Reel Repair by Alan Tani

I just bought this 238 looks fairly unused,1st Heddon in the collection that I am supposedly thinning out...I am trying to sell a few duplicates that are just sitting there waiting in a tote  

Looks a lot like my Heddon 222, except the finger pad is different & I don't know about the red dot 9in your pic) at the base of the handle.

Frank

What is that red dot? Looks like it could be an oil port?

I think it is an oil port.

A few of us have been trying, mostly without success, to make sense of the Heddon spinning reel numbering system, particularly in regards to the two-tone green models.  I looked back in my notes and did not see where the 222 was included in a group with the 238, but that doesn't mean too much.  I also see in my notes that the 238 has been seen with the same type finger pad as the 222; that also may not mean much, given the ease with which reel handles (and finger pads sometimes) can be switched. On the 238, I note, with a "?" that the red dot might be an oil hole.

Frank

I have just started researching Heddon reels,but it seems the 238 is smaller than the 230 & doesn't have bearings? Also,which models have encased bearings,what type bearing or not. Is there a difference in Daisy Heddon & Heddon?

What are the bearings called where the balls fall out-called exactly,I will be researching this today?

Quote from: jgp12000 on January 25, 2026, 04:57:10 PMI have just started researching Heddon reels,but it seems the 238 is smaller than the 230 & doesn't have bearings? Also,which models have encased bearings,what type bearing or not. Is there a difference in Daisy Heddon & Heddon?

What are the bearings called where the balls fall out-called exactly,I will be researching this today?

Yes, Original early Heddon reels were made in the USA. Most were either black or reddish/maroon

Daisy purchased Heddon in 1959. After 1960 reel parts were made in Japan, mostly by Olympic, and shipped to the USA for assembly (at least that's what they claimed). Most of these are green or towards the end, brown.

They're still called ball bearings, just not encased or caged. About the only way to know exactly which reels used plain bearings, basic ball bearings or encased ball bearings is to look at breakdown tutorials or open them up to find out. I don't think their literature spelled that out.

I looked at several of Chester's Heddon tutorials & looks like he has a few.

I finally opened the 438 up & the brown grease looked good,could it be the original grease?.The crosswind block Pin had backed out a bit,I reseated it. I am leaving it be it works great as is.