Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Greetings all,

First time posting here, have used this forum for years rebuilding various reels. I wanted to document a customization option for the vintage Mitchell 302. I'm sure it's possible on any of the old 300-400 series that have matching removable covers on both sides of the body. I read about this on a pier fishing forum some years back but no one included pictures. Some people were left confused. The idea of it intrigued me and so I went for it. It turned this old Mitchell into a tank. The idea is to add a floating drive gear to the other side of the pinion gear, thereby sandwiching it in, cancelling out any axle deflection under heavy loads. It also has the added benefit of double dogs.
To begin, you'll have to source an extra crank-side cover plate with the drive gear and all the dog components.
You'll measure 3\8" off the plate and mark the drive gear tube.(Mine is a hair shorter.) You'll want to cut on this mark as square as you can. You can file or belt sand to fix and inconsistency. Now you'll just have to shorten the drive gear shaft. I just placed the drive gear back into the plate and marked the excess shaft with a sharpie. Cut this 1/16" shorter from your mark.
The most difficult part is fabricating a cap. Luckily, if you've hit the 3/8" cut mark, a dime should fit perfectly. I drilled and tapped the drive gear tube and secured with (3) 4-32 x 1/2" screws, adding a little rtv silicone under the rim of the dime before I added the screws.
Once you've applied your grease, and placed your shortened drive gear into the side plate, all's that left is to attach your custom plate on the reel body.
I always add a smear of grease over the second dog because with the two dogs engaged, it can be a little loud. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll try to answer.

Hi. 

Very cleaver, John. You have great skills too.
-steve

Hey John! That's cool. We don't see a lot of customization of 302's on here, so that's good to se. I know they are out there, and the 302 is prevalent to work with.

We have an intro thread; pop over there and introduce yourself. Where are you and what are you using this for? Imma guess the Northeast for stripers

John

I would like to see more of what you did inside .  Are you dragging another drive train on the other side ?

Welcome from Salem va,,,,

Welcome, J d 177. Cool. I have some parts. Ditto what Joe asked.

Quote from: oldmanjoe on January 19, 2025, 05:42:56 PMI would like to see more of what you did inside .  Are you dragging another drive train on the other side ?

For the main drive, i installed the crosswind cam. Replaces the aluminum inner cam to a solid brass.  I experienced way better line lay than stock.
Other than that, i replaced the bearing with an abec 5 from boca. Also, ht-100 drag stack. I bought the handle from a guy who machined delrin and sold his wares on eebay back in the day. 
I inherited this reel from my pops who bought and used it as a lighthouse tender in Cape May, NJ during the 70's. He has loved watching it become something he'd never expected.

Quote from: thorhammer on January 19, 2025, 01:22:13 PMHey John! That's cool. We don't see a lot of customization of 302's on here, so that's good to se. I know they are out there, and the 302 is prevalent to work with.

We have an intro thread; pop over there and introduce yourself. Where are you and what are you using this for? Imma guess the Northeast for stripers

John

Although im not from the northeast, i absolutely got "hooked" from striper fishing in the bay area of California while working as a traveling electrician during the last decade.  Ill definitely head over to intros. I was born and raised in Florida but i reside in central Oregon now but constantly travel for work. 

Central Or...we got people there.....

Not much need for a 302 in Central OR. Have lived in K-falls, Bend and Summer Lake.
Where would one get a cross-wind cam?
I checked my parts. Do you leave in anything of the planetary gear system on the other main gear? That's what I have for both gears. Looks like the opposing small inner gear wouldn't fit with that little knob on there.

Quote from: Gfish on January 20, 2025, 02:33:45 AMNot much need for a 302 in Central OR. Have lived in K-falls, Bend and Summer Lake.
Where would one get a cross-wind cam?
I checked my parts. Do you leave in anything of the planetary gear system on the other main gear? That's what I have for both gears. Looks like the opposing small inner gear wouldn't fit with that little knob on there.

I use this for surfcasting for surf perch and stripers on the umpqua. I got my crosswind cam off ebay.  I know they are available right now from "the fisher-man". 
No need to keep anything but the main gear on the passive side.

Quote from: Gfish on January 20, 2025, 02:33:45 AMNot much need for a 302 in Central OR. Have lived in K-falls, Bend and Summer Lake.
Where would one get a cross-wind cam?
I checked my parts. Do you leave in anything of the planetary gear system on the other main gear? That's what I have for both gears. Looks like the opposing small inner gear wouldn't fit with that little knob on there.

Here is the completed interior of the passive side.  No extra parts

Got it, thanks. I won't be drilling out any holes, though, raw aluminum will start the corrosion process.

Forgot to mention, when installing the passive side, to sync the dogs, you'll want to engage the main dog and reel back till it stops.  Hold this position while doing the same on the passive side.  You'll have to rotate the gear backwards by hand till it stops. Now you can press and screw the passive side plate on. This will insure that the double dogs are synced. When synced, and reeling, you'll hear one definitive click.  To test, engage one dog and notice the handle movement between clicks. With both dogs engaged, the amount the handle is turned per click should match with one engaged. 
Hope this makes sense.