I have just discovered your video while trying to clean, lube and rejuvenate two MItchell CAP 304s that I have. My dad and I bought these two reels in 1957. That spinning outfit was the first thing that I ever bought with my own money when I was seven years old. I remember that spin fishing was considered pretty new and high-tech at that time and a French reel was exotic. My reel was still in good working condition with some 1970's vintage line on it. The video made me realize that I had seen the inside of the reel previously, so I must have maintained it at some point. My dad's reel was in very neglected condition and had the same jammed line situation as yours. It will clean up great though, if I can get the screws out. The screw at the back of the reel, which one commenter asked about, is really just a cover for the machined channel for the main shaft of the reel. Thanks for a great video.
Thanks for sharing. Yes - spinning reels really were a post WW II thing, although a few were made in Europe prior to the start of the war. So, the 1950's was when this type of reel began to be introduced and it took a while to catch on. Great memory! Best wishes - Dennis
Wow - you did very well with the pricing. My father in law fished this reel and a Bache one that was modeled after this reel in the 1950's. You should make sure that the reel has been cleaned and has fresh lube and line before you go get the big one - Dennis
Thanks so much for putting this video up! I'm about to try and sort out a dried-out 315, which is the right-hand-wind version, with the button release spool, and I found this very reassuring; I was confident I could get the beast apart, but getting them back together so they actually work can be quite another matter!
Dennis - Thanks again - another interesting video! I think this reel was known as a Mitchell 304 "CAP" model. I got an original "MITCHELL "half - bail" as a birthday gift in 1953. It was made in France and was an immediate forerunner to the Mitchell 300. The "half-bail" (referred to as a "finger pickup" back then) was a contemporary of the 304 CAP. I gave away the "Half-bail" to a collector who was in a fishing club, so it found its way into the hands of someone who appreciated it. Also just saw a Mitchell "half-bail" on the internet - I think eBay.
Thanks William - I have. a few CAP models and they are stamped with the letters CAP in the body. I've had a few half bails and learned to cast with one all those years ago. There are some internal differences in the 304 line. Most have the set up I showed in this one, but there are others with the planetary gears. I think these came out in the post war 40's so your timing is right - Stay well - Dennis
Hey Dennis,thanks for cranking out the videos, can watch a new one just about every day. I've found mono snarled under drag knobs,spools,rotors,bail springs,but never inside the case,strange. I have a 304 which I serviced recently and noticed the thin metal bail trip ramp can sometimes get bent or deformed,mine made that same noise,and after a few soft adjustments went away,hope that helps, Thanks again!
Did Garcia change the model designation to some point? I have this exact reel, except is reads Garcia Mitchell 340, not 304. I referred to your video here when I cleaned and serviced it, so thanks.
When I saw you were going to do this reel I got mine out and went ahead and cleaned and lubricated my 304. This is a little freshwater reel good for bluegill or even smaller bass, etc. One would almost have to try to get line inside this reel. What a mess! Is that screw on the back end of the reel for lubrication of the axle shaft? That oscillation slide was a bit of a pain for me. I was fortunate when I got the reel to also get two extra spools. I reassembled the main gear exactly the way you did. Starting the cover plate was difficult to get the screws lined up. I have an old Luxor No. 1 reel that was much more difficult to get back together. It took 8 to 10 tries to get it together. This 304 goes back as early as the mid 50s. It really is a nice reliable reel. Thanks for another great video! Have you ever done any of the large Garcia Mitchell saltwater reels like the 302N, 386, 396, 488, or 496? I’d love to see a video on one of these. I’ve been collecting some of these and I really like them. I have the 302N, 396, 496, and 488 now. Had a serious problem with the trip mechanism on a 488 and had to get some expert help. The only problem I have with some of these is the use of plastic parts that don’t hold up quite as well as say the 302 and 402 or 306 smaller saltwater Mitchell’s.
I have an old Mitchell 304 that my Grandpa used and I want to use it. It was frozen and the handle wouldn't even turn. I've taken it apart and found the problem thanks to your video. I am missing the J spring on the inside. I'm thinking I will need to make one. Do you know the diameter of the wire that the spring is made from?
Hi Dennis. I have a Mitchell Cap that looks just like that 304. I need to do a service on it so thanks for the video it will be a good reference for me. It's amazing how much line was tangled in that reel. I'm curious to see if mine has line in it. Thanks again.
You may be surprised if you open up the CAP and find a different gear structure. Some of those reels have an oscillating gear, similar to the big 302 saltwater reel. Let me know if that is the case! Dennis
Great video, thanks for sharing. Last summer I bought two dirty old dried out Mitchells on eBay and another from the local flea market. I disassembled and cleaned one of the 300 models and I’ve been fishing with it ever since. I love how they are all metal inside and I love the way they are put together. I’m going to get to work on the 304 S model this weekend. It looks about as gummed up as the one in your video was. Very slow reeling, old old dried out line on the spoon and covered in dirty grease and grime. Looks like it’s been sitting in a shed or garage for the last 20 years and I bet the inside is bone dry and filled with old grease. Hopefully no fishing line and the bail and reverse lever work fine, so I’m sure it will clean up just fine. Is the 304 S an older reel than a regular 300? Thanks again for sharing, looking forward to getting my 304 cleaned up and catching fish soon 🎣!
