penn 500 jigmaster rebuild

i'm not trying to make you feel, um, " g - u - i - l - t - y ....', or anything, but i know you have one of these reels.  i can tell by the way you shuffle your feet.  c'mon, it's not that bad.  we've all had one of these reels before.  it might have even been your first.  there's no reason to be embarassed about owning a jigmaster.  it was once considered to be one of the best reels on the market.  it can be once again. 

here's a link to the schematic....

http://www.scottsbt.com/catalog/store/category1.aspx?SID=8&Category_ID=5900&ClearCache=1

and here is your old friend. 



did you ever wonder that this little screw was for?  back out this take apart thumb screw (key #42), lift the screw up slightly, and twist the entire right side plate counterclockwise.  it comes right off!



you now have three pieces.



let's grease the left side plate screws (key #32 and 39).  back out each one, one at a time, grease the screw hole and zip the screw back in. 



apply grease to the click tongue (key #35) and click spring (key #62).  add corrosion x to the left side bushing (key #40).



back out each one of the right side plate screws (key #31 and 38), one at a time, grease the screw holes, and zip the screws back in. 



grease the inside of the left side ring and wipe off the excess.



re-install the spool and set the assembly aside.



now for the right side plate assembly.



remove the handle lock screw (key #23a), the handle screw (key #23), the handle (key #24) and the star drag wheel (key #10).



back out the four bridge screws (key #16 and 17) but leave them in place!!!!!!



the bridge assembly is now loose underneath.  imagine your hand is a small crane.  lift the right side plate (key #1) straight up, move it straight over to a safe place, and set it straight down without tipping it over.  resist the temtation to look underneath.  for now....



carefully line up all the components of the drag stack and bridge assembly. 



ok, now it's decision time.  on the right, you see a brand new stock brass gear sleeve ($6).  on the left is a brand new pete kolekar stainless steel gear sleeve ($15).  in the middle is the original stock brass gear sleeve and it's trashed!  i only recommend a stainless steel gear sleeve if you INTEND to exceed 8 pounds of drag.



here's how the trashed gear sleeve fits in the handle.  you can see how much play it has.



here's the new brass gear sleeve.  not to bad, but there's still a little play.



here's the stainless steel gear sleeve.



using a small punch, remove the brass retaining pin.



pull the old gear sleeve, clean up the the bridge and lube it up with corrosion x.



install the new gear sleeve and retaining pin.



done.



i like to replace the fiber washer (key #4) with the drag washer from the black side plate penn 4/0 senator 113.  this drag washer (part #6-113) has the same inner and outer dimensions as the long beach washer (part #6-60), but it's thicker.  i use this washer under the gears of many reels using the jigmaster gear sleeve (part #98-60). 



grease up the rest of the drag washers and install them with the metal washers.  make sure the metal washers are alternating "slotted - keyed - slotted."



because the #6-113 drag washer under the gear is thicker than the stock fiber washer (key #4), i usually discard the tension spring (key #8). 



now, your side plate is still sitting there, quiet and undisturbed. 



cover the bridge screws with your left index and middle fingers so the screws do not fall out.



ok, NOW you can look at the guts of the side plate.



remove the pinion gear (key #13), lube the right side bushing (key #26) with corrosion x, and put the pinion gear back.



the bridge/main gear assembly goes straight in.  no muss, no fuss.  pinch everything together, zip down the four bridge screws and you're done!!!!!!!!!!!



did you say something?

huh?  what was that?  what accident?  what do you mean, you had a little accident?  how many pieces?



ok, look, it's not that bad.  first, let's line everything up.  see, that looks better already!



first is the eccentric (key #19) and eccentric spring (key #20).



grease it up a little and stick it back in the hole.



stick the eccentric lever (key #21) back on....



and bolt it down with the eccentric screw (key #22).



stick a screwdriver blade under the spring to lift it up a little, then grab it with the needle nose pliers. 



crank the tip of the spring HARD and stick it into the slot of the side plate.  the lever should now snap back and forth sharply.



now for the bridge screws (key #16 and 17).  note that two are threaded all the way up and down, and two are threaded only at the end.  the clutch springs (key #18) ride up and down on the bridge screws with the short threads.



short threads on top, long threads on bottom.



two fingers over the bridge screws, flip over the side plate and install the clutch springs (key #18).  oh, and lube the right side plat bushing (key #26) if you haven't already.



install the pinion yoke (key #12) and the pinion gear (key #13) as a unit.



shimmy the eccentric jack into position.  you may need needle nose pliers to snap it into position.



make sure the dog (key #15) and dog spring (key #14) are in proper position. 



snap it together.



bolt it down.  take a moment now to make sure the free spool lever and anti-reverse mechanism work. 



install the spacing sleeve (key #9).



install the star drag wheel (key #10) and screw it down as far as it will go.  don't skip this step. 



install the handle (key #24) and handle screw (key #23).  turn the handle screw down until it seats, the crank it around HARD until the handle screw has rotated one or two slots and line up the slot with hole for the handle lock screw.  now install the handle lock screw (key #23a).



line up the side plate with the left side plate ring, push the side plate down, then turn it clockwise until the take apart thumb screw "clicks."  turn the screw down and you're done!  congratulations.!



see, that wasn't so bad......

