Mitchell 303 rebuild?

Picked up an old 303 (mostly scrap- not even fit for parts) to rebuild and learn from. I've replaced everything- covers, housing, gears, axle, bearing... EVERYTHING. The only original parts are the cover plate screws and the lube port cover. However, I ran across a part on the original that I can't identify. There was no axle bushing between the bearing shield/housing and rotor. There was no bearing shield either. There was a metal ring with two notches in it that the set screws protrude through. It fits snugly into the housing recess above the bearing. Was this a stock part from some year that I don't have a schematic for? Everything I've seen shows the shield and the bushing above it. The reel is very smooth as is, but the rotor seems to have a little bit more slop than it should.

From my experience I'm not a Mitchell fan. They are dirt cheap and don't last very long. I have one and I kept it in my garage all the time. It lasted 4 years I think. One day I was fishing with it and the handle broke of with no warning. I decided to clean it out after and a lot of the parts are plastic. The anti reverse (which I've always had problems with) burst into pieces when I took the spool off. I repaired the handle with some Redneck ingenuity. Now its a sabiki/bait rod.

I'm speaking of the 50 year old "made in France" Mitchell reels. Not much plastic there, and if you keep them clean and lubed it's not unreasonable to expect a few decades (or more) of service from them.

I also have respect for older Mitchell reels, I have several Mitchells as well as Orvis reels that belonged to my grandfather, they are all still used at the appropriate times

do you have a picture of it?

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Originally Posted by jigslinger

do you have a picture of it?

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I will take a picture as soon as I get the replacement nos parts (bearing shield and bushing) to install. I put the old part back into the reel so that I wouldn't lose it. the metal part in question looks like the bottom part pf the plastic bushing without the upper flange.

If you can't find the answer here, go to reeltalk orcaonline.org there is a group of Mitchell experts that have worked on every kind of old Mitchell out there. You can probably just use the search feature but they will gladly answer any question you have. Good site for finding old parts too.

I realize that I'm probably going a little overboard with my 302/303 reel mods here ( but when you're stuck in oklahoma and the tailraces that you usually fish are releasing too much water for good fishing what else is there to do?... besides the honey-do list?) but I had a crazy thought. Since the cover plate screw pattern is the same for both sides and I have extra parts now- why couldn't I add a second drive gear to the other side of the reel? It wouldn't function as a drive gear, but it would balance the axle and support the pinion gear from the opposite side, and i'd have the added benefit of a second anti-reverse in case the first one failed. I'd have to trim the stem down (on the cover plate and on the drive gear) where the handle attaches and make it look pretty- but why not? I'm sure I could find a way to lighten things up a little too... since I usually do more casting than soaking bait. Anyone ever done this or tried to do this with positive or negative results?

I'm pretty sure Obie, aka Tiderider, has done that. I'm not sure if he's on this forum but he's on the pensacola fishing forum. You might send him a message there. Seems like I had pics of it awhile back but that's been a few computers ago.

Check this thread out. Mitchell 302/402 All out - Page 2 - Pensacola Fishing Forum

That's exactly what I had in mind. I started working on it this morning, the only thing I'm uncertain of at the moment is what to use as a functional but nice looking cover for the stub on the dual gear sideplate.

also- the guy on the pensacola forum claims that it cant be done with the 402 because of the slanted gear teeth- but why couldnt you just use a 403 gear for your opposing side?

That just might work.

this is the 303/403 frankenreel with the doublegear mod in progress. it started out as a 303 parts reel, but I ended up with some extra parts so I replaced the 303 gears with 403 gear and pinion. second sideplate and gear are from a 403 parts reel- everything lines up fine cranks fine- still have to cut the stem down and grind the post off of the main gear that the planetary gear would sit on if it were actually on the drive gear. Will probably also drill the second main gear to shave as much weight as possible since its really just there for support and won't have any cranking pressure on it
http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6210&stc=1

Anybody got an idea what I could use as a cover for the trimmed gear stem and cover post? I've got it trimmed down and cleaned up but I don't want to leave it exposed. Also- as much as I like blue and black this reel is starting to remind me of an 80's chevy cavalier that has body parts from 3 different colored vehicles. What type of paint should I use to repaint a reel?

i don't have any advice, per usual, but this has been a really cool read to follow. that's nice work.

Stems trimmed to length second anti-reverse installed. When both are engaged- what a clatter! lol.
http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6212&stc=1http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6213&stc=1

Looks good except the handle is on the wrong side! :D

lol. no, it's on the right side.

Think I've come up with a solution for capping the stem. 3/4" cpvc or 1/2"pvc cap cut to length, grooved for an O ring (with dremel) and a coresponding groove in the stem to seat the O ring. Sand and paint to desired color...

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Originally Posted by fordguy

lol. no, it's on the right side.

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LOL You know what they used to say about ear rings ;-)

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Originally Posted by Pier#r

LOL You know what they used to say about ear rings ;-)

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Lol. What can I say? It's a very accommodating reel.
besides, new 402 gears are hard to come by while new 403 gears are relatively plentiful

Sanded down, primered, painted, relubed, 403 drive gears and anti-reverse on both the left and right sides Spins freely, only thing left is to take her for a test drive.
http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6231&stc=1http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6232&stc=1

The cap turned out nice

Thanks for saying so. As it turns out it was more simple than I expected. Since the stem is tapered I sanded the inside of the cap to fit. When you press it on you need to put a flathead screwdriver under the lip to pop it off. Its not going to fall off on its own.