New Old Reel

[phoenixshard]

One of my brothers knew I was about to get back into fishing, so he sent me a present: an old Penn Surfmaster reel. Not sure how old it is, but he's had it in his garage for over 15 years, and was in storage before that. It needs to be cleaned up and new line spooled, but its still in decent shape. Pics of it below.

[sprtsracer]

Looks like it should clean up pretty well, although you'll have some pitting in the chrome when you are done, it should still work just fine. Be careful on the screws on the sideplates...they have a lot of corrosion and may be frozen. Soak it in white vinegar overnight if the screws are frozen. If not, take all the line off, disassemble and place all the metal parts (chromed) in white vinegar to soak. Then, take them out and scrub under running water with an old tooth brush. Soak any parts with old hardened grease in lighter fluid, acetone or similar, and scrub as well. Dry all and reassemble using Penn's Blue grease. Get a set of HT100 drags and you're all set.

[Al Kai]

I had a Penn Surfmaster 200. I loved it.
I dont have it any longer cause I gave it to a familly member who shall remain nameless. He almost broke down and cried for it, while pointing out that I had several vintage Penn reels and was just being greedy.
Me being the Hawaiian that I am, gave it to him.

[phoenixshard]

Funny story Al Kai. LOL

Sprtsracer, thanks for the tips, greatly appreciated. :)

[Dyhard]

A fine reel I still use one that my wife gave to me in 1962. The single screw take down makes this reel easy to clean and maintain.
I put aluminum spools and magnets in the four Surfmasters that I own for even better casting.
Clean it up, lube properly, and don't worry about the corrosion.
Put in the Penn HT washers and it will handle most any fish you'll ever catch.