Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Got this reel in the shop. 
Side plate says 700. But it doesn't have part #21 - bearing cover
It has a 1 piece handle.
It also has a rubber bumper...in a coil/spring....Not a cup??
It has a bearing retainer part #21a from a 704.
Do I have a hybrid or a very early 700?

You have a Frankenreel. It's a first year 700 body and handle with a 704 rotor

I enjoy Frankenreels...if it works it works.

Cool.  Thanks for the info.

Guy said it was his dad's and has been this way for years.

I love it. It wasn't a collectors item to him. He just fished it. And fixed it and kept fishing it.

Whoever gets hold of reels from my collection if my kids don't want it are gonna come here with some serious questions.

agree.....still works just fine and will continue to be fished for years to come.

Did all 704's have that spring thing around the rubber bumper?  I don't remember seeing one.  The bumper is often the first thing to go, especially on a 700.  The way the bail slams shut with that loud thunk makes it understandable.

Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on November 11, 2025, 11:54:24 PMI love it. It wasn't a collectors item to him. He just fished it. And fixed it and kept fishing it.

Whoever gets hold of reels from my collection if my kids don't want it are gonna come here with some serious questions.

Same here, some of my reels came into my care with some oddball cobbled together "refinements", some I've done myself. I am not a connoisseur, I'm a consumer, so as long as they work well, I'm content.

Quote from: oc1 on November 12, 2025, 05:28:48 AMDid all 704's have that spring thing around the rubber bumper?  I don't remember seeing one.  The bumper is often the first thing to go, especially on a 700.  The way the bail slams shut with that loud thunk makes it understandable.

Yeah, interesting, never seen that before. If a mod. Looks like a good one.

It's my understanding that the first generation Spinfisher 704 had 4 versions. I recently acquired a Spinfisher greenie which I believe is a version 1 704. The reason I say that is it's that blue-green color with a flat aluminum side cover, having the silver, blue and green graphic and 704 on it. I think only the first version had that cover. The body and rotor are the same color, the spool however is aluminum,  painted solid dark green and marked 47-700 on the underside. To me this says Penn was using up stock during a model change. The drag consisted of two hard black plastic washers and one white teflon washer and associated metal washers. The drag clicker is one way only. Crank is silver, can be turned 180°, knobs are white. The rotor has only one bail return spring on the side with the line roller, `a la 700. The line roller mount is that long tapering type with an odd bend where it tapers to meet the bail wire. On the other end of the bail wire is a thick stainless plate which serves as the mount to the rotor and latch to hold the bail open. It is permaenatly afixed to the bail wire not moveable like I've seen on late model 704Z bails. The bumper for the bail arm is as you described a thick rubber or plastic cushion with what looks like a spring around it.

The reel you've shown has a body which is dark green like the 700 and a rotor which is the lighter color of a 704. I've never seen a crank like that before but the knob looks like it's Penn and it appears the crank was painted dark green at one time. Is there a washer under the crank where it attaches to the gear shaft? I think the rotor was replaced either because of damage or to take advantage of having a rotor brake with the bail open. I'm curious about the color of the spool on this one and whether it's plastic or aluminum.. This reel could date back to the early 60s. Good to see it's still fishing.

Please correct any misinformation in the above. I'm trying to learn.

Mystic has schematics for the 700 and 704.

Here's some additional info. 
The spool on my reel is from a 700 and is aluminum. It has a one way clicker.

The rotor on this one has 2 springs = 704. The one piece handle was at one point painted dark green.
My reel is 2 tone...the 700 body and the 700 spool are dark green.  The rotor is a lighter shade of green similar to other 704's I have..BUT...looking at the pic below of the 1963 first gen....the rotor is similar to a 704 (doesn't have the silver part #21-700, Bearing cover)?  This is even weirder.

Found some other 700's via a google search that have the same one piece handle. I believe it is a very early version of the 700.

There is a rubber o-ring that is between the handle and the handle collar.  See pic. 

As I said before, you have a first year 700 body and handle that someone swapped on a later 704 rotor.
These parts are interchangeable. Someone probably had a damaged reel or two and made a working one by mixing parts.

Quote from: 1badf350 on November 14, 2025, 11:13:48 PMAs I said before, you have a first year 700 body and handle that someone swapped on a later 704 rotor.
These parts are interchangeable. Someone probably had a damaged reel or two and made a working one by mixing parts.

we agree!