Allan, the pinion gear sleeve threads in and out of the rotating head, but first you have to remove the nut (see photo) on the inside of the rotating head that the axle glides through. Again, removing the axle first is needed, as describe by Don above. But its easier to do all of this if you remove ...

One additional step needed is to remove the rotating head from the body. This is because the pinion gear will stop the main gear from removal. The pion gear is attached to the rotating head. There is a small slotted screw under the head that locks the head in place. Just remove that screw and the he...

There are not many on ebay right now...below is one in France.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/293825450807?e ... SwDXlfq73e

Hey Don, you are correct, while many of the parts cross over to later models, there are some that are unique to the early versions. It looks like the serial# is A32xxx, which places it in very early 1955 production, or, the 32,000th 302 produced out of 1.4M total...clearly this one, as were the majo...

Don, that 302 has a manual pick up (PUM)…it’s an early 302…Likely an “A”series, if you check the serial number on the side cover…it has the original handle with no counterweight knurling…fairly uncommon…

Sandman

Hi Richie and :text-welcomewave: to MRM! You've received a couple ideas so far. The most common reason I've found for this, particularly if you have not completely taken apart the reel and cleaned all the old grease out, is just that, the old grease may have lost it's viscosity and hardened, causing...

Looks like fun Dries. I’ve never tried mine. I don’t have a light action forked foot reel seat rod.

Sandman

That is correct…go to Home at the top of the page and then to List of reels….1140 were produced.

Sandman

Congratulations! A very uncommon set and the reel is appears to be unused!

Sandman

Don, yes, I have converted 308 reels to 408 gearing. It’s quite simple. It only requires swapping out the main gear and pinion gear with 408 Gleason gears and you have a high speed 308.

Sandman

Do, it’s true that you can’t use a 308 pinion gear and attached axle sleeve, but you can use 308 pinion bearings and races. So, if you a spare 308 pinion assembly all you need to to is swap the gear/axle sleeve by unscrewing the nut, Alice the 308 gear/sleeve out, slide the 408 gear/sleeve in and yo...

That is a vey cool reel Dries. It’s beautiful and unusual. I’ve never seen a CW 306. Congratulations! What did Mitchell mean by Combi? Is that another word for Intermediate?

Sandman

Simone, wonderful reels. Do you mind sharing the serial numbers of those reels?

Sandman

Schrack, the plastic transfer gear in the 300 during the early to mid fifties was a composite polymer that may very well of been Delrin. I don’t know what Mitchell called it. It was a new development at the time and had great strength properties for a plastic, until it heated up. Under load, it was ...

Nice one Dries...that box is very rare in the United States.

Sandman

The handle crank shaft is spun 180 degrees, so the grip is not seated against the flat side of the shaft end.

Sandman

Hey Dries, welcome back! Hope you've found some nice 358s lately.

Sandman

Some of my fav Mitchell fishing photos...

Biggy, there was only one size of the 308 model ever made. Your bail won’t stay because the bail trip lever is bent. You can use needle nose to bend the part of the trip lever that extends outside of the rotating head back into position…small adjustments at a time until you find the correct shape. T...

Could have two forum categories. One named ‘Collecting’ or ‘Collecting all things Mitchell/Garcia’ or just ‘Collecting Mitchell Reels’, and another named ‘Fishing with Mitchell Reels’.

Sandman

Thanks Ted... Don, yes, you have to swap the main drive gear and the pinion gear from a 408 (helical or Gleason gears) to turn a 308 into high speed (408) gearing. They swap perfectly, everything else remains the same. Pinion gears are tricky...I completely take mine apart and re-lube...careful, the...

Hey Mates, good to hear from everyone.

Wallace, thank you for restoring the site!

What better way to test the photo uploader then with a 20" Rainbow on a vintage Fenwick 6' 5w flyrod and an early 308 with pimped out 408 gears?

Sandman