285 Delmar

[mo65]

Making it wider is no problem, you could always bring it back. I would save the old parts and play with the plates.

Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking, the modifications I'm considering can be reversed with a simple screwdriver! I held a stainless Longbeach 65 spool beside this reel and little wheels in my dome started turning.

[Penn Chronology]

I held a stainless Longbeach 65 spool beside this reel and little wheels in my dome started turning. Cheesy

That is when you have to be really careful. When those wheels start turning!

[Bill B]

Just an odd observation, I've been looking for a tail plate to replace a broken one, and all I can find on the auction site is head plates and complete reels and other reels with broken tail plates. I can buy a complete reel and use it for parts, but that still leaves me with a broken tail plate.  Are the tail plates fragile on the 285, or are they just getting hard to find?   Bill

[Maxed Out]

Just an odd observation, I've been looking for a tail plate to replace a broken one, and all I can find on the auction site is head plates and complete reels and other reels with broken tail plates. I can buy a complete reel and use it for parts, but that still leaves me with a broken tail plate.  Are the tail plates fragile on the 285, or are they just getting hard to find?   Bill

PM your address and I'll send you one, I have several sitting here. Let me know if it is smooth or textured sideplate.

  Ted

[Bill B]

Thank you so much Ted, I really owe you guys a lot.....I have some serious "paying it forward" to do, you guys Dom, Darren, Fred, Alan, and I'm sorry if I missed anyone, have been more than generous!!!!  Bill

[Alto Mare]

Thank you so much Ted, I really owe you guys a lot.....I have some serious "paying it forward" to do, you guys Dom, Darren, Fred, Alan, and I'm sorry if I missed anyone, have been more than generous!!!!  Bill

If you did miss some, don't sweat it Bill, most don't do it for recognition. It's just the way it is over here.

Sal

[Penn Chronology]

Are the tail plates fragile on the 285, or are they just getting hard to find?   Bill

I feel tail plates are always more susceptible to damage than a head plate. When you drop a reel, if the head plate is down, there are parts that may break the fall. The handle will deflect part of the forces. Not so when the tail plate is down. The first thing that hits is the corner of the plate. Handles bend, Bakelite tail plates break............<:O(             

See it all the time.

[sdlehr]

Mike, aren't the head plates also a tad thicker, and therefore stronger, too? They sure look that way to me.

Sid

[Penn Chronology]

Mike, aren't the head plates also a tad thicker, and therefore stronger, too? They sure look that way to me.

Sure. There are probably a few models that do not fall into this norm; but, I would say that would be a "Rule of Thumb".

[Bill B]

Here is my garden variety 285, made a little bit special by the generosity of Ted....this is my first reel in this class, 285, LB 60 etc, has steel main and pinion and still smooth after all these years....now I see why they are so popular.....oh yeah Sal if you look in the back ground the 113 with your donation is live and looking good too.....Thanks guys, You're All Cool beans in my book     Bill

[Alto Mare]

Looking good Bill. Be careful, they will easily multiply on you.

[mo65]

    I needed a bridge for a Long Beach I was working on. Scott's info indicated the 285 used a #3-66 bridge, same as a Long Beach. I had an old 285 in the donor box so I opened her up to extract that bridge. When I got the bridge out, I noticed it was numbered #3-85!  Well...I scratched my head...thought a bit...and surmised that if this #3-85 bridge fit the Delmar maybe it would fit the Long Beach too...and it did! All functions work fine.
   Now...my question: Did the 285 Delmar really use a #3-66 bridge or did it use the #3-85 like the one I opened? Also are the #3-85 and #3-66 bridges interchangeable? They sure seem to be as far as my Long Beach is concerned! 

[Maxed Out]

On early models, the Delmar has a tad shorter gear sleeve. Not sure about later models

[Penn Chronology]

I needed a bridge for a Long Beach I was working on. Scott's info indicated the 285 used a #3-66 bridge, same as a Long Beach. I had an old 285 in the donor box so I opened her up to extract that bridge. When I got the bridge out, I noticed it was numbered #3-85!  Well...I scratched my head...thought a bit...and surmised that if this #3-85 bridge fit the Delmar maybe it would fit the Long Beach too...and it did! All functions work fine.
  Now...my question: Did the 285 Delmar really use a #3-66 bridge or did it use the #3-85 like the one I opened? Also are the #3-85 and #3-66 bridges interchangeable? They sure seem to be as far as my Long Beach is concerned!  Undecided


Posted  
]

They are all the same except they are different..........

Rule of thumb----If the screws go in smooth and easy and the bridge shaft is well centered in the plate, then it fits. The different part numbers may be because of when the parts were made, or possibly different alloys were used, even though the part works. I believe that there are probably cases where different part numbers are on identical parts. I guess over a span of 80 years, duplicate numbering is inevitable on some parts.

[Maxed Out]

     Penns can be rebuilt just as they were back in the day. It just requires a good donor reel....or 2    

 -Ted