Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Quote from: rcmsangab on February 06, 2026, 05:31:56 PM

Quote from: Midway Tommy on February 05, 2026, 10:46:05 PMGear wear and meshing usually makes an awful lot of difference in how smooth a reel works. If I were switching out parts I would keep the main gear with the same pinion and main shaft combo that it came with. That way the amounts of wear should all correspond with each other.

I think that is what I may end up doing. Then it will be a 65 body with a 64 engine.

That's what should be done if one has the option to do it. Mixing the mechanical drive train parts from different reels usually doesn't end up with the smoothest possible product.

Quote from: Midway Tommy on February 06, 2026, 09:48:38 PM

Quote from: rcmsangab on February 06, 2026, 05:31:56 PM

Quote from: Midway Tommy on February 05, 2026, 10:46:05 PMGear wear and meshing usually makes an awful lot of difference in how smooth a reel works. If I were switching out parts I would keep the main gear with the same pinion and main shaft combo that it came with. That way the amounts of wear should all correspond with each other.

I think that is what I may end up doing. Then it will be a 65 body with a 64 engine.

That's what should be done if one has the option to do it. Mixing the mechanical drive train parts from different reels usually doesn't end up with the smoothest possible product.

Tommy, I had so much trouble getting the pinion and bearing out of the first one I worked on I was going to be lazy, especially since I couldn't even get the rotor off the second reel for a day and it also had the stuck bearing issue. Anyway persistence and hours of soaking them with WD-40 and or PB Blaster along with some elbow grease eventually worked for both problems. I guess this is part of the price for tight tolerances?
Russ