MITCHELL SERVICE MANUALS

[kevin cozens]

I have four original mitchell service manuals. the years are 1975, 1984, 1991 & 1995.
They cover Galion reels as well.
I have scanned them all in high resolution and loaded the scans into microsoft word.
I then saved the file as a PDF.
If anyone is interested i can upload them to the member.
i would upload them to the forum but the file size is up to 19mb in size.
If a member wants them send me your email address in a PM and i will email them to you one at a time

[Wallace Carney]

Hi there Kevin,

I saw where you had these in another topic. It’s kind of you to offer these in PDF, to anyone who wants them. I also saw what you said the styles were too large to post on the website, especially in a group!

If you would be so kind, please try to post these on this thread and then tell me what happens. You’ve got my curiosity up!!

All the Best,
Wallace

[my308]

Hi Kevin,
Does anyone or online source have a published pdf copy of the Mitchell 308 1959 to 1973 Service Manual?
I am interested in the early 1st, 2nd and maybe even 3rd Edition 308/309 Series Service Manuals.

thank you for any insight to this type of printable resource,

mike

[GreatLaker]

Hi Kevin,
Does anyone or online source have a published pdf copy of the Mitchell 308 1959 to 1973 Service Manual? I am interested in the early 1st, 2nd and maybe even 3rd Edition 308/309 Series Service Manuals. thank you for any insight to this type of printable resource, mike

Mike,
Perhaps you know, but if not, let me just explain that the "Service Manuals" shown in the former post above might not contain what you are looking for. The manuals shown above are called "After Sales Service" manuals and were not written for the general public. They were written for the various world wide authorized Mitchell service centers.

What was written for the owners of Mitchell Reels were sometimes called Owners Manuals depending on what country you were in (language), and were smaller booklets which sometimes were placed inside the box when you purchased a new Mitchell Spinning Reel. Now this is what was true for the U.S. but what was inside the box in other country's has never been documented and keeps us collectors searching for answers.

I don't collect the 308/309 reels so I have little use for the owners manuals for them. Never-the-less, at times I would purchase a batch or lot of mixed Mitchell model numbered reels and it just so happens I got a Mitchell 308 and it's owner's manual along with the reel.

Below are three scans from the owners manual as we are only allowed to post 4 images per post. I hope these will help you. If these do not have the information you need then send me a PM and perhaps I can help.

Kind Regards,
Bill

1966 308 Manual-p14-15-resized.jpg (172.35 KiB) Viewed 5032 times

1966 308 Manual-p16-17-resized.jpg (222.96 KiB) Viewed 5032 times

1966 308 Service-Complete-resized.jpg (342.9 KiB) Viewed 5032 times

1966 308 Manual-Frt-Bk Covers-resized.jpg (128.38 KiB) Viewed 5032 times

[my308]

Hello Bill,
thank you for the response.i do have the 308 Spinning Reel Owners Manual ( booklet), for which you provided pictures for.

i only freshwater fish and as a hobby, i restore ultralight reels, like the 308/309. i also cleect a few 1st generation 308 and 309.
Personally, fishing my local waters in central texas, i using 2Lb to 4Lb monofilament line to catch crappie, white bass, Guadalupe bass, largemouth bass. i have brought in a number of larger bass on 2lb line. what i love about the ultralight 308 &309, is the reliable finely adjustable 308 drag with very thin lines. the 308 ultralight allows one to bring in a strong fighting fish ..... it adds sport to the fishing. i use both very small plastic worms, tiny plastic brush-hog, ver small plastic lizard and i search & catch with Blakemore 1/16 oz roadrunners ( chartreuse)
For our texas winter-stocked river trout, rainbows and browns, i fly fish, mainly with 3wt and 4wt fly rods
When i travel up north and northwest rivers, i fly fish those rivers and larger streams, mainly with 4wt and 5wt rods.

