Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Had blue '60 Corvette for twelve years. Had both hard and soft tops. Sold it in '92. Cool car, but I was glad to see it head down the road because I didn't have enough time to drive it as much as it should have been. Seals were starting to dry out and the carburetor needed to be rebuilt. Interestingly, I've never regretted selling that car, but it was fun driving around with the top off/down.

About $50

I'd stay away from any stock Chrysler Corp. vehicles from around '74 on. They didn't respond well to the  Fed. smog emissions standards. If you had the $ and ability to rebuild with older engine parts, they still had some nice mussel-car body styles.

Along with being insanely into old reels and plugs I have my old Chevy since high school. Going on 38yrs now. My first car. Built with my dad and uncle. 79 Malibu. Still working on it. Actually just came in from doing a little suspension work. Old cars. Old reels all deserve to be used and enjoyed for what they were built for. Break it. Fix it. Can't take em with you when you go. May as well love and enjoy them. And hope the kids get to enjoy it like you did when you leave it all behind.

Quote from: Reels_penn4life on October 30, 2026, 02:00:52 AMAlong with being insanely into old reels and plugs I have my old Chevy since high school. Going on 38yrs now. My first car. Built with my dad and uncle. 79 Malibu. Still working on it. Actually just came in from doing a little suspension work. Old cars. Old reels all deserve to be used and enjoyed for what they were built for. Break it. Fix it. Can't take em with you when you go. May as well love and enjoy them. And hope the kids get to enjoy it like you did when you leave it all behind.

One can hope. My kids fish occasionally while they are boating at Cumberland, using disposable WalMart setups but they have no appreciation for my vintage stuff. My 90 year old dad is deteriorating almost daily at the moment, and it is making me rethink why I hang onto some things. I wonder if there is a function where I can donate my gear and tackle to ORCA or something when I die, so they can at least monetize it with an auction.

Quote from: oc1 on June 30, 2026, 06:13:26 AMI would not be allowed to take up valuable shelf space with fishing reels.

x2

I enjoy other people's collections but would never purposefully collect reels for display.  I have a a Penn Seagate 125 with wood knob that I think of taking fishing, then think better of it.  It's a dilemma; should be a shelf queen but I can't bring myself to display it, so it sits in a storage limbo with many other reels I've never fished but would like to.  Picture plates get me.

Reel collectors have a passion for them but not me. I have bought a nice Mitchell 402 from someone's grandkid who inherited it and abused it before selling it.

The reels I have are been used for fishing. I don't have any as a shelf queen. I rebuild one of my favorite Surfmaster right now to get it ready for fishing.

I did see a few of my friends' shelf queen but the reels look new and one of them is a Frankenstein reel I rebuild for my retired friend who can't fish anymore. He caught a few monsters fish on it before it became a shelf queen. It will always remind him of all great times we spent together too. Most of the parts I contributed were difficult to find new or in good condition. Lucky we have many great people here to help and left their work that I used to rebuild his reel.

Quote from: oc1 on June 30, 2026, 06:13:26 AMI would not be allowed to take up valuable shelf space with fishing reels.

Now that, there, is an issue in and of itself.