used in many electronic applications, and have been useful for years. 

On a DC motor, it overcomes any variation speed or resistance in the rotation of the armatures —- to keep things steady and constant.

Best, Fred

Quote from: quang tran on Today at 03:21:04 AMWhat's motor you use .Can you add a speed control like sewing machine ?

It is a ford windshield wiper motor .  The toggle switch on the side of the box is now a high and low speed . Low speed is slow enough , that I did not feel the need for a rheostat .  I will put up a video tomorrow .

     I do have a question , does anyone know what this thing is ?   When it was hooked up to the two hot legs , it gave me forward and reverse .  When I removed it , than I got high and low speed.
     The motor is a 3 brush motor .

Through wired weights eliminate that it you must have hooks on the bottom.

They sure put up a fight,,,,   but you got the right gear,,,,,,

West got 1 cat at the lake and I got 1 rainbow at the river,,,,,,

About the same for your purposes in that all are not really acceptable. 

HDPE  is machinable. I've made large low tolerance (accuracy) parts out of it. The cutting tools have to be throwing off large chips and the feeds have to be high relative to the tool rotation speed (hint- you need specific cutters for soft plastics - Onsrud is a good source for more info, but one router bit will probably cost you the same or more than the whole metal oscillation arm from Fred) .  Mechanical  properties of HDPE are still kind off sucky for reel parts.  Delrin is cheap, readily available, and is a great plastic for machining into mechanical parts.

You could do it with a hand drill and a Swiss Army knife, but you are a better craftsman than I am if you can get something accurate enough to be a useful part.

The HDPE that I am used to is the marine stuff, like Starboard.  It seems to me to be harder than the cutting board stuff.  But even starboard is not a great choice.

-J