The Daiwa 8700

Started by mo65, January 02, 2020, 10:04:34 PM

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mo65

   I came across another one of these 8000 series reels in less than stellar condition, but it appeared to be complete. The seller wanted $20 but had "make an offer" in the listing, so I offered 10 bucks. Lo and behold...the next morning I had a notification to pay up! This ad from the period describes the features of the reel, and it certainly does sound like a fine reel.

                   

   Since once again my reel had no badge, I wasn't sure whether I had the 8600 or 8700, so I used this ad to check the weight. My reel weighed 18.75 oz., so it looks like I have the 8700.



   Well...here she is...so ugly she'd have to sneak up on water just to get a drink. :D  Not much sense in working on appearance, I'll just make this one fully functional and fish it.



   The first look inside found things uglier than the outside. We'll need to scrape away some crud just to see what we even have here.



   Now that I can actually see parts...I notice the gearing is different than the little 8100 I posted a few weeks ago. The 8100 had brass drive and pinion gears, while this 8700 has a machined alloy drive and a chromed steel pinion.(the red arrow points to a magnet on the pinion) The green arrows indicate the drive shaft bearings, which were both stuck fast to their mountings. I'll have to assume the indifferent metals are the source of the trouble here. Past experience with these lighter build ball bearings tells me I have no need to stress them by twisting and pulling. These type bearings can be ripped apart if you aren't careful. I have a much easier way to clean these without disturbing them.



   Hold the parts over the sink and squirt the Paslode into the bearing from below it. This will force out the old lube and all the crud, and drip right off the bearing. Spin the bearing a few times and give it another blast. It is now clean and dry.

               

   Inside the rotor gives a pretty good indication this reel was fished in the surf. The bail was bogged down with beach as well, and had to be completely torn down and bathed.



   The handle...sheesh...what a wreck. Evidently at some time a truck had ran over the handle. Then a previous owner used channel locks and vice grips to "straighten" it. The knob shaft was trashed...all loose and busted up...so I put an aftermarket piece on. I polished the handle blade the best I could, but it wears the scars of idiocy. Patina from years of normal use is lovely, but vice grip damage sucks. :-\



   All the literature I've seen on these 8000s indicates they used teflon drags, yet this one had leather. The only teflon was the underspool washer. I cleaned up the drags and tested them...and could only get 3.5-4lbs. fully cranked down. Maybe it was the leathers, as they were thin and well burned. Also teflon is not the best choice in a large reel like this, as it tends to squish out at higher settings. I subbed in some hard fiber washers which easily hit 8 pounds of smooth pull, so I called it good, as that is about the range I'd want for this reel.



   Here are all the cleaned parts, the new handle knob, and the new drags. If you zoom on the photo you can see where a bit of the chrome has chipped off the pinion.



    I buffed the raised letters and ring surrounding the missing badge. Call it lipstick on a pig...HA! ;D



   Kevin mentioned this bail ramp and trip worked very well on these 8000s, and I agree. This is how a bail should trip. I despise when the bail trip just about yanks the reel from your hands.



   After reassembling the reel I was very pleased with the feel...can't wait to get it wet! 8)





~YOU CAN TUNA GEETAR...BUT YOU CAN'T TUNA FEESH~


Ruffy

Thanks Mo, that's a solid reel! Definitely not a shelf queen but will do the job haulin' cats for you!

Cheers,
Andrew

xjchad

Nice job Mo!
That's definitely diamond in the rough and a great workhorse!
Husband, Father, Fisherman

festus

That's undoubtedly a strong reel and would be perfect for bank fishing for big catfish.  Perfect for rocky shoreline where you don't want to take your looker reels.  Even bigger than my 8600 which would probably take on anything here in Tennessee.

Chuck750ss

Rotor and spool larger on 8700 than the 8600. I picked up a beater a few years ago. Fortunately the gearbox was packed with grease so the internals were in excellent shape. Serves as one of my wife's catfishing reels. One drawback to these reels is that the bail doesn't flip back far enough to clear the line when casting. Not an issue for what I am using it for. Still considering modifying the bail to lock back a bit.

The Fishing Hobby

That turned out nice considering how it arrived! That bail trip is really smooth. So is the 8100 which has no ramp but the larger ones are really easy to trip.

mo65

   Thanks fellas. I put 50lb. braid with a 30lb. 20ft. mono leader on the reel today. I clamped it on a 9 ft. rod and it chucked a 4oz. bank sinker great...60-70yds. just tossing it. 8)
~YOU CAN TUNA GEETAR...BUT YOU CAN'T TUNA FEESH~


mo65

#7
Quote from: Chuck750ss on January 03, 2020, 01:41:40 AM
One drawback to these reels is that the bail doesn't flip back far enough to clear the line when casting. Not an issue for what I am using it for. Still considering modifying the bail to lock back a bit.

  I'm wondering if maybe your bail was tweaked at some point. I checked mine and it clears the line. The braid I used doesn't stack onto the spool perfectly...it tends to build up in the middle. This would be a disaster for distance casting, but no farther than I chuck a bait, it will work just fine. I corrected the line lay by hand while spooling up, so below my casting distance the line is level. I'm not removing enough line on a cast to make the center heavy line lay a problem.
~YOU CAN TUNA GEETAR...BUT YOU CAN'T TUNA FEESH~


The Fishing Hobby

My bail doesn't interfere with the line while casting either.  Mine also doesn't stack line higher in the middle of the spool. That is an unusual problem to have. I've seen different reels stack high or low on a spool which is usually pretty easy to fix...not sure what you could do with heavy center line lay.

mo65

Quote from: The Fishing Hobby on January 10, 2020, 12:08:34 PM
My bail doesn't interfere with the line while casting either.  Mine also doesn't stack line higher in the middle of the spool. That is an unusual problem to have.

   It only stacks high in the center with braid Kevin...it spreads out normal with mono. I've actually had this problem with other classic reels designed for mono. As you can see from the last photo I posted, the line lay looks pretty good when you keep it corrected below the "casting length". That pic shows the line rewound after a cast...almost a straight line lay. I probably made the problem sound worse than it really is. 8)
~YOU CAN TUNA GEETAR...BUT YOU CAN'T TUNA FEESH~


mo65

   I picked up another one of these 8700s a few days ago and quickly realized I only had one 8700...the one I started this thread with is an 8600! The spool is obviously larger on the 8700, as can be seen in the pic below. The real problem was the missing drag click parts...looks like all I had was that one tiny screw. I figured I could take a Penn dog spring and reshape it, solder it to a piece of flat brass stock, and drill a small hole for that tiny screw. Voila! Clicks like a champ...now back to the clean up. 8)
~YOU CAN TUNA GEETAR...BUT YOU CAN'T TUNA FEESH~


xjchad

Great ingenuity in that repair Mo!  Love it!
These are really cool reels!
Husband, Father, Fisherman

Midway Tommy

Sometimes "a guy's just gotta do what a guy's gotta do".

Innovative and well done, Mike!
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)

Brewcrafter

Nice work bringing those reels back to life!

festus

Simple fix for a part it might take years to find a replacement.  Good job, Michael. 

That 8700 must be a hoss.  Biggest I have is the 8600 and it's difficult to imagine an even bigger one.