Penn 68 Long Beach rebuild

Started by Brewcrafter, April 23, 2018, 05:02:11 AM

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Brewcrafter

I have learned a ton from this site in the short time I am here.  Unfortunately posting photos is not one of those things.  And since a picture is worth a thousand words - here come the thousand words.
Currently have a Penn 68 Long Beach (guessing circa 1980s) that was suffering from a sticky hanging drag, even with the star backed all the way out.  Have totally disassembled and cleaned, and have (it was my Dad's reel) found a receipt in the original box for a drag replacement circa 1997.  Anyhow, here are my thoughts, in no particular order:
1.  The old drag stack is a 3 drag, and appears to have some thick cork/fiber washers.  Again, wish I could figure out how to post a photo.
2.  I have a new 3 stack Smooth drag with stainless washers and CF drags - great!  But when I mock up the assembly, now the Star Wheel actually bottoms out on the side plate and does not fully lock/compress the drag.
3.  The assembly I pulled out, in addition to the thick "fiber" washers, also incorporated a wave washer on both ends of the spacer; something that I have not seen in any schematic.
4.  By playing around, I have narrowed down my reassembly options to the following using the materials I have on hand, and all seem to work:
A. - Throw an extra metal washer on the top of the stack to give the star wheel the proper range.  Won't increase drag, but will make the star wheel effective without bottoming out on the side plate or backing out against the handle.
B. - Double up on CF washers within the stack (Dawn was great on the phone, said no issues running CF on CF) and again, I realize I am not increasing drag surface, only increasing stack height.
C. - Go to a 5 stack.  If I do this, the overall height seems pretty doggone close to the height of the old stack that was hanging up.  And while I could bust out the micrometer (I can tell from this forum some of y'all are pretty intense!  Cool!) I am just eyeballing it and they look close but in mockup assembly it does not bind, nor does it hit the inside of the sideplate.  The stack does stick out slightly above the drive gear (by the width of the top metal washer) when fully assembled.  And I suppose I could always shorten/sand down the spacer to give proper range to the star wheel. HOWEVER: I have also seen comments from Alan and others that are more experienced than I that caution against "overbuilding" one part of a reel only to end up compromising another part to disaster.  And I also have seen suggestions (warranted!) about throwing $XX dollars of work/parts into a reel worth $X.  The cost part is not really a big deal to me, I already have new stuff but have a lot of stuff with sentimental value and...our Fathers and Grandfathers caught plenty of good fish with these reels.  While I won't advocate waste or abuse of a precious resource like our fish, I also don't buy that you need to have a 2 speed Avet to catch a big fish (I have one, and I LOVE it BTW!)
D. With regards to the spacer - it has about 1/32 to 1/16 of gap all around the outer circumference where it goes through the sideplate.  Is that normal?  Seems like it would allow for ample ingress of saltwater/water.  I guess I'm not too worried because:
1. - Beyond the wasted sticky drag the reel showed no obvious internal issues.  And we were always good about shots of Penn Reel oil in the fittings.
2. - Yes I will use Cal's Grease, I am in the modern age.
3. - All the way back to my days as a wee lad in Morro Bay up until today, I can tell you that all of our rods and reels are liberally soaked down with a hose at the end of the day.  And I have never seen any bad side effects on any reel I have taken apart (and I have a fair amount of 30 year old Penn's in my arsenal) from water intrusion.

THE END GAME: Hey, if you don't know what I am going to do with it how can you help tell me what to do?  This reel was primarily used as a "medium duty" bottom rig for many years out of Morro Bay.  In 2015 it saw plenty of action with Dorado and small tuna off SoCal flylining sardines on a Flouro topshot.  Right now I am focusing on turning it into primarily a "Bounce Ball" rig for halibut in depths from 150 up.  Rod is a 1980's Sabre 163C (yeah, it's got backbone!) and line has been (and will be!) good old fresh Izorline Green Spot Dacron 50#.  So realistically I don't see this rig getting "screamed", it is most likely to hopefully nail California Halibut, White Seabass, and accidentally the occasional Giant Black Seabass (ALWAYS released!  Great to see these fish making a comeback with their "no take" status.  And yes we have a descend rig on the on boat, one of my old 6/0 with a 3# weight and a release clip).  So I guess where I am at is - I don't need this to be pulling 15# of drag (yeah, right!  Like it can ever to that) I just want to see it as good or a little better than brand new and not have to worry about tearing it apart every two or three years.  Then again, since it's been about 20 years since it was last torn apart, I guess my odds are good there!  Thanks in advance for your input and again, sorry I can't figure out how to insert photos.

alantani

a long beach 68 is a great candidate for a $20 jigmaster power handle, a $20 stainless steel gear sleeve and a conversion from a "1+3" drag system to a $10 "1+5" drag stack.  the problem is the very low power to weight ratio.  a good working drag range for this reel is still only 5-7 pounds.  you can certainly lean harder on this reel, but it won't do well in the long run.  still, you should be able to bounce a 3 pound ball for halibut

eddie and i will actually be in cayucos on tuesday afternoon to fish the evening tide for perch.  then we hope to fish on the endeavor on their limited load 12 hour run to cape san martin.  we will be headed back to the bay area right after we get off the boat on wednesday.  if you're in the neighborhood tuesday evening, i can take a look at it. 
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

Brewcrafter

Thanks!  Actually the days of my youth living in Morro Bay have been replaced by my days of being an old man trying to make a living in SoCal (although I usually get up there a couple of times a year).  And there is not a stretch of beach between the Rock and the remains of the old Standard Oil Pier (long gone) where I haven't brought in Barred Surfperch!  I am pretty sure I have everything for the 5+1 drag stack, my only concern there is the height seems very close to the old drag that would not fully release.  But then again in mockup it seemed to clear OK, and I suppose I can always shave down the spacer a few thousands to gain extra freeplay and travel with the star wheel.
I will drop a check in the mail in the morning for the SS Gear Sleeve and power handle, I know I have seen your address here but just to be sure let me know where to send.  Thanks! - Brewcrafter

alantani

send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

swill88

Welcome Brewcrafter and great post.

Steve