Shimming Mitchell reels and other stuff

Started by TRS, October 04, 2019, 09:36:33 PM

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TRS

I've seen several posts on the shimming of Mitchell reels and have a few questions

1 Do all Mitchell's require shimming??  I currently have 300, 300A, 302, 306, 400, 410 and 440A reels do these all use shims?  I just got a second 302(Garcia Mitchell) that's newer than my old one( Mitchell) and it's a bit louder and stiffer, I partially disassembled it and everything looked great even the drag was correct and greased, could this be a shim problem??

2. What's the best source of shims and other parts? I have several reels that probably need shimming and would like to have a supply before I start. I like to have some spare 300s as give aways, lately I've found it cheaper to lo ball reels on the big auction site instead of buying individual parts, but it seems like the reels I've been winning lately have been as good or better than the ones I need parts for.  Any thoughts??

3 Dating -seems like the dating section on the Mitchell museum is not working, Being a bumbling amateur at best when it comes to read repair and maintenance, former submariner kicks in and I like to make sure I have the correct plans prior to getting started. So is there another place to find date info on Mitchell's.  Or am I over thinking this??

4.  What's the deal with the " childs board" thing? am I too old to be here??


Any help will be greatly appreciated
Tom
They call it fishing, not catching

festus

Good question.  I have the 300, 302, 304, 306, 308, and 408 and have serviced them all.  The 300 seems to have the most numerous shims.  All I knew to do was be careful and get the existing shims back where they were before disassembly by taking pictures. Out of the 9 or 10 Mitchell 300, I'm  not satisfied with a couple of them.  They function ok but are a little noisy. Someone who has more experience with shimming could tell you more than I.  Trial and error, I suppose.

Midway Tommy

Mitchell tolerances were not tight at all. Nearly all Mitchell reels from that era need shimming someplace or another. It's just part of owning & maintaining Mitchell reels. I posted a link yesterday over here in the 300 section for finding shims.

Occasionally the Mitchell site has malfunctions. Just go back and try again another time and it will more than likely be working. You can, though, also go here to the Photo Gallery and learn some dating information on reels other than the 300. Just go down the list and click on the reel model and a photo page with info will come up.

A couple of the "Child Boards" in that section are kind of screwy because when they got setup ABU Garcia got included in with Garcia and Mitchell. ABU Garcia and Cardinal should have been totally separate from Garcia and/or Mitchell. 
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)

TRS

Thanks for the responses,  I really appreciate it.
What shims do you think are the most commonly used on 300s, I'd really appreciate a list based on experience, going through what was available on eBay was a bit confusing, and I don't think pinion shims were available.

Tom
They call it fishing, not catching

Midway Tommy

Fred would be the best bet on giving that advice. I think it varies and that's why they made so many different thicknesses, but I'm not a real big Mitchell guy. I have about thirty but I've only restoed a half a dozen so far and those that I serviced work fine with what was in them.
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)

foakes

#5
Been in SoCal for (3) days -- just got back this afternoon.

Heading back at 03:00 tomorrow morning to do an evaluation, selling plan, and inventory for a tackle shop owners family.  Gone all day -- maybe back tomorrow night -- but may be beat after driving 720 miles this weekend -- and another 700 tomorrow.

Have been in the process of organizing all of the Mitchell parts, Quick, Cardinal, and Penn.

The last (3) were already organized pretty well -- but the Mitchell parts were in 6 different locations -- and I have asked experts on how to sort and organize these -- around 60,000 loose parts + 500 Mitchell complete reels.

No one had any solutions that would work well for me -- so I purchased and mounted plastic organizer boxes vertically in my small upstairs shop -- and am organizing the parts according to reel model # instead of separate numbers for each little part.  So, if working on a 300, 308, 411 -- I just pull down the appropriate boxes -- restore the reel -- then put the parts organizer back above the bench.

This will just be for the internal and small parts.  The cranks, bodies, rotors, etc. -- will be in larger organizers.

The complete Quicks, Mitchells, and Cardinals will all be in the back wall cupboards that I shot together around 8 years ago.  The bins each hold 30 to 35 reels.  The Penns were too many -- and needed to go into a separate extra closet space -- and includes 20 bins of reels, large parts, and side-plates.  Small parts are already organized according to part number & conventional or spinning.

The small upstairs shop will be just dedicated to Mitchell, Penn, Quick, & ABU/Zebco Cardinals.  These are the reels I work on 90% of the time for folks around the world.  Can't be all things to all people...

As for shims -- you won't need over 3 or 4 kinds -- and generally, unless thrashed -- the shims in the reel will not need replacement or added.  But I have plenty of shims -- so no worries.

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.

TRS

Fred,
That's an amazing collection, I'm sure thousends of perfectly fine reels will be saved from the scrap pile.
They call it fishing, not catching

Fullbail

#7
TRS,
(Pertaining to Mitchell 300 Reels only)

1. No, shims were added at the factory right on the assembly line IMHO.  What happens, sometimes, is over time the reels get opened up and the owner loses a shim or two.

2. eBay

3 Re: dating.  I can only help with dating Mitchell 300s.  The MRM is the best or I can try and help-but Mitchell 300 reels only.

4. ???

Kind Regards,
Bill  :)