Help with a Martin Automatic please.

[Bluegill Budd]

A fellow at church who knows I fly fish, approached me today and handed me a Fiberglass Fly Rod with a Martin Auto #8 and asked if I could ?check it out?. He has recently retired and has decided to drag out his 30 some odd year old fly rod and use it. I of course said I would do what I could and brought it home. Not too worse for wear, but the reel is a bit gunky and I would like to clean and lube it. A thorough search on Google, Bing and YouTube turned up nothing on how to take this thing apart. I am in fear of springs flying and parts disappearing into the far reaches of my workshop if I do something wrong. Can anyone point me at a procedure on how to approach this?

Also the rod is somewhat of a mystery. While it was in a cardboard Heddon tube, the rod is not marked Heddon. It has a decal stating ?Great Lakes? in a cursive script and the marking ?Model 6.262.TV? and under that ?Made in U.S.A.? - There is logo on the left of the decal of a leaping Bass. The rod is 7?? with metal ferrules. Stickers on both the rod and reel proclaim the line to be an Air Cel WF7F fly line.

I am only curious about the rod, but really would like some guidance on the reel.

[Uncle Jesse]

If you are "handy" with mechanical devices the reel is pretty simple, when you put it back together be sure everything goes back in the correct notch all the way or the spring could propel parts in to the lake while fishing. The reels I am familiar with come apart with moving a ring that holds the cover on, you probably move it to the left and lift it off. Depress the lever before removing to release all the spring energy. A part of needlenose pliers or forceps and a small screwdriver should be about all the tools you should need. WD40, light oil and a light grease will provide adequate lubrication.

If you have a rod you are comfortable letting him make few cast with take him out and let him cast a modern flyrod. I'm guessing he will be looking for a graphite rod and a single action reel. Cabelas and BPS both had outfits well under a C note that cast better and are more pleasant to use than a quarter pound reel and old glass rod. At new 5 wt and a single action reel with a decent drag can make the day much more pleasant.