I know that this reel in one of the better ones and perhaps should have been left as original, but the check operating knob was in fact already broken before the reel had left the shop!
I always felt that this was one of the major design faults as it required both finger and thumb of one hand to turn the knob..perhaps not so easy to do quickly, especially on a cold and wet day..
Converting it to a rim lever operated check is not difficult as I used most of the existing pieces anyway, but it does mean that the original knob has to be either destroyed, or if removed with it's parent shaft, a new pivot shaft made to suit. Because the knob was broken on mine, I simply altered the original pivot shaft.
You will also need to put in an operating slot for the lever, so any reel thus changed can never be reverted back.
I made my lever from a piece of stainless steel, to blend with the other bright metals, but a piece of brass or nickel-silver could also serve. You will have to be careful that the height does not exceed that of the check operating cam or it will foul the line drum.
These are not very good pictures and I could have done it a bit tidier, but here is the result..
In this picture, I have removed one of the anti-kink line lay segments for clarity..
Regards from wm+
