Upgrading Spinning Reels

Started by Ridgers, June 29, 2019, 08:11:05 AM

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Ridgers

Hello

I am new to the forum and new to delving into the inner working of fishing reels.

My interest is in modifying and upgrading small spinning reels.

I have just acquired a secondhand Shimano Exage EXG-1000FC to practice on and my question, as a complete beginner (sorry :-\), is what can I do with the reel to improve upon the standard spec.? What, for instance, can I realistically do to make the action smoother and the reel lighter, for example? Can I even change the appearance to give it a different aesthetic without impeding upon performance?

Any recommendations and advice would be appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Stu

foakes

Welcome, Stu —

Others will chime in here with some good thoughts also.

In the meantime, initially, there is not as much that can be done to upgrade small spinners as there are with conventionals.

However, you can look at —

Drags, bearings, upgraded A/R bearing, crank handles, EVA crank knobs, etc., initially.

Perhaps to reduce weight, the spools could be reduced by drilling holes.

Arboring the spool with a spacer can reduce the amount of wasted line on the spool.

Anything you might do to reduce weight in other areas could possibly lessen the structure of the frame.

Assuming your Shimano is graphite or metal — anything you do will not reduce weight too much.

It really depends on your goals, and what you are wanting to accomplish.

Appearance wise — anodizing different colors, powder coating, anodizing screws — the sky is the limit.

It is all personal choice.

As a guy who has a fair amount of experience with spinners — I look forward to your ideas.

Best,

Fred

The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

Donnyboat

Hi Stu and welcome, some good points from Fred there, yes check the drag for sure, also if it has mono on it, braid could be a bit lighter, also get some grease on the screws, overall it should be pretty light as it is, good luck, show us some photos of your fish you catch, but dont forget to leave some in the water for us, cheers Don.
Don, or donnyboat

Tiddlerbasher

Greased cf drags - strip, clean, oil/grease. Not much else you can do that will 'improve' anything with a spinner.

Midway Tommy

Not sure what you can accomplish on an Exage 1000FC. It only weighs 7.75 oz and already has 4 shielded ball bearing so not much you can do there other than remove shields to reduce practically nothing. A new CF drag disc is about the only thing that might be an upgrade if it doesn't already have one. Drilling that little spool would only weaken it and not be enough weight reduction to even notice in a reel that light.

Sometimes bushings can upgraded to bearings in spinners but as has already been mentioned, there's not a lot of other options other than drag tweaking. I, for one, am not a fan of drilling the newer skirted spools to reduce weight as they are already engineered for an optimum weight and strength combination.
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

Ridgers

Thank you for all the advice and suggestions. Plenty of food for thought there. Much appreciated :)

Rivverrat

If this is an endeavor you think you might like I would encourage you to find & stay with reels that parts are readily available or spare reels for cheap are easily sourced. I will always have a spot for spinning reels.

A couple of things I find annoying with newer ones is there are few that are worthy of doing what you want to my way of thinking. This is even more so with size your looking to deal with. Parts can be an issue simply because most are no longer designed to last that long & the designs can change from year to year.

There are many older models that I think would serve you well in this endeavor. A little time spent researching the spinning reel section of this site will give knowledge & maybe what direction to go with this... Jeff

 

Ridgers


CapeFish

I find some of the modern affordable spinning reels extremely durable. Not long ago we would never think of using them in the salt a lot as they just didn't last. I now own several and most have been excellent, even the cheap Shimano siennas.

Rivverrat

Oh ya for durability in salt water yes even the low end stuff is sometimes better in this regard. I was speaking ma to pure mechanical durability