Ocean City No. 36 repair help?

[cushman]

I have another of my dad's old reels from what I believe to be the 1950's, based on reading about it over at affiliated https://www.oceancityreelphotos.com/. I believe this is after the 1950 catalog description of "the New Duo-Drag, described as one of which is the removable click type and the other, a smooth silent drag - the coil spring which operates the silent drag may be easily removed if found desirable." This was extremely helpful as I've been wondering why the click pawl wasn't engaging. From this description if I understand correctly, with the spring installed, the reel will always be in silent drag mode. Without the spring, the spool's small pin should set into the gear, which can be engage or disengaged via the pawl switch on the back side of the reel.

I still have question for Ocean City aficionados out there. When I remove the spring as described, the reel can still go in and out of "silent running" mode. Is this normal, or am I missing something? Before I read through the article on the Ocean City reel photos website, I wondered whether there may be a missing brass washer or something that would maintain the contact with the drag gear. Any insights here would be helpful! I am attaching a few photos to share as the reel seems to be in pretty nice condition. I never saw my dad fish with this one - it was just part of my the kit in my grandfather's tackle box when my dad gave me the whole thing (40 years ago? Where has the time gone?)

Here are some pics. First is of the reel opened up:



Here's a close up of the gear and pawl:



This pic shows the face of the spool when the spring is removed and the click is engaged:



And here of the reel with the spring installed:



And finally a good one of the back of the reel:



Am I understanding this all correctly? I appreciate any and all guidance on this!

Thanks,
Dave