Reel Repair by Alan Tani

I recently inherited some Shimano Tiagra fishing reels from my late father-in-law - they are badly pitted cosmetically - but mechanically they are sound.

If one filled the pitting with an epoxy and sanded them down could one cerakote these reels?

Any other ideas of how to sort out the housing on a Tiagra ...

Cerakote is not for the faint of heart.  You need extensive preparation, really good spray equipment and a place to bake it.  Maybe practice on something more disposable than a Tiagra.

Ouch! That brings tears to my eyes, but I had a Penn International II 30W that had a lot of nasty corrosion (not quite as bad as that Tiagra though). I picked the worst of the crumbly stuff out of the holes with an awl - carefully - and then gave it a thorough scrub with Fairy liquid in hot water followed by a thorough rinse. Repeat.

When absolutely dry, I painted the grey exposed alloy areas with Humbrol enamel paint in gold. It wasn't a perfect match by any means but it did look better. The paint ought to reduce the continued corrosion.

I don't know how it is holding up as I sold it to someone as 'mechanically sound but cosmetically awful'.

I don't know Cerakote so can't comment on that.