Shakespeare 2062 Bail Spring Installation Process?

[pjchris]

Took this apart to clean (40 years in father-in-laws garage) and re-lub. It appears the bail spring (old coiled type) might need to be pre-loaded as I reinstall the bail. Any tips to exactly how I do that and not damage the spring? I know it's an old reel, but it appears to have almost zero wear otherwise and would like to save it. THe bail worked fine before I took it apart, just sluggish from no lube and lots of dirt.

TIA

[Midway Tommy D]

First off don't lube the bail spring with anything more than Armor All. All lubing a bail spring does is helps collect dirt, which in turn slows things down and makes operation sluggish.

This old Pflueger 551 bail spring tutorial found on the Cleaning and Restoration forum should tell you everything you need to know. It is exactly the same reel as a Shakespeare 2062. Most people try to cut corners and not completely remove the bail. That's an easy way to bend or ruin bail springs. The process is basically the same, other than a couple of minor adjustments, for all single coil type bail spring service or replacements.

[pjchris]

Sorry it took so long to respond. It turns out the old bail spring was in fact damaged, with the bent wire catch on the upper installed position of the spring broken off just enough that made reinstallation impossible. I got a new spring and the instructions you referenced allowed me to reinstall it the very first try. It turned out that the bail wire itself was slightly bent so that got fixed on reassembly.

The cleaning process on the gears, etc turned out to be time consuming, as the grease had congealed to almost a solid and resisted removal by solvent only. The insides are now as clean as when first assembled, completely re-lubed and the reel works quietly and smoothly.

Thanks for the pointers and advice!

Paul

[Midway Tommy D]

Glad it worked out for you, and also glad you caught the bail alignment aspect. That is one thing I forgot to put in the tutorial and one of the most important tweaks to having the bail action work correctly and smoothly. It almost always takes a little bending one way or the other and the best time to catch it is just before tightening the bail nut and off side screw/plate. Bails take a lot of pressure and abuse.