All of these tutorials are making me want to go for it...and then send in all of the pieces to you for reassembly!  I have seen you mention the 500 narrrow several times on here, but everytime I search I don't find anything. Is it the same as the Mariner?

Thanks for taking the time to produce these amazing tutorials.

Wow... Alan, that thing came to you looking like crap.  It's good to see the the guts are intact.

Is that some beat up old rental from Bayside Marine (BMSC)?

The jigmaster I found at a garage sale for $12 looks brand new compared to that poor abused thing.

It's hard to believe that with an Accurate conversion kit you could give that jigmaster an '"extreme makeover" to look like this....

here's the narrow frame conversion kit....

http://www.scottsbt.com/catalog/store/KIT500-501-Conversion-Kit-500-to-501-Save-400-P67889C5900.aspx

and here's the power handle....

http://www.scottsbt.com/catalog/store/24-56-Handle-P62245C6013.aspx

this would be a great kayak reel. 

Alan:

WOW! Another Tani masterpiece!

You know me and you know the 500 is pretty much my old favorite "go-to" reel. I know it takes maintenance, but i enjoy doing that kind of stuff.  Espeically when it  is put all back together and it works better than the original (and there are no screws left over).  It's gotten a lot easier since I met you and took your ad-hoc seminar in my garage.

Having this tutorial is that much better and I'm gonna perform the upgrade on at least one of my 500's. 

PS- I'd like a couple more 500's or 140's or 146's if anyone has extra's laying around for trade or cheap...???

I'd really like a high speed jigmaster, I think it's the 505?  I used one all last year, but gave it back to the guy I rebuilt it for.  I was hoping he'd forget.  No such luck.

Allen

allen, go for the narrow spool 500 conversion, not the 505.  that way there are no bearings to deal with. 

Alan:

With the narrow conversion do you have any idea what are the line capacities are for something like 25#?  With all of the upgrades is something I could take to baja?

for 25 pound string, figure on 125-150 yards.  with 8 pounds of drag, that should be plenty.  from shore or a kayak, you're either going to land him quickly, or not.  careful with skinny line, though.  anything skinnier can easily get wedged inbetween the spool and side plate ring.  that's why i like 30 pound line better. 

hey, line capacity is overrated!

I think charkbait sells newell 5:1 gears for a jigmaster.

yep $25:
http://www.charkbait.com/cs/csrn.htm

it's down near the bottom of the page.

Alan,

I'm going to do a minor conversion on my 500.  It is a brand new 500L only used a couple of times.

New Accuframe, dragwashers, handle and replace the bushing with bearings.

Is it a good thing to replace the bushings with bearings?  If so what bearings should I use and can you suggest a source?

Thanks.

MolBasser

if you were going to do a conversion, i would order up a narrow frame and spool kit from pennparts.com to convert your 500 to a 501.  then load it with straight 30# mono and go fish.  i think the 501 is the best all around kayak reel. 

I agree to a degree, but this is an all purpose rod and I don't do much saltwater to begin with so I want to keep the line capacity for tuna/yellowtail. 

I'm not big on the narrow 500s, but that is just me so I just want to stiffen up the frame and loosen it up for better iron tossing.

Heck, I don't know what I am doing but it sure looks like fun.....

So, should I not worry about the bushings for iron tossing, or should I get some bearings?

To be honest, the next time this reel gets used will most likely be for sturgeon in the spring in San Pablo Bay.  I will be planning a tuna trip next year and if I play my cards right an Alaska trip too.

All in good fun though, next week I order all my drag washers for my abu and curados and the 500.  ReelX and all that good stuff too.

MolBasser

the bushings in the standard 500 side plate should be just fine.  they are also replaceable.  yup, if the old ones foul up, they can be replaced in a snap.  and they're only $3 each!

Thanks Alan!

Looks like I found a Tiburon frame for a very reasonable price.

MolBasser

Alan,

Any thoughts on the Surfmaster reels? Surfmaster 100 and 150 prices seem to be better than for 501s and 146s. How about parts availability?

Regards,
Scott