Wanted.. Jeweled bearing cap for 1950s Pflueger Summit

[Tightlines666]

I am looking for a jeweled bearing cap for a 1950s era Pflueger Summit. I am trying to score brownie points by restoring my boss's reel which was passed on to him by his grandfather. He plans to use it throughout his impending retirement to catch smallies in northern Michigan.






I appreciate any assistance in this important matter.



John

[Dick Janak]

I can help you..I will send you a email...Dick Janak

[Tightlines666]

I can help you..I will send you a email...Dick Janak

Dick,
I received the jeweled bearing cap yesterday. It is a perfect match. I intend to refurbish the reel this weekend. Thanks for your help!

John

[Tightlines666]

Here a re a few pictures of the finished product....














The restoration took 3.5 hours of my time.

Needless to say.. he was happy with the results.

Thanks again Dick!

[Midway Tommy D]

My, that turned out very nice, John. You should have gotten plenty of Brownie Points with that cleanup/service.

[Reel Addictive]

Hard to believe this is the same reel as before.

Absolutely great job with the restoration John.

It may catch fish for another 50 years.

William

[jimbofish]

Reel looks fantastic. Obviously it was well cared for by it's earlier owner.

In the 'before' pic, it looks like there are the remains of a "comfo-ring" under the screw heads on the tailplate. In the 'after' pics, they are gone. If he's not going to be replacing the ring, those two screws holding the level-wind assy to the tailplate should be replaced with shorter ones that don't extend into the spool side.
If your boss loses a fish because the line broke on those screws you might lose all the points you got re-furbing it.

[Tightlines666]

Reel looks fantastic. Obviously it was well cared for by it's earlier owner.

In the 'before' pic, it looks like there are the remains of a "comfo-ring" under the screw heads on the tailplate. In the 'after' pics, they are gone. If he's not going to be replacing the ring, those two screws holding the level-wind assy to the tailplate should be replaced with shorter ones that don't extend into the spool side.
If your boss loses a fish because the line broke on those screws you might lose all the points you got re-furbing it.

Good eye.

I didn't really like the way the "comfo-rings" looked on the finished reel, so I checked screw clearance in the posts, and removed them. I was wondering about those 2 level wind screws though. On a more modern reel, I would just grind them down, and replace them. Maybe I will just put the rings back on those 2 screws to be sure.

John

[john elder]

Nice Job, John! That is one of the first reels I started collecting and I think I had about a dozen, all different in one way or another. Makes a very interesting venue for a collector! I still have the earliest models in my collection, pre-adds to the faceplate and with the amber handle grasps. If they hadn't made and sold so many of them, they would certainly be higher $ value!

[jimbofish]

I didn't really like the way the "comfo-rings looked on the finished reel, so I checked screw clearance in the posts, and removed them. I was wondering about those 2 level wind screws though. On a more modern reel, I would just grind them down, and replace them. Maybe I will just put the rings back on those 2 screws to be sure.

The Comfo-ring" came with two longer screws to replace the original level-wind screws which wouldn't be long enough. The other 4 screws had plenty of extra length.

You can probably get the shorter screws from the same source as the bearing cap..

[Dick Janak]

I should have the original screws. Don't cut those off yet...Dick

[Tightlines666]

That would be great! He isn't planning on fishing it until early July.

[Dick Janak]

The screws are in the mail...Dick Janak

[Tightlines666]

The screws are in the mail...Dick Janak

Thanks for helping me out here, and with the jeweled cap for my next project*.

*My girlfriend fell in love with this reel, so I bought her a beat up one to refurbish herself. Results pending approval..

[michaelscott]

This is beautiful work...I'm inspired to do the same with a Summit. I got all the tools. Are you using warm water and soap for cleaning or something else. Love the shine. Teach me to be like you!

[Tightlines666]

This is beautiful work...I'm inspired to do the same with a Summit. I got all the tools. Are you using warm water and soap for cleaning or something else. Love the shine. Teach me to be like you!

I first disassembled the reel (w/plastic coated pliers, and hologround gunsmithing screwdrivers. Then I put the parts in a jar with a 50:50 solution of simple green:water. Put the jar in my sonic cleaner and ran for 15minutes. Then all parts were lightly cleaned with 0000 steel wool and simple green. Then I soaked the bronze parts in 50:50 vinegar:water. All parts were rinsed with DI water and allowed to dry. Then all chrome parts were hand-polished with mothers chrome Polish. The gears were lightly lubed with Penn Blue grease (thinned the grease on the drive shaft and holder with 'Reel X'). All remaining moving parts (and screw threads)were lightly lubed with Reel X. Reel was reassembled. A little gunsmith bedding compound can be used on the gears to smooth them out if rough, but it should be used cautiously and cleaned out throughly before final assembly. Also, use restraint, especially with te steel wool, or any power tools (best not to use them on most reels), and make sure all parts are rinsed and scrubbed with throughly with a toothbrush to remove any traces of compound/detergent, or steel wool before final assembly. Finally hand polished with some Never Dull wadding, and clean microfiber cloth. I think total time spent was maybe 2 hours. Be careful with the screwdrivers and tools too.