Reel cleaning and greese.

[Trapper_Randy74]

I recently decided to get our my dad's old Mitchell 300 reel and Garcia rod and clean them up.The rod needs a guide replaced so it will go for that tomorrow. The reel I am gonna break down and clean and put in new grease. My question is what to use to clean all the old grease out of it and what you guys would or have used to put back in?
Thanks Randy

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[sparkie51]

Way back when before all these new types of grease we would used wheel bearing grease. As the old commercial for Brilcream use to say a little dab will do ya.. Get yourself some bail springs if you can find them. The Mitchell's springs broke all the time. Back when they were real popular there was a guy at the local bait store that the only thing he did was replace springs.

["G"]

I use a spray can of brake cleaner to clean with....and a spray can of white lithium grease to grease them....a little 3 in 1 oil where needed. Can get all of those in automotive section in walmart. Lots cheaper than the products specific for reels and works better too. I have found and ordered new mitchell bail springs on ebay.

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[Robert Haynes]

I grew up on those reels. Grandad was left handed so I think the 301 was the left handed model. This was before you could switch handle to either side. I wanted to be like Grandad so I learned to use the 301, left handed model.


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[Eagle 1]

Rubbing alcohol will clean it and the tube lithium grease to lube .

[Dutch552]

Clean the old grease out with a spray can of brake cleaner, then hit it with some compressed air to be sure that it’s all evaporated. I use Penn synthetic reel grease for all of my fresh and saltwater reels. A drop of Corrosion-X reel oil anywhere you need an oil like inside of a high speed bearing. I’ve been rebuilding Penn conventional reels for ears and have landed on these two lubes. If you get into lubricating drag washers, I’m a fan of Cal’s drag grease. You can buy all of these online and a bottle will last the average angler A LONG time. Good luck.

[Crestliner08]

What I use to do with these old reels was to open the side plate and spray in WD-40 quite liberally. Then I let it set for a couple of hours. Next I used the hot water facet in the deep sink in the basement and flush out all the old grease. When that was done (and thoroughly dry inside - sometimes I'd use my wife's hair dryer), I use standard reel grease (lightly) on the gear teeth and reel oil on the bearings and shafts. Kept my 300 & 308 going well for many decades this way, so I know it works.

Also, due to the fact that it is difficult to manually close the bail by hand, get a 1/2 doz. bail springs (online) and keep them handy. You can manually close the bail by sliding the bail stop out of it's slot, but it's inconvenient. Best to just close the bail with the reel handle and replace broken springs when you get home. This is why I always use to carry a spare reel.

[Trapper_Randy74]

Well I cleaned it up today and put it back together. I soaked the parts in wd-40 and scrubbed them with a toothbrush and got all the old grease off. I had a tube of reel butter in my tacklebox so that's what I used to reassemble. Seems to be nice and smooth. Will see how it goes. Thanks for the help and comments it is very appreciated!!

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