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Found an old pre-model # Mitchell reel for my collection today...
Smitty500mag
Member Posts: 13,623 ✭✭✭✭
I found a pretty nice old Mitchell reel with the box to add to my collection today. It's one that was made before they put model numbers on them which was before 1957. This one was a 300 made around 1954.
This one is marked "300" and I purchased it back in the early 70s and I refurbished it a couple of years go. I've done a lot of fishing with this old reel but it's retired now.
This one is marked "300" and I purchased it back in the early 70s and I refurbished it a couple of years go. I've done a lot of fishing with this old reel but it's retired now.
Comments
If you enjoy tinkering with old reels then dig'em out. It's good way to stay busy during the winter months working on something interesting that you can sit down at your work bench to work on. Even though Mitchell went out of business long ago there's still plenty of NOS parts to buy.
You wife will probably appreciate the break not seeing your long face moping around in the kitchen eating and making a big mess all the time.
what type of paint and stripper do you use to restore them ?
my first real fishing reel was a 301 I had to beg for weeks to get it for my 16th BD I remember it cost just over 16.00 but it took me a long time to save up to buy a rod for it . that was in 1973
looking back 16.00 was a lot of money for my mom and dad to spend on on birth day present . and I some what bad now about it .
up to then we all had Zebco 202 or similar dad had a zebco 33 he had traded for at some point
any way I still mine its and several other's I have picked up along the way nothing like your collection :oops:
I had a NIB serial numbered to the box 300 I bought a t a GS for 18.00 that some time ago . but sold it on flebay at the time it was not my thing to collect and needed the money for gun related items .
Know anybody interested in a couple of old big Penn reels ?
Thanks !!!
I Grew Old Too Fast (And Smart Too damn Slow !!!) !!!
I sand blast them and paint them with a paint that matches the old Mitchell black paint perfectly which is Rustolum satin black in the can with the weird looking top.
I have a couple of the 301's. Here is one that I made from several parts reels that was in pretty sad shape that turned out looking really well.
Yep those old reels were built like a tank.
will pick some paint up next trip into town , and maybe a cold winter day(s) project to add to all the rest
Does it look anything like this one. This one is a Ocean City Long Key 500 Yard Big Game Offshore Trolling REEL. There should be some engraving on the foot that gives the model and Ocean City Mfg. Co. Phila. PA. That thing is heavy duty.
Or this one which is a Ocean City Long Key No. 140 600 Yard Big Game Reel.
Many times the tiny pinion gear shims, part no. 81 047, on the Model 300, and other models, get lost while cleaning the reel. They're real easy to lose especially when they stick to the bottom of the gear as it's being removed. It'll be in the grease and you can't see it and while cleaning they just get lost. Most reels have one or two shims in that location. They were adjusted at the factory and the worker would shim them until they were smooth.
The main drive gear shim, part no. 81 035, is a little bigger but they still get lost pretty easy. That's the gear with the shaft that the crank screws into. Some come from the factory without a shim in that location and others will have one or two.
The shims between the rotating head and housing, part no. 81 024 is another fairly small shim that gets lost. The amount of shims there also vary from reel to reel.
There's some really good suppliers on E-bay that have all of these shims. You can buy an assortment of these shims in a package also with different thicknesses. These shim numbers fit a lot of other different models of Mitchell reels also. You just need to look at the schematics that I've posted the address for below.
There's also a couple of baffle plate to rotating head shims, part no. 81 012, but these don't get lost as easy since they're a little bigger.
There's also a baffle plate washer, part no. 81 011 that goes on top of shims 81 012.
You can find the schematics, the exploded drawings, for just about every model of Mitchell reel at the Mitchell Reel Museum https://www.mitchellreelmuseum.com/index.php/category/256
You just have to keep taking the reel apart and adding or removing shims until you hit it right to get it to run smooth. Just be sure and use a good screw driver on the side plate screws or it'll turn out looking like some of the guns we've all seen where people use farm tools or kitchen knives on them.
Glad I was able to identify it for you. I'm not sure what the value is either. I've pretty much concentrated on old Mitchell spinning reels for quite a while now and haven't gotten into casting reels other than just reading about some of them. You could pull stumps with that reel of yours it's so heavy duty.
The Mitchell reel I started this thread about came in the mail today. It's in better shape than I had hoped for. I just wiped it down and it looks like it was never used very much. The box is also better than I figured it would be. These old cardboard boxes usually get pretty ragged.