Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

You got 'em, we know how to clean 'em
Post Reply
User avatar
Bill Muth
Super Board Poster
Posts: 681
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:38 pm
Location: Minnesota

Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by Bill Muth »

I have a Meek 33 that I was looking to clean up, but the back plate is STUCK. Tried my usual tricks (Liquid Wrench, percussion with various tools, rubber gripper, etc.) and this one won't budge. If anyone has any extreme case tricks that I can try, list them here! Thanks and Merry Christmas to the ORCA family!
Wanted: Horton, Bristol & Meek reels, reel boxes, and catalogs!!!!
User avatar
Midway Tommy D
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2013 11:23 pm
Location: Eastern NE

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by Midway Tommy D »

Bill,
Try a little heat/cold with a hair dryer and then an ice cube bag. Maybe the expand/contract will pop it loose. It sure won't damage anything.
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)

Tom DeLong, NE
ORCA Member - 2027
User avatar
john elder
Star Board Poster
Posts: 8541
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2003 2:44 pm

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by john elder »

Bill, just checked my bluegrass by meek #33 and was surprised to learn (re-learn) that it twists off lefty-loosey, rather than righty-loosey (as arrow indicates) for your favorite Horton#33! So, maybe you have been going the wrong way out of habit? Otherwise, Tommy’s suggestion would be the way I would go, but would use a bigger gun...ie, heat gun, to supply heat. Hope the simpler method going counter-clockwise works!
ORCA member since 1999
Honorary Life Member

Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
User avatar
Bill Muth
Super Board Poster
Posts: 681
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:38 pm
Location: Minnesota

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by Bill Muth »

Bill, just checked my bluegrass by meek #33 and was surprised to learn (re-learn) that it twists off lefty-loosey, rather than righty-loosey (as arrow indicates) for your favorite Horton#33! So, maybe you have been going the wrong way out of habit? Otherwise, Tommy’s suggestion would be the way I would go, but would use a bigger gun...ie, heat gun, to supply heat. Hope the simpler method going counter-clockwise works!
Glad you mentioned that John, I was giving it the Horton twist. Still stuck, so into the freezer it went, we'll see what happens when I blast it with some heat. Thanks boys!
Wanted: Horton, Bristol & Meek reels, reel boxes, and catalogs!!!!
User avatar
Robin Sayler
Super Board Poster
Posts: 986
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:44 pm
Location: Oshkosh, Wisconsin

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by Robin Sayler »

I've had luck with leaving them in the freezer over night
I would like any unusual pflueger casting reels!
User avatar
Bill Muth
Super Board Poster
Posts: 681
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:38 pm
Location: Minnesota

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by Bill Muth »

I've had luck with leaving them in the freezer over night
The cold / heat trick has not worked. Looks like a longer stay in the freezer is the next option.
Wanted: Horton, Bristol & Meek reels, reel boxes, and catalogs!!!!
User avatar
Paul M
Ultra Board Poster
Posts: 2200
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:10 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada
Contact:

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by Paul M »

Bill: Instead of the rubber gripper, did you try gripping the edge with a terrycloth towel? Don Champion suggested that some time ago and it worked for me (on a different Carter style reel). A slightly damp towel may help grip the edge and avoids all damage to the knurling on the edge. Rubber seems to roll, compress and tear. I ended up using a well used microfibre cloth to grip. The backplate of my Blue Grass, Carter style, Meek 33 twists off counter-clockwise. Nothing holding it inside except old grease. I did turn the clicker switch to the off position but it should come off either way. The construction of the reel is very precise IMHO and the fittings are tight. I recall I did have to exert a lot of hand twisting pressure to open a similarly styled trade reel by Union Hardware. You gave me an idea to make a short video clip to demo the method and make a Facebook post.

Paul M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbS6q9pRxgY
Paul Manuel

Member since 2006
User avatar
Bill Muth
Super Board Poster
Posts: 681
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:38 pm
Location: Minnesota

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by Bill Muth »

Thank Paul, and great video! I will give it a try. The reel has been in the freezer for a few days now, I forgot I put it in there.
Wanted: Horton, Bristol & Meek reels, reel boxes, and catalogs!!!!
User avatar
ghstrydr164
Frequent Board Poster
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:51 pm
Location: AZ
Contact:

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by ghstrydr164 »

Advise that worked on a Meek 33 for me years ago.

