Daiwa Saltist 40 - Carbontex Drag Upgrade (continued)

Here is the Carbontex washer on the left, and the stock Saltist washer on the right. Funny, the stock washer has the look and feel of paper. It also tears like paper.

So I slopped on some Shimano grease....

And put the drag stack back together exactly the way it came apart. I was amazed at how easily the stock drag washers tore. Just like paper.

The right side plate dropped into place easily and I greased the screw holes.

In replacing the spring washers, note that the orientation is "()".

A little grease around the star.

Now for the handle. Yes, about that handle. Here's a close up of the rivet that holds the spindle on.

I ground it down with a bench grinder and punched out the spindle. This separated the arm from the spindle and grip.

I bolted on one of my own grips....

Bolted the handle assembly back onto the reel and I was done. Total elapsed time was 30 minutes. In and out and done in 30 minutes!

I took it down to the Fisherman's Warehouse and had it loaded with 350 yards of 65 pound Power Pro. The drag maxed out at 25 pounds. Not too shabby!