Mitchell Reel Forum

Does 308/408 rotate clockwise?

Don, could that guide be some sort of after market or is that part of the autodial feature?

I don't know if they're functional yet. The 300A is great but then the rest are in need yet of cleaning except the on I was told is not worth taking further. I love working on these things and see many a winter night of fun just ahead.

When looking at the face of your reels I would describe their rotation as clockwise or counter clockwise? How do you describe the rotation direction? Some of you have heard me say that because of surgical procedures I am now more or less ambidextrous in that I can pick up a friends lefty Lucy or rig...

Thanks Glen for the congrats. I figure they're like trading pieces if nothing else. At best they're great fishing reels.
Don, Been to Columbus Lately. O yeah, that's right, Women flock to you offering you their reels, lol. I'm hoping to hit Columbus and also Jakes Flea again this year.

I will just keep buying the ones I see for cheap from folks that don't seem to know what they are. I picked up three more this weekend for $5 ea. I'll be fishing a 304 and a 300A today.

Funk, that's the term! I had Covid and now the Vax. So far so good. There ya go. You went and said it, Pickerel! That is my favorite here and my Big Bassy friends have a hoot chastising me for it. Many Basser's think the world should all be Basser's but I'm the exception....I like the Pike family an...

I have a burning desire to catch Average N.Pike. I hope to use a Mitchell of some type to do so. I have a 302 but I don't care to cast that size all day. I have a 410 and 400 and am hoping it will clean up nicely. I want to get more repair time under my belt before I open them up. Don309 has been my...

So if the goal in the first place was to save old messy reels from the heap it seems that there is no real surefire was to tell a goody from a baddy other than trial and error. Easy to do and gain parts reels as well.

Glen, Are you using Mitchells in saltwater? I wish Canada and USA had open trade but perhaps the current system keeps us honest in some way that we don't know. Wonderful country it is. I had been thinking that if I get all the Mitchells that tickle my fancy I would soon enough know which was my favo...

I am not so much of a collector as a user. I grew up in an historic area and love old stuff. I now can afford 2-300 dollars new reels but I cant buy sentimentality, original thought nor the old smell, sight and sound of old reels unless I go through this process with you all. I can buy them all freq...

Good Evening Folks, I always attend a local flea that has allot of 300's for sale. I like like one vendor and I always stop to look at his stuff. Recently I picked a bad reel that I thought looked okay or average. But we all know how it looked inside (for those that are new see "Transfer Gear R...

So its the gears and not the gear shaft that warned you off. In my opinion I was thinking the gears looked good once I cleaned them. I'm trying to be specific so that I don't fall so hard next time. These were great reels but not If I don't know what to look for. Looks for the sake of looks are not ...

Ted, Thanks, Hockey stick or gullwing. What part of this in specific terms was the death sentence. to me it is the corrosion on the main shaft but I'm hoping that Mates point out their observations as well.

In my opinion this is what the learning process looks like...more experienced technicians dragging us new folks up by the ears. I hear you on this and agree. A little history: For 9 or 10 months I have been cleaning and re-working some of the better spincast reels. Most of them were old Johnsons or ...

Hi Ted, thanks. Do you mean the one on the right or left….Inside or outside?

Thanks Don. I agree there are a couple shims missing but everything else is there. was an awful lot of corrosion but its all gone now. Did you continue to sand the inside until all the pitting is gone. I do have access to a bench top glass bead blaster but I'l pretty sure this is a shim or bent spin...

It's clean as a whip. what's next?

It will be nice if someone finds a way to do this affordably.

Hi Ted, How can you identify it without serial numbers. Just by the A/R lever? It may have been used in salt but I'm sure it was put away full of some type of water that was emulsified, probably from operating it while full. It was full of brown runny grease when I took it apart. Are these supposed ...

Any idea when this was made as I've found no serial numbers on it?

Notice the spiral marks on the drive gear. Are they form the transfer gear rubbing? Is this normal?

The particular guy that wrote me back quoted 50-75 dollars with no batch discount. A bit pricey for this user (I'm not so much a collector). I had hoped that sending 50 or 100 at a time would provide some relief on the each price. No Cigar! He said he was pretty sure that the screws holding the bail...

Outside of the cover

Am I supposed to have the following?

Pinion Gear Adjustment washer
Driving Gear Adjustment washer
Slide guide adjustment washer

here are the rest of the photos...

Then Next are these.

I want to break down the photos into smaller mailings so I'll start with transfer, oscillation and head gears.

I put the Drive in without others and without the shims it rubs the housing. It had 3 and I lost one shim. I'm hopeful it will turn up...they usually do. Without this third shim there is a small amount of play in and out on the shaft. With two shims installed it turns smoothly with no rumbly feeling...

This type? Brass?

Chris, grinding gravel. That is pretty descriptive.

They’re soaking now.
What type of small brass brushes. brushes? Toothbrush type. Or smaller. Up until now I’d been using a regular toothbrush. I pick them up soon.
Photos soon.

Please forgive me if I've tried everyone patience with all the photos but they did reveal allot. There were three copper shims under the head gear and one under the plate in the head. Lastly there were three very thin shims btwn the housing and the main gear handle stub. The number 17 and FL are ins...

And here:

Here are the rest of the photos you suggested:

This is what it looked like when I opened it up. Then I took lots of photo's and bathed it overbite in mineral spirits and cleaned it up the next day. after that I used a flux brush and applied blue Penn reel grease with a flux brush to all surfaces for future protection. Big Mistake. Its all gone n...

Is that metal flake paint. Sure is Pretty.

Hi Bill, I am brand new to Mitchells although I abused one as a kid (308). I had been looking for an easiIy serviceable classic to befriend and had looked at HI, Penn, DQ and Abu and they all came up short for parts and info. 1)This is the first Mitchell reel of many that I now own and this is not t...

Don, funny to see this post. Just yesterday I put a request in to a business advertising this. haven't heard back yet but I'll let you know the results.

It is very hard to see this from any angle but from many angles it seems that the rim of the drive gear is rubbing the underside of the transfer gear, causing a rumbling feel or vibration. At this time I have not been able to see clearly if the pawl is in play with this issue. At this time I'm think...

I'm working on an older model 300 and it seems that the Transfer Gear is rubbing on the Drive Gear creating a vibration. There are two shims on the main drive gear and I've tried numerous versions of adding and subtracting them...looking for a difference. Nothing... Would anyone have advice on how t...

Does any member recall if this was cut, machine engraved, stamped and so forth. is there actually white paint used in the grooves or is it the brightness of the aluminum that provides the contrast in the writing?

The study Wallace did on the original he said it was cut. Don you might ask about paint as well?

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