Penn 970 Left Side Plate Repair

[Porthos]

This post is not for the faint of heart because the initial situation was FUBAR, and the end result would probably qualify and win some kind of "The Ugliest..." contest.  

Back on June 2, 2012, I had just finished rebuilding the internals of my Penn Mag Power 970 and was in the process of screwing down the left side plate onto the left side ring. As I tightened the lower right screw, there was the sound of crunching plastic and the pressure against the screw immediately disappeared—   DAMN, I must have punched out the inner lip of the hole. Instead of disassembling it right away because I was mentally unprepared to deal with the damage, I left it as-is and finished up the remaining screws without any further incidents.

Since then, the 970 had landed at least two BFT, including my 50+ lb jackpot BFT last season with no structural failure.



While onshore, I had been searching Craigslist and eBay for a 970 or 980 parts reel with no success; looked for a whole reel since I wanted to replace the rings as well since a previous owner had etched his info on them. After PM'ing with "WCFLA" and, more recently, "Aiala," about their searches as well, I bit the bullet and finally sat down to remove the left side plate for an inspection.  



What I thought was a bad situation went from "bad" to "worst" real quick.  It wasn't just the lip that just gave way, but a sizable part of the inner surface had blown out in two pieces. ***SIGH***  



Unless I was willing to spend $100+ on a 970 or 980 (the average amount observed on eBay for over a year), this was a dire situation. Even if I won one, there was no guarantee that the "replacement" plastic side plate would be problem-free given the age of even the most recent 970's and 980's.  

The immediate idea on my mind was a creative application of epoxy...and this was collaborated as possible by posts made here by "intili" and "Irish Jigger." A closer examination of the left side plate, the damage, and the left ring was necessary before proceeding.

The damage began as a crack at the hole and expanded away outward—almost like opening a pair of double doors. I could put the pieces back in reverse order for an exact fit, but this would be tight with little space for the adhesive. So, exact fit = thin layer of epoxy-->less strength?

Or...I could do a thicker application of epoxy and just press the broken pieces STRAIGHT against the plate for a "close-enough" fit. This would use the fragments to just re-establish the inner hole position and lip but leave a greater gap between them and the plate that the epoxy would structurally fill. A thicker layer of epoxy-->greater strength?

I decided to err on the side of potential greater strength and chose the latter.



For the first step, the mixed epoxy had a 5-minute window for max strength so no photos of the application, but it was a "generous" amount as can be seen from the cured result. Started to file off the excess epoxy on the plate rim, but because the rim still had the original smooth surface that I intentionally DID NOT clean, cutting and scraping ended up being easier and faster. What oozed into the hole was to be drilled out.





The choice above essentially created a slight bulge on the inner side of the plate...BUT, the inner face of the left side plate DOES NOT sit on the ring itself--it's the rim of the side plate that serves this function. This also meant that the lip inside the screw hole provided the only structure for the pressure of the screw head with no support between the gap—an inherent design weakness IMHO. Though the epoxy is rated for "3300 psi" on the packaging, it seemed that reliance just on the repaired hole lip going forward was a bad idea.

To enhance the original structure, I took 3/16" dia. C260 brass tubing and cut off a 5/16" section, the distance from the underside of the screw head to the inner face of ring when the screw is in enough to secure and protrude out the hole on the foot. Then the original hole was re-drilled out to accommodate the new structural addition.







The 16-60CH screw head fits and sits just right on top of the tube.



The 16-60CH screw head in position for measurement.





Test fitting of tube post.



While drilling to expand the original hole opening, the epoxied parts crumbled around the hole edge...***SIGH***  



Will just have to fill with epoxy as the last stage of the repair.

After roughing up the outer surface of the brass tube, epoxy was applied to the end going into the plate, and it was inserted into the hole from the plate's inner side. Then the plate was set on to the ring, letting the ring push the tube in to the proper depth. A gentle tap against the tube from the outside in ensured that the inside end of the tube was set against the ring's inner face.



After the joining epoxy application had cured, the plate was removed for inspection, and the gap was filled with a final application of epoxy.



