Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Bakelite swells with age and prolonged exposure to moisture. I've had successes and failures wrapping a pair of channel locks with towel before gripping the side plate and twisting.

thanx...
i have a bicycle tool for racing bike bottom brackets removal.
it has two pins that fit perfect in two of the four
screw holes of the side plate..
i will fix the reel in a bench vise, with a towel between the
gap to the sideplate, and then try to find a method to
fix the tilt screw in upper position, that i dont have to
hold it pulled out of the frame with my fingers.
then turn the bicyle tool anticlockwise.
(maybe i use a pipe as a longer lever)
as for now it sits in on my workbench flooded again with fluid film.

It's too bad that shipping costs are so high here. I might have a gear sleeve that would fit. There's the high cost and the stupid customs form that needs to be sent. Last time I sent one, scammers targeted me. How would they intercept something like that?
Keep us updated on your progress, it's a common problem on older Penn "quick take-apart" side-plates.

thanx...
i found a whole bridge with anti-reverse lever on ebay us.
for around 23 dollars incl. shipping.
(without gear, but the one in mine is in good shape for the age)

but first i will take care of the sideplate/take apart system..
will keep u updated.

Ja, tatsachlich!

Well, if anyone decides to sacrifice the inner ring like I did, be careful with the darn dremel! Was going to start a thread about my 150 a while ago, but another member had just started one and didn't want to interfere with his thread. I had tried everything I could. Tried heat, cold, soaking etc. So just decided to cut it. No good rotten cheap dremel wheel broke, and hit me in the nose and face! Best part, I'm on blood thinners, blood was everywhere. Good thing I had safety glasses on! So just had to take a break from tinkering around for a while. It's still sitting in a pile. Now, I think I just ran into another 150 with an original Penn aluminum spool. Shame someone dropped the spool, it has a small dent in the lip.

The problem with many old Penn Surfmasters and other similar reels you buy on fleabay were not taken care of. I encountered many old Penns where the sideplates will not come apart because the old grease dried up and or the saltwater had bonded the metal. I took apart the reels from the posts and removed all the handle side gears. Then I soaked the sideplate with the rings in hot water or hot expired soda. I let it soaked overnight. I have a few pinions that were stuck to the spool shafts too.

Dubsetter, looks like your gear sleeve is toasted but I am glad you found a replacement.

yea..
you never know what the pre owner(s) did/did not with the reel.
(i hope no one glued the side plate on the frame !!)

with the "gear sleeve " you mean the anti reverse ring/lever ?
yea i guess i broke two teeth when trying to rotate the sideplate via the handle.
as i understood these teeth are only for  stop the handle doing a backbards spin??
it has nothing to do with the gear or the brake??

i was thinking maybe trying to file  a bit the broken teeth
to make a "new gap"... but maybe i understood something wrong.

now i know that what i meant  as the "anti-reverse lever" is called gear sleeve..
maybe i will also search under that name for a spare part.
sorry ..but english is not my mother language.

like this ad:
gear sleeve

(only as example i have to look after the right part number, someone knows it for the 200?
my bridge says:  3-200)

free sideplate...

i guess fluid film over night
and the bicylcle tool made the trick...

Yes, the Penn 98-60 (or #098-060) gear sleeve generally fits many older Penn reels, but for the Penn 200M (Surfmaster), it depends on the specific production year of your reel.

Some oldest Penn 200M reels use a smaller gear sleeve, the 98-155.

You can measure the diameter of your current gear sleeve's ratchet (the geared part at the top):
98-60 (Coarse): approx 0.8 inches about 2.03 cm.

98-155 (Fine): 0.6 inches about 1.52 cm.

ah okay, thanx for the info...
with the diameter you mean the anti reverse (teeth) ratchet measured from outside?
that´s the only position i got aprox 1,52 cm..
but i found out that the star from my seaboy 85L fits as well on the sleeve
its a 10-60 star.
the ratchet has 8 teeth.

as the star is a 10-60 i guess i have 98-60 sleeve then ??

if anybody has a spare sleeve (with working ratchet)
let me know..
other wise i will look on ebay, or maybe buy the whole bridge
i already mentioned.