Penn reel rebuild question

Greetings All,

I’m wondering if anybody has experience rebuilding old Penn reels (Peerless No. 9 and Monofoil No. 26). I found these in grandpa’s garage and already restored them. Degreased, polished, lubed w/reel grease, replaced drag washers, etc.

Problem is, even the slightest torque on the plate screws causes the spool to drag. I have to keep the plate screws surprisingly loose before the spool will freely rotate. Is this normal? Or what did I do wrong?

Reach out to hansemcito on this board. I know he has had alot of experience restoring old Penn reels.

I'd guess bushings. Or the frame's bent.  I have a couple 500S that are toast in terms of frame tweaked. Side screws should be tight. When/if you have them apart you should switch out all the drag washers, metal and carbontex with drag grease. REels should last forever.


Allen

Thanks for the input. It’s the same problem with both reels so it’s more likely that I’m making a systematic error (or else grandpa systematically bent them, lol). I went easy on the reel grease so maybe I’ll take them apart and really load up the bushings.

BAck off the spindle adjusting screw.  Center left side?   Or just take it all the way off and see how she spins . eliminate that as a problem or ID it as the problem.

Look up 2nd Chance Tackle on Youtube.  He has videos on repairs of most older Penn reels. 

I'm with Bushy on this. I'd back off the bushing cup on the left side and see if that helps.

That did it. The bushing cup was so tight that I didn’t even realize it was adjustable (facepalm). Feels good to see that spool moving 

That did it. The bushing cup was so tight that I didn’t even realize it was adjustable (facepalm). Feels good to see that spool moving 

OMG YES!!!!

Score one for the old guys!!

Bouché

Atta boy Allen!!!

He shoots...He scores!

There is a huge following for these old penn reels. I went down the rabbit hole a while back and upgraded both the penn 500's that I run for sturgeon and yellowtail. You can get these things to work butter smooth, swap out the drags, replace with custom cut stainless parts, you name it.

If you got time check out alan tani's site ( i think he was from san jose but people all over the globe frequent the site). Tutorials, vids, parts, upgrades, repairs, etc

https://alantani.com/index.php

Also you can get upgraded stainless parts here:
https://www.prochallenger.com/

Smooth drag carries all the drag washers and whatnot:

https://www.smoothdrag.com/wp/

Then you can dump your wallet on aluminum frames and spools:

https://tiburonfishingreels.com/

There is a huge following for these old penn reels. I went down the rabbit hole a while back and upgraded both the penn 500's that I run for sturgeon and yellowtail. You can get these things to work butter smooth, swap out the drags, replace with custom cut stainless parts, you name it.

If you got time check out alan tani's site ( i think he was from san jose but people all over the globe frequent the site). Tutorials, vids, parts, upgrades, repairs, etc

https://alantani.com/index.php

Also you can get upgraded stainless parts here:
https://www.prochallenger.com/

Smooth drag carries all the drag washers and whatnot:

https://www.smoothdrag.com/wp/

Then you can dump your wallet on aluminum frames and spools:

https://tiburonfishingreels.com/

I am going to Second the Alan Tani referral.  Take that old green one, find one of Alan's tutorials and take it apart clean it, lube it, and then set it aside. The greenies are not common and if you should damage a side plate you will play hell finding a replacement. The red one you could fish if you want to.  Restore and hot rodding Penn's gets expensive fast, you can sink some heavy money in them.  I know I have done a few.

Nice timing on this thread, just picked up a couple old combos at a garage sale, $25 for both. The poles are both pretty short and bendy - they were setup backwards on the pole, I assumed for lefty use, haha.

Reels are both old Penn, a Del Mar 285 and a Penn 85. Both are pretty clean, have no idea how old they are.  Will probably set one up on a stiffer pole for sturgeon, and the other on a longer/lighter pole for striper. If anyone has a rod suitable for striper/halibut/sturgeon they aren't using anymore for a good deal, I'd gladly take it off your hands!


Couple questions about these:
Neither of these have a level-wind guide - any chance I could retrofit one on?
They both spool fine, drag is touchy but responsive, and they seem to make the right noises.  Should I bother breaking them down and doing a full service, or just spool up new line and go for it?

Neither of these have a level-wind guide - any chance I could retrofit one on?
NOPE


 
They both spool fine, drag is touchy but responsive, and they seem to make the right noises.  Should I bother breaking them down and doing a full service, or just spool up new line and go for it?

REbuild them follow TAni tutorials it's EZ.  clean everthing inside, new drag wwashers steel and fiber.

Bushy