Took the new to me mc56 out to a local pond yesterday to give the reel a test run with my ff755 rod. The noise I heard when stripping line out was horrendous, was a loud and embarassing groan! It also seemed to have a wabble. When I got home I opened it up and noticed some grey gunk had accumulated around the base plate of the spindle (wax?), the base that the spool sits on (you can see the grey stuff in the photo above. Why is the orig. factory grease applied so liberally on the pawl, drag caliper etc. but Bulldog only recommends light greasing of the gear and spindle top?). So I gave it a 30 min. vinegar and water bath, then took out some cleaning supplies, alcohol, mineral spirits and tried to get the gunk off, as well as all the factory grease. Seemed to get the grey gunk off for the most part, down to the plate and gave it a good blow dry with a hair dryer and then let it dry out over night. This morning I greased it and oiled it as suggested on this site's cleaning thread and put her back together. And I am pleased to say she is now singing a sweet song both on the strip and the retrieve. There is a slight dent on the spool rim so I'll have to report back when I get a fish that is big enough to test the balance of the spool. Happy camper!
Edit: Christened the MC56 today with the ff755 - seemed like a pretty good match! Comstock Bridge, Salmon River, Colchester, CT
Posted: 10 Mar 2023, 19:06 • 