The 304 was one of the original Mitchell reels. Simple in design and manufacture and lasting as a result. The earliest of these has CAP on the side plates
@@2ndChanceTackle yeah now that I’ve taken mine apart, I see what you are saying. The gear mechanism is less complex than the 300 and with fewer parts. The one thing I don’t like on my 304S is that the disk that screws to the shaft and slotted to run off the main gear is just plastic. I might see if I can fabricate an aluminum replacement piece. What is the deal with the 304S anyway - what does the S stand for?
Hi Dennis! Loved the video on this one. I just finished doing a hand full of mitchells. 306,406,302,402 and 403. Unfortunately the 403 has a knuckle buster bail. Have you ever run into that problem when the bail hits the handle when you turn it? Now I have a 300 sitting on the bench that I need to get at soon. It looks pretty cherry!
You have a bent bail wire. You can either replace it with a new one, or you can reform the wire with your hand or pliers. Most likely, the reel hit a pier post or boat rail or something and it bent the wire down. Try bending it upward or left/right to clear the handle at the point where it is making contact - Wishing you the best - Dennis
Hi I wonder if you have a vintage Daiwa 8600 part number 63233. It’s a oscillating piece where the shaft go through. It has a small screw that screw to the block and has a indentation half moon on the shaft that secure the shaft to the sliding block.
Please send an email to my address 2ndchancetackle@gmail.com and I will try to help. If you could also sen a picture of the inside of your 408 and the dog, that would also help me help you Thanks
Great video, I'm cleaning up a 304 and a couple 300's--this will be quite useful- okay big question _ Parts? - the 304 is missing the plastic knob and screw, are they available-or should I look at ebay for used parts?
As a general rule, I oil all bearings, including bail line rollers, pawls, worm gears and handle knobs. I grease all other moving parts. I use the il on the parts above because grease can trap contaminants and error performance in those parts. Grease will last longer than oil, so it is best to use grease for high wear areas and enclosed gears where it will not evaporate as quickly as oil. - Dennis
Best to find a donor reel. They can normally be found for a few dollars at flea markets and yard sales and the cost is less than just trying to buy the screws on eBay and other sites
I recently acquired an old 304 in an inheritance. It's in great shape but needs this type of cleaning. Just wondering? Do these reels have a clicking drag? Because the one I have does not, although functions fine other than the clicking aspect of the drive.
Hi Dennis ! My 304 has the same problem, it produces strange noise when reeling. If you tighteb the drag, the more noise it will make. But it depend on the spool, when i manually rotate the spool with my hand in different position, sometimes the noise is gone. I notice that the spool is rubbing with some parts. Can you show me how to solve this problem ?
*This reel seems to live up to the Mitchell name **allabout.wiki/i82n** it has to be one of the smoothest reels out there. This is an awesome ultralight/light reel. The only thing I would have like to seen them retain was the interchangeable spools like the old ones had, I miss that*
I was recently gifted a 304 which I am trying to open up. I've used penetrating oil with no success to free up the 3 side plate screws. The slots in the screw heads are very shallow which makes it even more difficult to grab them with a properly sized screwdriver. Do you have any suggestions? If I can get these screws out I will file the slots deeper with a jeweler's file.
That is going to be hard. Removing stripped screws never ends well. It usually involves drilling the damaged screw head off to just where it meets the case. You could then pull up the case and remove the remaining screw tail with a pliers. Of course that means you need to replace the screws. If the reel is working, you may just want to use it as is until you need to service it - Dennis
I can't say for certain Allan, but I think there would be a lot of them that can be interchanged. The CAP version was the first edition. The design didn't change much, so overall I would say yes, you can use many of the pieces on both reels- Dennis
The fishing line probably got inside the gearbox when the line was wrapped underneath the spool. Those reels have a tendency to twist the line.. The line broke off, but the reel still worked until the fish stopped biting.
Thanks for the video! I just received a 304 and wanting to fix it up. All the information I've found says the functionality and manufacture of these reels was not as good as, say, the 300 or 308. What's your opinion of the comparison?
The manufacture is the same Mitchell quality as the reels you mentioned. IT is not as complex in design, but it is high quality and will last and last if properly maintained. I cannot say the same about the 324, which was the next generation of the 304. It is not as well made in my opinion - Dennis
Hi, Dennis, great video. I just picked up a 304 at a thrift shop, and it's kind of slow moving, like the one in your video was, so I'll be going through it, using your video, as soon as I get some small screwdrivers and reel grease. But it has an additional problem, in that the bail doesn't trip. The ramp comes close, but never touches the trip lever. Do the ramps sometimes get bent inward? Can I just tweak it outward a little? Thanks!
Update: I actually had some reel grease, so I tried to remove those screws with a tiny eyeglass screwdriver, but I couldn't turn them. Too impatient to wait for micro-screwdrivers (I live out in the woods, an hour from the nearest town), I took a file to an old, worn, rounded, small screwdriver I inherited with the house, and customized the tip of it to fit the screws in my 304 reel. The happy bonus is that it has a bigger diameter handle than a micro-screwdriver, which offers a lot more leverage. Since you mentioned hand strength giving you difficulty with those screws, I thought this might be a helpful thing for you, too. It only took me a few minutes to make, and it made removing those screws a piece of cake. I completely cleaned, lubed, reassembled, and adjusted the reel, and it works beautifully (including the previously non-tripping bail). Thank you!
I am confused..on a modern reel the spool going up and down is driven by the small gear on the main gear shaft driving the oscillation gear,,how is this accomplished on this reel?
There is an offset stud on the main gear that rides in a groove on the plastic crosswind block / axle assembly you see in front of the main gear. the axle moves up and down because the stud is offset.
