My cousin sent me a box of old reels that he was given knowing I'd have fun with all the grungyness
There were a couple of Penn 209's and a 285 Del Mar, a Heddon 205-R, a Mitchell 300, and this push button Shakespeare Wondercast Model 1777.
The others went in my bin for another day, but I couldn't stop playing with the spincaster. It reminded me of my first rod and reel that my uncle bought me, a plastic push button reel on a fiberglass rod. I know these aren't high performance pieces, but for panfish and small trout they are a blast. Then there's the nostalgia factor of course! This model is date coded EG which I believe means the model was started in 1964. It's older than the one I had in the late 70's early 80's, but better built also.
Here's a few pics before cleaning it up.
Pretty grungy on the inside.
I completely disassembled it and cleaned it up with Dawn detergent and lacquer thinner.
(I got excited and forgot to take pictures of the first few reassembly steps
)
The drag is just the main cap pressing the spool against this felt washer (which I oiled to make it smoother).
Once the spool is in place, the winding assembly with shaft slides on and then the washer and pinion gear.
Then the spring, washer, cotter pin are installed on the shaft. The left side plate and push button are installed after that.
Then the right side plate with the main gear and AR can be screwed in place and the main cap screwed on.
All done.
I love seeing the "MADE IN USA"
Some of you may have noticed that the handle knob looks different and vaguely familiar...
It's the factory knob from my South Bend Classic 935. The original knob had disintegrated and so I had to improvise.
I can't wait to try this out on some panfish or trout! Just need to find an old 60's rod to pair it up with so I can spool it with some 6 lb. mono and go fish it!
