Reel Repair by Alan Tani

I am working on a SR-12 and found galling on the pinion and main gear both had lots of grease on them. Most of the galling was on the pinion gear leading side is this common for stainless to stainless gears? I took a file to the rough spots but going out to get some 1000 or 1500 grit sandpaper and finish with felt polish wheel. I am thinking about moving shims around and checking wear pattern like you do when set up a car rear differential?

I wouldn't say "common" but due to the hardness stainless gears will more aggressively "mate" (for want of a better term) with their adjacent gear than other materials, in my experience. Shimming can certainly help achieve a better mesh. Having a little bit of lash in the system is desirable for smoother operation, although the very slight play in the handle and the slight tap as the gears take up the lash can be a little disconcerting if you're used to more closely meshed reels.

Last update, This reel kicked my ###!!! Not sure how many times I had it apart but it is working and the new roller clutch bearing is super tight and drags reel down hope it breaks in with use . Too many shims in this reel I had them mixed up  even with the schematic it did not show the same amount of what I had it showed 3 shims .018 I had a stack of 5 .015 this could be why reel feels tight? I might take it apart one more time and try adding a .003 shim if I can find one and see if it helps I know 4 shims did not work gears don't mesh.

I've never worked on one of these, but I know with some newer penns after service it's normal to need to move a shim from the handle side of the main to the far side. Maybe it's the same here?

It's also not uncommon for a reel to have more or less shims than are shown on the schematic. They are there to adjust for manufacturing variations. The fact that it varies means the assembler in the factory cared enough to get it right.