Well, here goes. For a short history on the reel, this is the first time it's been opened up. It's around a year old ( I think ). It's been on many trips on my boat, and JailBait took it on his 10 day. He can tell you how many fish he caught on this particular reel. I know he caught 7 fish 165-245lbs. All but one of them was caught on one of my two 50's I let him borrow. On my boat, this thing was soaked on every trip and stayed soaked for several hours. The most maintenance it's seen is salt eliminator spray the last few trips and has always been rinsed with a hose at the end of the trip. Only the salt eliminator is new. Once the thing is dry and I'm putting it away, I'll dust it with CorrosionX, mainly around the reel clamps. That hole SS into Aluminum needs attention.
Like my other 50 the only thing I've caught on the thing is small tuna. Ask Dos Locos how he likes the wide, he caught his T on it. Maybe one of these days I'll actually catch a fish on the thing.
As you can see, there are no signs of saltwater intrusion into the reel. Also, with several large fish taken, the drag still looks new.
This is the first twospeed, leverdrag reel I've ever opened. Thanks Art for telling me to take pictures for re-assembly. Thankfully I did not need them so I decided to post instead. They are amazingly simple inside.
Start with one well seasoned SDS and remove the outer allen screws from the right sideplate.
With all the screws removed and the sideplate removed, here's what you'll see on both pieces.
Move to the handle and remove the two small allen screws in the gear change cap and remove the cap.
Right here is not a good time to push the gear change button. I did not remove the little gear change lever, that's where it landed. Lucky me.
Then I used a Mexican Speed Wrench to remove the gear change button. It was not tight at all.
Remove the nut and button assembly, then the handle, and here's what you have.
Push the axle from the outside in and the gears come out pretty easy.
Slide the new gears in and reverse the process.
Handle back on and nut/button assembly back in.
The little piece in the handle was only slightly tricky. You need to get the spring hooked into the hole with the cutout on the back of the piece towards the handle. This way there is room for the spring and it is held in at the same time. The nut/button assembly has to align with the notches in the piece for it to line up with the two holes for the handle cap deal. Sorry for all the technical terms but I really didn't know what I was doing.
Put the handle cap back on and what I thought was the easy part is done.
My wine glass is slightly lighter at this point. Don't knock the wine glass feller's, I'm work'n on my 50.
Here's the left side of the spool. Notice the tiny philips screw? It's coming out.
Here's the back of the anti-reverse/drag plate. Notice the notches for the pin that is holding in the spring.
Here I've removed the pin and the spring is ready to come off. Also notice the 3 OhJesus clips holding the pressure plate. They came off easy with the use of a large flathead screwdriver. Then, the plate slides off.
Here, with the plate removed, you can see the three small springs in the frame. Remove them and set aside. They are very light, be careful you don't screw them up. The inner drag plate falls out if you tip it.
Here, the inner dragplate is removed and you can see the inner dragplate pin. Remove the pin and the whole axle assembly can be removed out the otherside.
Take note of the assembly so it all goes back in the same way.
Here's the stocker with the new 4-1 high gear.
Here's the old stuff on the new gears ready to go back in. Notice the lack of new red grease? Yep, I'll be taking care of that later.
Here's the new stuff back in the spool.
From here, it's all easy. After you slide the gear assembly into the spool, put the inner dragplate pin in and put the inner dragplate in. Here's a hint, don't do it this way.
For one, it won't assemble. Two, I'm think'n you get a lot more pressure with the washer against the plate deal. Again, notice all the "Technical Terms?"
Once the inner dragplate is in correctly, return the three small springs to their holes. This is easiest if the reel is now vertical.
Now put the pressure plate in and return the OhJesus clips to their appointed positions. I also returned the spring and pin at this point.
Now take the outer dragplate
and put it on using the teeny tiny phillips screw. Mine was not tight and did not appear to use thread lock of any type. I'll probably use the temp stuff next time.
Now, just put the spool back in the frame with the gears to the right and return the right sideplate. I hit the allen screws with blue CorrosionX and hit the screw holes as well.
At this point I did have a hang up. The end of the axle appeared to have been slightly belled out when the gears were pressed on. A little time with the Dremel on the outer end of the axle fixed the problem. I removed very little material and the axle still fits tight inside the outer bearing.
I put the allen screws back in the same holes they came out of. Not sure it's an issue. I considered putting them all in the dial calipers to check length but..
I know have even more respect for Alan Tani. This post took a lot longer than the reel gear change. I added some oil to the bearings but that's it. Next time I'll strip everything and go for the tune up.
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