Prep for "final" installation. Yamaha Marine grease was liberally applied to the protruding section of the tube, the inner tube walls, and the hole as well. After the screw was put in, a q-tip cleaned up the "exposed" excess grease. Will there be some chemical compound in the grease that will dissolve the epoxy? More frequent inspections than what I previously had done will hopefully catch that.



Reassembly complete.



So what was accomplished from all the hassle above?

1. The tightened screw now presses against the tube which pushes against the ring itself, eliminating the force on just the side plate's hole lip.

2. The inner face of the hole is epoxied to the surface area of the support tube so the pressure to hold the plate in place is more distributed, which hopefully will provide a reasonable amount of support and augment what the three remain intact screw holes are providing to secure the plate.

In the end, will it hold up? Considering that I fished the reel for both the 2012 and 2013 seasons (a unequivocally clueless maneuver on my part   ) and pulled in at least two BFT with absolutely NO structural support in that screw hole, I'm willing to gamble that the repair helps rather than hurts the situation. It will have to do until a reasonably priced replacement side plate...if it is ever found.  

The reel will be fished as a 40lb setup (@ 13 lbs drag setting) so either it holds up or blows up...a report will be forthcoming.

[Alto Mare]

nice job Porthos, thanks for sharing.
Sal

[Shark Hunter]

Looks good Porthos.
You always fish with that Groucho Marks mask on?

[Ron Jones]

In gundome we call that pillar bedding. It probably should be done to every hole in every reel just as a matter of course. Wow, that would be a lot of work.

Really nice job on that, I'm sure the repair will outlast you.
Ron

[Irish Jigger]

Great job there Porthos,well done.

[Aiala]

Bravo, Porthos!

I couldn't do that if I lived to be a hundred years old (sigh!) I'll just have to hope a 980 left-side plate turns up somehow, someday, somewhere... 

~A~

[Irish Jigger]

Aiala, I haven't given up on that end plate,my Penn contact is still trying to locate one.

[Alto Mare]

Maybe Aiala could send it to Porthos to get operated on, he might not be in the US though .

[Porthos]

Maybe Aiala could send it to Porthos to get operated on, he might not be in the US though .

San Diego, CA  

The damage to my left side plate was such that the exterior half was still intact, allowing structural support for the repair, but even that was chipping in areas due to the aging, brittle plastic.

I was also flying by the seat of my pants the whole time since I've never done anything like it before. It was a gamble, and it seemed to have paid off for the time being.

[Ron Jones]

Aiala,
Do you have a photo of your plate. I have some friends around here that do amazing things with plates.
Ron

[Alto Mare]

Aiala,
Do you have a photo of your plate. I have some friends around here that do amazing things with plates.
Ron

Ron, can you get them to defuse the plates...sorry buddy I couldn't resist.

[floating doc]

I bought a 990 and 980 when the first came out. Fished them hard for years. When the 980 side plate broke, I sold the reel for $20.

Stupid move, but ebay was new, I was moving to the mountains (that didn't last) and I just didn't know any better. I now have all three reels. I bought a 970 and 980, and still have the original 990. They're great reels.

[Aiala]

Gents, I really do appreciate all the kind offers of help and advice... y'all are the best. As for my 980, since I don't really need it to go fishing at the moment (I bought it mostly for sentimental reasons since I used to have one long ago) I'll just wait and see if something eventually turns up; eBay, or maybe Irish's friend will track down the elusive plate. After all, like most anglers, I have a LOT of patience.

In the meantime, I have more than enough to keep me busy upgrading/cleaning/fussing over my collection of Senators. Today's task: Tiburon framing the 113HLW while I watch the Daytona 500... Go, Danica & Jimmie! 

  ~A~

[Porthos]

...pillar bedding...

That's good to know!

Looks a LOT more involved for a firearm.

Thanks!

Wai

[intili]

I also cracked my left side plate on my 970, all the way thru from one hole to another. I used two ton epoxy gel, let it set up and then filed it smooth, worked great!