figured I would see how much customizing i could take the cheapest reel on the market.stripped the paint drilled some holes and polished the aluminum frame and repainted black and redid internals. 35 bucks and now its ready

Nice!
That seems like a cool project I can do w the kiddos....tricking out some older/less expensive reels

Took about 2 hrs to do but i do allot of them pm me and ill tell ya some tricks

Does it seem to reduce the weight any? I love the mettle, but they're the heaviest reels I own.

If you don't mind my asking what did you use to clear coat it?

The frame it all aluminum and a big chunck of the weight is in the top obove the level wind ,there is some weiggt savings in removing metal. But the biggest weight is in the drive gear which I also ported. I dont use a clear coat I use epoxy appliance spray paint,which gives a mirror finish and is as hard as powder coating .aluminum was buffed with mothers and a buffing wheel. New carbon handles are coming from abus revo store

Sign me up Tim...how much you charging? lol

Hadnt thought about selling but ive done 3 and have 4 more to do. Probably around 75.oo i flush the bearings re oil and regrease the gears too.

Sweet. That new handle will be a big improvement too.

Anyway u can improve the drag as well? 90mm swept handle?

The handles off abus will all fit and as for drag washers revo drags will also fit for drag washer you can clean them and a light scuff with a scotch bright pad will double drag pull. I put a larger lews handle on one of them with swept handl you just have to heat up the drag star and angle them in more to clear the swept handle. I have built complete custom reels for allot of people for several years and have lots of tricks

Best reels on the market for the $$. Sounds like you have something with this idea. Well done.

Sounds like the mettle is a great "kit" reel! Good job boss!

Thanks carlos when im done with one it will be a perfect mach to a duckett white with red anodizing

Less weight,better drag,improved bearings ,esthetics are the last thing. I fish average of 300 days a year fishing and put reels through the ringer to test durability