penn 340/345 gti rebuild

[alantani]

here are the schematics......

http://www.scottsbt.com/catalog/stor...tics/340gt.pdf

http://www.scottsbt.com/catalog/stor...tics/345gt.pdf

and here is your reel. the spools are the same as size as the penn 113hl and 113hlw, respectively. they are not interchangeable because the spool shafts are different.



we are going to start by backing out all of the left side plate screws (key #'s 16 and 16A).



carefully remove the left side plate (key #27), leaving the levelwind assembly in place.



remove the spool (key #29L) and set it aside.



find the bearing washer (key #153) and set it aside.



lube the right spool bearing (key #55).



lube the left spool bearing (key #40).



install the bearing washer (key #153), the spool (key #29L) and the left side plate (key #27). grease all the screw holes.



reinstall the left side plate screws (key #'s 16 and 16L).



lube the worm gear (key #42).



now, for the right side plate. remove the handle lock screw (key #110).



remove the handle assembly screw (key #23).



remove the handle assembly (key #24).



remove the tension spring (key # and star drag (key #10). i typically discard the spring.



ok, now this is important. see the gap here? the right side plate is actually two pieces, a right side OUTER plate (key #1) and a right side INNER plate (key #1B). to service the right side plate, you need to remove the outer plate and leave the inner plate in place. got it? good! ok, let's start!



remove the two long (key #31) and three short (key#3 right side plate screws. do not remove the spool tension control screw (key #26B) in the center or the eccentric screw (key #22).



carefully separate the outer plate from the inner plate.





if the gear sleeve (key #98S) is not badly burred, you can lift the gear cluster off in one piece. otherwise, you may have to pull the pieces off one at a time.



here is an exploded view of the gear cluster. going top left to bottom right, you have a fiber washer (key #4A), the 113h main gear (key #5), five 113h carbon fiber drag washers (key #6), five 113h metal washers (key #7), a belleville tension washer (key #1, a bearing washer (key #4), a bearing (key #55A), and another bearing washer (key #4).



to eliminate the sticking caused by the fiber washer (key #4A), we are going to substitute a penn ht-100 drag washer (part #6-855). i have noted that these washers will soon be in short supply. there is no problem using a #6-113H washer. and honestly, if you don't need the drag to be super smooth, you can even leave the original fiber washer in.



it is very important to properly service the gear sleeve bearing (key #55A). carefully remove the retaining rings and shields on both sides, pack the bearing with grease and replace the shields and retaining rings.





apply thick coat of cal's drag grease to each carbon fiber drag washer and rebuild the gear cluster.





place a small bead of grease in each screw hole.



carefully replace the right side outer plate (key #1) with the eccentric jack (key #11) in the "up" position and the eccentric lever (key #21) in the "back" or "free" position (not the "forward" or "in gear" position shown in the photo).



replace the long (key #31) and short (key #3 right side plate screws.



install the star drag (key #10) and turn it down until it clears the shoulder of the gear sleeve (key #98S) to properly install the handle assembly (key #24).



install the handle assembly (key #24).



install the handle assembly screw (key #23).



install the handle lock screw.



and you're done!



now for a couple of comments. the 340 and 345 gti's are basically 113hl and 113hlw's with a graphite frame and a levelwind assembly. these frames do not seem to be the most sturdy frames in the world. i've seen several frames come in pretty badly loosened up. not a good thing for a level wind reel. seriously not a good thing for a 4/0 sized levelwind reel. and for a reel of this size, it would be easy to blow out the levelwind assembly if the line tried to go one way and the leveler tried to go the other, particularly if the drags had seized up. regarding 4/0 sized reels in general, most guys are moving away from straight monofilament because of the stretch. with 100 feet of mono either straight out or straight down, it's like fishing with a giant rubber band. spectra is really the way to go. but if you're using spectra, a 4/0 sized reel is waaaayyyyyyy too big. so if mono is all you have access to and a graphite levelwind reel suits your needs, go with the penn 330, 340 or 345 gti. if you have access to spectra, go with the 320 gti or gt2. the 320's have the best power to weight ratio in this series.