Part of the reason I love to do stuff like this is (as JB has said numerous times) the process. The parts are simple but the engineering of these things just makes me sit back and grin. Every washer, spacer, barrel has a purpose. For example, there's three little different sized spacers on the spindle right between the gear on the spindle that engages the spool and the back of the spool itself. They aren't a nanofuckit thick although they are graduated from thickest to thinnest. You can remove ONE of those and it will totally change how the line lays on your spool. Add a shim and it makes it wind line more towards the bottom of the spool and remove one and it moves the pile of line towards the top. That totally makes a difference in how they cast. Now who the hell figured that one out? Some friggin pencil necked engineer, that's who. Fascinating, as Spock would say. I can tell you one thing, Zebco, even in their Quantum series aren't half as well made as these Shimano reels. The tolerances are evident in the construction of the reel.

Both are back together and spinning free! Man, how does all that dirt get inside those things?

BKb