Another day ,Another speedia

[Chavender]

carried over from Latest purchace section ,its arrived a mk4 narrow spool with noted worn bushing ,sold as spares or repairs ,a update on proceadings .well its repaired not spares now Its fixed and only took twenty minuets ,the story how it all began...

Another day ,Another speedia ,this was going cheap ,well for obvious reasons and not so obvious one ,it was on that auction site ,labelled as having a worn bushing ,but the obvious thing is the very short foot ,someone had butchered it .





I'll see if the bushing is bad or just slightly worn ,then see if I've a bushing for it ( I've a couple from scrap reels) .if I can sort the bushing ,then i'll chop whats left of the old foot off and fit a replacement .If the bushing is too worn I can always use the spares or convert it to a bearings reel ,umm theres a thought ..

So it arrived ,I unpacked it eager too see whats ,wot' .first immpession was its got excessive lateral movement ,a little too much so I turned it over & there was a little knock ,so I turned it upright and removed the spool ,it felt a sloppy fit .some things not right here .usually even with a worn bush the spool would still fit right ,the szpindle looked fine no goufes or pitting the tip is fine good length (they can wear down causing problems with fit.) a little scuffed perhaps ,the spindle housing got a flush out (sprayed wd40 and cleaned out with cotton bud ,helding the spool release latch open) and some grit came out .



It seems this was lodged right up there under the grub screw ,possible cause of bad fit ,or contributed too it.looked at the bushing and it looked symmetrical ,not worn oval from being worked hard or abused .unmarked in fact .I put it back on and it fitted just so .one problem solved .

upon removing again to oil it .there was a faint thud again ,so I took the spool off and shook it ,nothing ,I then decided the spindle needed cleaning and maybe a buffing up with ultra fine wire wool .as I whipped it with a cloth it moved .so I flipped it over , back and forth and it was loose the rear screw was undone ?.



well that's not normal ,i'm thinking someone tried too make up the gap caused by the grit by maybe fitting a washer (all they had too do was adjust the grub screw) under the spindles base inside the case/back .and removed it prior to selling and not tightening it up .I took the spindle out too make sure the threads wasn't stripped .whilst out I checked the fit in the bushing ,a little lateral movement but not exce4ssive ,but culd be better ,so I might have too swap the bushing after all .so I got out my spindle draw ,I keep my spares in,it has a removal tool ,spare spindles and bushes & hubs etc .



took a bush out too check .



not this one ,the other spare bush was in a housing and that wasn't going to work as neither was any better than the original ,no worce either so its wear was as expected for a reel this old ,a little worn but not excessively .and then I thought might as well check the spindles in the spool see if one of them fits better than the original one ,so I popped them in ,and third time lucky ,I found one with better fit ,the threads was shorter and on closer inspection ,it was one I made on my lathe a few years ago ,on original ones the threads go a little further towards the base .

original spindle ,see length of threads ,these extend into the backplate hole


My copy ,see shorter threads mine stop at the backplate hole .



So i fitted it in the backplate and tightened the nut up tight



ran my finger over it and there was a slight roughness ,so a quick buffing with ultra fine wire wool soon had it smoothed ,didn't want too polished as it might of took too much off and ruined the fit .a little polishing of the tip top and it was looking good ,it must of not been faced or had ginishing touches when made (It took six attempts to get right & just too get one too fit another reel (not easy on a micro lathe to get complete accuracy) they was made for) this one seemed just right ,might of originally been a fraction too big for its intended reel .but great fit once polished up for this one.Once oiled it spins great and will only get better as the spindle and bushing wear in together . another problem solved.

Another issue being the ratchet pawl didn't disengage properly ,a close look see's its not quite right ,looks ok shape wise good sharpe point ,it was original ,someone had flipped it to get the louder click when line is taken with the line off the bottom ,but not modified it .this was the easiest to sort out ,because I routinely swap them out for modded ones ,I can do this my self but I just buy a half dozen or so everytime I goto Redditch fair from garry mills ,so have a few in stock ,popped one right in .another problem solved .

Shiny new modded pawl fitted


So far I've removed / sawapped the spindle and pawl



Which only leaves the elephant in the room the cut down foot ,its small ,mighty small



obviously butchered too fit modern reel fittings (plastic fixed winch fittings) they cut a little too much off (maybe they broke it and only has a little to work with) it fits rods with reel bands



I tried it on a few ,8/10 ok ,only problem was with rods with slim handles and close fitting bands

Now I have a couple of solutions ,I can cut off the stubby wings ,and fit another foot .to this end I have a couple of options open too me ,first is a foot and stem salvaged from a Mitchell 408 ,the body was nakered because someone had sheared the locating screw head off (it sits on the shoulder of the body neck under the spool and locks the head in place ,I had too drill it out to get the rotating head off and had to get another body ,but that's another story ,a sad and long story for another time) So I chopped off the foot and stem just for this type of situration .



i'd have to remove the stem and carefully grind it to shape ,it would fit into the cressent left from the old foot ,drill a couple of holes and screw it into position ,might sit a nattz whisker higher but that's acceptable for a more usable reel.

the second option would be too fit a N.O.S fly reel foot I got of that auction site for £1 ,ok I was scrolling through and came across some N.O.S fly reel spares (hardy I think) so thought that'd make a good replacement foot for a centrepin ,so I put a bid in and got it ,got a couple of ratchet springs and bits too ,spent nearly £6 with that seller (had to have a cup of tea and sit down ,after that !) .would need to take a little more off but would look superb




But because it does fit a good range of rods and fittings ,i'm going too leave it as is for now ,but know I can fix it later if I feel the need .

the rest are cosmetic problems ,the old paint remnents could do with stripping off and the whole reel buffed with wire wool/scotchpad and light polishing





those centre cap screws don't look too clever ,ones chewed up ,might have to replace them oneday .For now its done ,i'll live with the short foot ,until it starts too bug me .same with the cosmetic touches as i'm not really into super shiny good as new look ,but if it does bother me its a simple thing too do.

