Okay I'm a little confused on this. I have 505hs side plates and bridge, a penn built 506 spool and newell bars and base in the 501/506 size, but no gears. And I'm confused on which gears to get. I have read that the black pearl 5:1 gears will fit, but how about the pinion? And isn't the original pinion and main gear from penn weak? What do I'd do (besides sell it for parts and build a 501 with BP gears)?
Tom, I'll give a go at answering this. I'm not sure which aftermarket gears will fit in this reel, but factory gears are available from Scott's. You may find some on ebay, too. I doubt that the Penn gears are weak and I wouldn't hesitate to use them. These reels have been catching fish since the beginning of time. ;)
George
Tom, what line test would you like to fish??
The factory gears work just fine with a factory 3 disk drag set up. That will fish 30# test all day long and make you very happy. If you want to fish higher drag then you need stronger gears, Sal says the PB gears will fit and I trust him over all others.
Ron