Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Need to clean the trigger and bail systom on my MXL300.  But thought better of it before i asked here if I'm opening up a jack in the box of loose springs and ti y parts.

No, it is easy enough —

I would recommend removing the bail wire first so that the arm is free and won't jam the springs.

Then take a few pics of the  spring and plunger placement as you take off the arm and cover.

Clean them up, a drop or two of oil — and reassemble — after it all works as it should — then reinstall the bail wire lastly.

Best,

Fred

Will do, thank you Fred.

FYI:

1) there's GOLD inside the MLX 200/300 gearbox -- the two huge, indestructible brass bushings on the main gear are IDENTICAL dimensions (7x13x4?) to all the bearings & plastic bushings in later models...  might be good to upgrade the MLX to 3 bearings & move the brass bushings to a later graphite model, for a corrosion-resistant beach "dunkin' reel"

2) if you want to upgrade to a lighter modern handle, you can't use Shimano since they switched from hexagonal to square shafts...  BUT modern Okuma hexagonal handle shafts fit old Shimano gears perfectly & of the several I tried, the collars matched up to the frame, as well

Good info thanks

If I remember right, there is a small bushing under the Quickfire trigger that rides in a groove & that can get lost easily.  There are small parts, but take your time, look at everything as you disassemble, and you should be OK.

Frank

...oh, if you need a donor reel, the older ones are FastCast, which is same as original QuickFire
(different names for same mechanism, If I remember right?)

the newer QuickFireII system is different w/ no compatible parts