Hello all!
An old friend of mine parted with his Penn 420SS to me knowing it is in good hands. Hopefully I can post a pic. So now begins the cleaning and upgrading. Advice time please. Drag options? Any bearing replacement to reduce the 'play" (slop) in the mechanism?
Thanks in advance!
Doug
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t313/fal76251/Penn420SS_zps988ad8dc.jpg)
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t313/fal76251/Penn420SS_zps988ad8dc.jpg
Replace any teflon washers in the drag stack and under the spool with carbon fiber greased with Cal's and enjoy it! Bob
I used one of these for more than 15 years, until I got a Stradic. There's not much you can do about the "slop" since most of that is due to the old-style ratchet and dog anti-reverse. There's only one drag washer (teflon) and it works okay under light pressure, but it gets jerky when tightened down. Greased carbontex would be better, but I don't know if anyone makes one that fits. The simple oscillation pattern means you occasionally get wind knots, even with mono, but that's partly due to user error I'm sure. ;)
Still, I've got a soft spot for this reel. Have fun with it!
hi dwarmbrodt
if you need the cf washers i can make and send you a couple.
just pm me your address.merry xmas
They'll give you nothing but problems. How much would you want, for me to take it off your hads ;D.
Enjoy it! They're sought after by many.... I'm one of them ;).
I have my father one probably 25 years ago now and I cannot believe how much they are going for today. I guess we have a great reel. The reel is slated for my daughter
Thanks for the replies and offers! I'm glad no one mentioned the reel pic includes the reel seat but no rod. I have a nice 6' blank that I will build to match this reel, hence the black & gold Fuji reel seat.
Got me feeling nostalgic. I still have a 420SS, 430SS, 550SS, 850SS (with stainless double dogs courtesy of Justin), 706 greenie and 716Z. Yes, we pretty much only used Penn back then. These were Penn's standard spinning reels and were very reasonably priced, and yet all have stainless or brass pinion gears, bronze or brass main gears and are super easy to service. No wonder they are still sought after!
OK, I have been inspecting the fit of the internal components, and found that the spool sleeve has a lot of play in where it locks into the small cross pin on the main shaft. The slot in the sleeve is no longer uniform and looks peened over, if that makes sense. I see I can still buy a replacement sleeve, but my question is can the cross pin be replaced with a slightly larger one? I know Penn engineers know what they are doing, but a fatter pin would tighten things up.
I wonder if the slop was intentional by the Penn designers because of the push button spool release. Since the spool is not held on by the drag knob it has to be seated all the way down on the cross pin to lock it in place. I actually threw a spool into the water on a cast once. ::)
Didnt think of that.... I may still order a new part while they still are available. Any other parts I should squirrel away for future maintenance?
Not really, if the internals are in good shape. I once asked a guy at a local tackle shop what reels he used, since he had access to all the reels available at that time. He said he used a variety of reel brands, but when he went on his fishing vacations to remote locations he only took his Penn reels because he knew they wouldn't break and ruin his trip.