Reelman2 Re: WTB *** 2 Meek #33 parts reels *** WTBPosted: Tue May 08, 2012 5:26 am
Reel Talk Member
Advanced Board Poster
Joined: 1/01/06
Posts: 158
Location: Deland, Florida
Cyrus,

I had one that did the same thing. After I had boogered up the knarling on the rim I took a chisel and placed it flat along the spool housing and gave it a whack. It popped the side plate back onto the threads and unscrewed easily. You might as well try it because the reel won't be much good the way it is.

Bill Lemay



ghstrydr164 Re: WTB *** 2 Meek #33 parts reels *** WTBPosted: Tue May 08, 2012 9:14 am
User avatar
Frequent Board Poster
Joined: 6/15/07
Posts: 64
Location: California
Well I'll be damn, worked like a charm. I had turned that back plate more then one full turn in both directions with out it beginning to unscrew. I put the tube in a leather padded vise and used a piece of soft wood to tap the lip of the back plate at four quadrant's away from the tube. I reversed the reel in the padded vise and tapped the tube at the foot support with the soft wood about quarter turn and it began to unscrew very easily, works perfectly now.

Thanks Bill
Image
User avatar
john elder
Star Board Poster
Posts: 8541
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2003 2:44 pm

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by john elder »

I have had that issue as well, where the back plate was mis-threaded and the only way to get it right was to rap it back on track, using a rubber or plastic hammer and some protection against scratching.

I learned something useful on Gold Rush last night, in addition to learning not to be a gold miner. They were putting a bearing on a hub and it was too tight, so they took a torch and heated the bearing up, then slid it onto to the hub fairly easily. I have been in the process of trying to get a threaded brake drum off of a Stevens reel spool for about a week, soaking in penetrating oil and mineral spirits, heating and cooling, then rapping as much as I dared....it just would not budge. After watching the show, I decided that the fatal flaw in my approach might be letting the drum cool before trying to remove it. So, I heated it up with a heat gun and when it was hot enough I wasn't going to touch it, I started tapping and it came right off. I'm sure that if I had let it cool first, it wouldn't have moved!
ORCA member since 1999
Honorary Life Member

Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
User avatar
sdlehr
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 351
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2015 12:03 am
Location: Boca Raton, FL

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by sdlehr »

John, same idea came up on a YouTube video I was watching a few days ago - they were making old fashioned horse carriage wheels - 5-6 feet in diameter. The last step is to put a 1/4" thick metal band around the outside of the wooden wheel structure - this was pre-rubber - and the metal band was a "tire" - kept the wood from wearing. They heated it in a bonfire, which expanded it enough to put over the wooden wheel - and when it cooled and contracted it was on for good.
Sid Lehr
oc1
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 214
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2016 2:49 pm
Location: Windward Oahu

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by oc1 »

Looking up the coefficient of expansion for various materials can sometimes provide a clue to the best way to proceed when something is stuck. Also, playing with heat sinks to get one component hotter than another.

With that said, my Horton Simplex tail plate is still stuck. The tail plate itself says it best,
>>----->
screw off


-steve
User avatar
Midway Tommy D
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2013 11:23 pm
Location: Eastern NE

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by Midway Tommy D »

oc1 wrote:Looking up the coefficient of expansion for various materials can sometimes provide a clue to the best way to proceed when something is stuck. Also, playing with heat sinks to get one component hotter than another.

With that said, my Horton Simplex tail plate is still stuck. The tail plate itself says it best,
>>----->
screw off


-steve
:lol:
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)

Tom DeLong, NE
ORCA Member - 2027
User avatar
john elder
Star Board Poster
Posts: 8541
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2003 2:44 pm

Re: Meek 33 Back Plate Removal Tricks

Post by john elder »

Meeks lack that hint...ie, ——->
ORCA member since 1999
Honorary Life Member

Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
Post Reply