Gentlemen,

        This started out as a discussion between Brian and me but I later
thought it may be of some general interest to the list.

        First of all, you need to remember the location of the pin that
anchors the tension arm spring relative to the housing so you can put it
back in the same place.  If you hold the housing so that you are looking
through both bearing center holes and the tension arm is up ( spoken of as
at 12 o'clock ), the pin should be at about 8 o'clock.  Make a pencil mark
on the inside of the housing top at that point and remove ONE of the two
screws that hold the tension arm assembly to the housing.  Note that the
lock washer on the screw puts marks on the brass tension arm assembly
mounting flange.  This will further allow you to put the tension arm
assembly back exactly in the same position as when you removed it.  Now
remove the other screw and remove the tension arm assembly.  

        Remove the snap ring ( you need to have a pair of snap ring pliers
to do this ) on the lower end of the reel idler housing.  Carefully clean
any crud from around the snap ring groove with a Kleenex and some solvent (
paint thinner "Mineral Spirits" works fine ) so that it won't get between
the bearing and the housing and jamb it in place when you try to push the
bearing out.  Make sure you remove all traces of the Kleenex fuzz with
either a tooth pick, by blowing it away, or with tweezers.

        Usually the bearings are loose enough in the housing so that you can
use the reel idler pulley and its shaft as a pusher to push one of the
bearings out of the housing.  Insert the shaft through one of the bearings (
it doesn't matter which one ) and cock it just enough so that the end of the
shaft DOESN'T go into the opposite bearing hole but pushes against the rim
of the center race of the opposite bearing.  Now push gently against the
opposite bearing and the bearing should push out.  The bearing may cock a
little in the housing when you try to push it this way.  If it does, rotate
the housing a half turn and push on the other side of the bearing.

        If the bearing you have chosen to push out this way doesn't move
after a few minutes of this, try the other bearing.  Once you get one
bearing out, it's easy to push the other one out.  

        If neither bearing can be removed this way, try tapping the top of
the housing ( upside down ) against a soft wood block to see if inertia will
remove the top bearing from the housing.  Don't hit the housing against
anything hard though or you will put marks on the housing and ruin its
appearance.

        I have never seen a housing that I couldn't get at least one bearing
out by one of the above methods -- and, as I said, once you get one bearing
out, it is easy to push the other bearing out from the inside with a stick
or your finger through the housing.  But, if all of the above fail, heat the
housing and its bearings up in a 300 degree ( F ) oven for about five
minutes.  The aluminum housing grows by about 12 parts per million per
degree F and the steel bearing grows by about 6 parts per million.  The
resulting about 6 parts per million differential growth and the about 230 F
temperature increase of the oven will provide about a thousandth of an inch
clearance between the housing and the bearing, and even the most firmly
stuck bearing should then literally fall out.  ( If some previous idiot
"Loctited" the bearing in place, you may have to rap the housing against the
wood block to dislodge the bearing. )  Remember, the housing and bearing are
now hot, use a hot pad to hold the housing and don't catch the bearing in
your hand. 

        If the bearings have been difficult to remove, before you put the
new bearings in, remove the inside snap rings, take a piece of about 320
grit "Wet-or-Dry" sandpaper wrapped around your finger and "hone" the inside
of the housing where the bearings go just enough to make the bearings a
light finger push fit.  About ten turns of the housing against your
sandpaper wrapped finger should suffice.  BUT, _BEFORE_ YOU TRY THE BEARING
IN THE "HONED" HOUSING, **FIRST** WASH THE HOUSING CAREFULLY WITH SOAP AND
WATER AND A BRUSH AND BLOW IT OUT TO REMOVE ANY TRACE OF SANDPAPER GRIT FROM
THE HOUSING!!!!!!!  And make sure it is all out of the snap ring grooves!
Believe me, one grain of sand between the housing and the bearing can lock
the bearing in place so tightly that you may ruin it trying to get it back
out again.

        ( I told Brian another way to try to pull the bearing out.  This
would be tried just before heating the housing, but it is so much work that
it takes longer than heating the housing up in an oven so I think the oven
is the better approach.  But, the other method is to stick the reel idler
shaft about an inch into the bearing center hole, and - holding the housing
in one hand and the reel idler shaft in the other - cock the shaft and
bearing sideways and pull outward on the bearing using the shaft as a
combination lever and puller.  As long as you are just using your hands to
hold the housing and the shaft, you won't damage the bearing or bend the
shaft by this method.  If the bearing doesn't come out easily by this
method, you then have to wiggle your two hands while maintaining outward
pull on the bearing to try to "walk" the bearing out of the housing.  This
method works, and I've pulled some pretty tight bearings out that way, but
it's a lot of work and the oven is a lot less trouble. )

Kurt        

Kurt Greske