I had wanted to try this out for awhile and held out for a decent deal on a 900H. Thanks Sharky!!! My 900H arrived in good shape but clearly used w/ some corrosion on the rings and lugs. I spent awhile cleaning it up using a favorite of mine from gunsmithing projects, flitz polishing compound. It is pretty mild and requires some elbow grease but is less likely to take too much- important when polishing a sear or something with a finish you don't want to remove. I received the 5 stack drag upgrade from Alan and got to work. I know that this was an undertaking for Alan, involving a good amount of fabrication. The metal washers had some burrs and high spots which I remedied carefully with a fine file and the flitz.
I had scaled the drag before starting and found I was getting 19-20#. Not bad, but this unitary metal frame reel could handle more. This is what makes it such a good target for the time and energy involved. I found a ton of hard, dry grease in the reel and took my time stripping it and cleaning up the internals. The gear sleeve had some mild corrosion on the interior flat base. I addressed this w/ fine steel wool followed by polishing compound followed by the milder flitz compound.
The 900H is easier to work on than a Penn 9/0 I am happy to report. When I finally got to installing the new stack I became a little concerned. The last washer on most stacks I have seen is thicker. I assume this is to distribute pressure evenly on the stack. The washers in the upgrade kit were all the same thickness, not real thick at .045 I believe. Since the new stack is supposed to mic. a bit thinner I decided to take a chance and use the original thicker washer for the top of the stack.
Initial testing had me a bit deflated. I found I was getting about 21# and worried that I had wasted my time. I then thought about all the Cal's on that fat drag stack and spent some time just stripping line off the reel w/ the drag fairly tight. I then let it sit for awhile in a warm corner of the house w/ the drag pretty tight. Satisfaction arrived!!!! I am now getting a rather smooth 28 to 29# out of the reel. I will not be surprised if that increases. The project was well worth the effort and the reel looks great now. Thanks Alan!!!! You rock for going to the trouble of fabing the washers and putting these together!!! Can't wait to get back on the sand with it. Here are some pics from the project.
Chris