Not as bad off as I feared ,amazing what a pice of grit can do ,I think it was tinkered with and they couldn't fix it so sold it on ,at least they was honest to sell as spare & repairs and noted the worn bushing .

Now I just need too think ,what i'm going to do with another spare narrow spool speedia...

[Pallenpool]

Brilliant - an hours writing with pictures for a thorough going over in 20 minutes - super stuff indeed.
Thanks for the post I found it very informative & importantly very easy to follow.
Peter

[Chavender]

well I have the luxury of having a few spares ,from ones that didn't make it ! and I only buy the cheap ones because if its not fixable ,I have more spares .

[Chavender]

the strange bit I didn't put in ,is the spindle from that reel was a perfect fit in my spare spindle housing with very little play ,because they all wear at different rates ,so often whats worn in one is fine in another ,that's why I keep the part worn spindles etc ,because you never know it it'll fit a different reel .

[Chavender]

got bored last night so did the running in ,first a dab of autosol the made the sails and used a airdryer too spin it for a few mineuets ,then whiped it down and oiled it and this time a bit longer under the dryer ...20 minuets or so .spins like a dream now.

[Chavender]

this reel has taken a couple of unexpected turns ,the repairs so far have gone really well ,I was going too leave this until maybe end of may/june before proceeding with further restorations .initially I brought this because I've a couple of modifications I fancy trying /experimenting with and as a reel most likely to become spares ,the dodgy spindle ,the chopped down foot etc meant if my experiments turned into frankinstiens monster or broke nothing was lost as it was half way too the spares box as was ,but because things have gone so well and with recent developments .I've had a bit of change of heart .and become rather attached to it .I've even brought a box to keep it in.when its been given its final spit & polish. (see latest purchases section) .now it looks like it'll become as keeper my TFF reel to take to & use @ TFF events etc .

[Chavender]

Well a little update I was going to leave this until just before the new river season starts ,as I've finally made a break through with my centrepin data base site (its been in the dull drums due to its parent sites software updates and me being locked out of my second photobucket account .

well I've sorted photobucket out now so can upload pictures again and update the centrepin database after a bit of software fixing and sorting a different way of posting pictures (in the past it was linked too the said photobucket account and only took one click to post images ,now I have to do it the long way )

I had two major uploads/updates my Kenny kendall stuff (but that's got to wait a bit ,so put it on here ,while I did the main one first) ,and a major update on all things ,speedia's .So this one was going to have to wait until i'd put the other speedia's too bed so to speak .

well as luck would have it ,this reel didn't have too wait for its foot to be sorted after all ,someone made me a offer I couldn't (would be mental too) ignore ,a very generous offer to fix it on for me .this was perfect timing ,so I boxed it up took it too the post office brought to posting bag/envelopes and popped my address on & return postage on one and stuffed with the boxed reel into the other and off it went ,winging its way to ,well you probably guessed it ,Watermole+

Now i'm nearly done updating the speedia section of the data base (its a slow process sort & upload images ,then type in stuff about them and post them one at a time in order ) well instead of logging out one account and into the other (and back again) ,i'm taking a break from that & I'm adding these pictures to the database account so I can do this update for you .

A Before foot


A after foot


perfectly dovetailed into the old ones place


I'm both enormously grateful too Watermole+ and annoyed ,yes annoyed because I did buy this as a scrapper as I've some ideas too test out & nothing too loose experimenting on it .and if they worked out fine if not it was good for spares so nothing lost .But things went well with the bushing /spindle fix ,which changed things ,I then intended to fix this reel up and breath some new life into it and move it onto some one else as I didn't need yet another Narrow drum speedia ."can one ever have too many speedia's !?

all but my MVT Wensum (mk5) speedia's here



You see I have 7 or so speedia's half of which are narrow ones (various early models & another mk4 of this type ) .So now i'm annoyed with Watermole ,as now I love this one and can't let it go. and now have too many speedia's ,too much choice ,so the other (black) narrow mk4 will probably go Now ,its most likely to be given as a raffle prize in a fishing trip later in the year .So yes great big thank you to Leszek ,for although I could of done this ,as i'm quite competent .but there's no way I could of done it too his level ,he's taken a ordinary job and made it Ext ordinary.

I've not finished with this reel yet ,its going to get a little more modifying before i'm done (well its no longer original ,but personalised) I've a plan to add a way to adjust the ratchet tension ,maybe a little tweak to the ratchet lever to soften effect on my finger (can get a indent flicking it on & off all day trotting) .it might even get a special removable line guard that allows for wally casting and batting etc .because its already personalised/modified with the new brass foot its nothing too loose by adding some more to compliment whats already been done to it .nothing guardy ,just subtle touches.and some spit & polish.

Enough teasing here it is the speedia Too good ,To give up

[NiceRoach]

Brilliant

[Liphook]

Excellent tinkering and a lovely collection Chavender, Watermole+ saves the day and reel again

[Banksy]

I too had a Speedia with a poorly foot.
Leszek kindly made it a new brass foot from scratch, removed the broken handle and fitted the new one.

It transformed a barely useable reel into a thing of beauty, in my eyes.