Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Hello all. I have a question, probably Fred could answer. On two of these reels I believe the oil light bushing are worn on the side plate because there is a lot of play (up and down movement) between the gear and bushing and reels are not super smooth. Im guessing its the bushing (softer metal) and not the gear itself (harder metal). How hard is it to get the bushings out without damaging the sideplates? Thanks

Quote from: LanceV on September 21, 2023, 02:11:35 PMHello all. I have a question, probably Fred could answer. On two of these reels I believe the oil light bushing are worn on the side plate because there is a lot of play (up and down movement) between the gear and bushing and reels are not super smooth. Im guessing it's the bushing (softer metal) and not the gear itself (harder metal). How hard is it to get the bushings out without damaging the sideplates? Thanks

Right, Lance —-

The main gear has a HD Steel axle on both sides for exactly center-line torque, support, and balance.

On both the frame and the sideplate are softer bushings which will wear out before the main gear because they are a soft type of material.  These are replaceable, and just need to be pressed  or punched out.  If careful, there will be no damage to the frame or the sideplate —- providing they are supported properly with wood pieces.

A little trick on these —-

After replacing (both) bushings —- burnish and smooth the inside of the bushings to eliminate any tarnish-friction.  Then a little drop or two of synthetic oil on each gear axle.

If you don't have bushings —- I have them.

Best, Fred

  I have a question , is the main gear brass or steel ?  Can you measure the the ends so I can compare notes .

  The reason I ask is i have seen some differences in brass gears diameters .

There are (2) versions of the 265 Microlites —- early & late.

Although, all parts will interchange with the exception of the reverse-thread rotor, Pinion, and rotor hex nut.

Some gears are all brass alloy, some are brass W/Steel axles, or all steel.

Best, Fred

  OK  I had to check my memory bank ..  I checked two more gears , seems like the brass gears will wear faster than the bearing .  This one is pretty bad

  What I am getting at is to save you the job of changing the bearing ,Maybe you need a gear .

      Did a little more checking on a brass gear in the picture you can see a outside ring on half the gear.
Then checking with a caliper, measurements in two places ,90 degrees rotation .  There is a worn spot ,went from .307 to .300 in 90 degree rotation

  Than i tried another test , try the gear backward and forwards on the crank side bearing .    This showe`s that the bearing is good ,but the gear is bad . 

One of my 265s had some horizontal slop in it.I replaced that gear and it went away?

Thanks for the info everyone. I checked both reels one is all brass the other is all steel. The brass gear like the one in the video has a lot of slop exactly like the video. The steel gear has slop but not as much. Now im wondering if a new brass gear on one reel is in order and new bushings in the steel geared reel is needed. What you all think? Thanks for the responses much appreciated.

 Well two things come to mind .   The proper thing is to measure , Inside and out side .
The other is to use the steel gear and try it in the body of the brass gear reel , just like in the video . Or just assemble it to try .