Back to the topic...
i have purchased that 308 owners manual/booklet for each of the 308 & 309 reels i own or work on and then sell.
Restoring and the selling high quality early series 308 and 309 reels, for me is a non-profit hobby.

i am interested in the Mitchell or Garcia dealers 308 service manual provides.
i am not sure what a Mitchell or Garcia 308 "service manual" adds in knowledge regarding working on, or repairing a vintage 308 reel...... as compared to what you see in the 308 Owners manual ( booklet). this is what i wanted to find out. if the service manual offered further hints and tips additional to the 308 owners manual, then i wanted to buy one.

the 308/309 reels are so well designed, with all metal gears, great bearings, it last forever, it is very simple to work on, almost like a jeweler working on a watch, it is fun to get them ticking and working like when they were originally newly made in 1959, 1960 to 1965, or so.

if you insight to what the 308 service manual provides, let me know.
thank you,
mike

[GreatLaker]

Mike,
Please realize that I am speaking about what went on with Garcia in the U.S., hopefully others will not be confused about my response who are more familiar with manuals which were published after Garcia went out of business by other company's which used the Mitchell brand name.

The Garcia "Service Manuals" were made for use much later than the owners manuals. Garcia did not call their manuals service manuals but instead used titles such as "SERVICE DIVISION" and then had subtitles such as "PARTS AND SERVICE INFORMATION". This is somewhat confusing as there is very little actual service information in the Garcia manuals.

Most of Garcia's manuals have schematics, or exploded diagrams, for each Mitchell reel model that was in production at the time the manual was published. In many cases, the updated schematic would show changes or corrections to the original schematics which occurred after the model had been in production for a while. But, be aware that the reels and fishing tackle in these manuals were not all made by Mitchell, there are a variety of products that Garcia distributed which are also included. You will find many lists of part numbers and prices for everything from reels, reel service parts, line, grease and many more products.

I am including the first page (inside of cover) from the 1976 Garcia manual and if you read the description you can get an idea of the contents. (See Below) In the 1976 manual below I would guess that at least 2/3 of the pages are part number lists with prices.

1976 Garcia Parts and Service Info Book-inside cover-resized.jpg (226.07 KiB) Viewed 4840 times

I hope this gives you some idea of what these manuals were like. They can be very useful in some respects and not so helpful in other ways.

Kind Regards,
Bill

[my308]

Bill, thank you, your overview on this topic has clarified this for me.

Some of those various part changes shown in diagrams / parts list can be valuable to accuracy in restoration efforts for those 308/309 reels addressed in the limited years that the service /service dealers pamphlet's that were published and/or are available.

again,, Bill thank you for your informative response.
mike

[Sandman]

Note the exploded parts diagram labeled 1966. It is a parts/schematic from 1959-60. You could use this for the first reels and much of it for a number of years after that. Mitchell was known for not updating their diagrams timely, or at least reusing photos from prior years that actually did not match current year reels. Note the text etching on the back plate and the round post for the axle support. That axle support only occurred during 1959-60 production years.

Sandman

[my308]

Hi Sandman,
1.) Good to know the 308 Owners manual/ booklets that i have , that match the 1966 308 diagram in this posting (that you mention), covers 1959-1960 308 and up to at least 1966. i would never guessed that one 308 Spinning Reel owners booklet would covers 1st edition 308 thru mid-1960''s

2.) Please further explain the location and other info to your comment, "Note the text etching on the back plate and the round post for the axle support. That axle support only occurred during 1959-60 production years".
Which back plate, on the spool?
Are you speaking of ...in the upper part of the axle, you see the grey nylon round axle post molding on the axle with the grey plastic gear at the bottom of this axle post molding, this axle grey round nylon molding supports the spool...is this what you are referring to?

3.) Etching:
A.) What kind of words or numerical etching are you referring to?

B.) what etching should i see on a 1959-1960 Mitchell 308 FRONCE and Mitchell Non FRONCE version reels?

Any photos would help on these two topics.

regards,
mike

[GreatLaker]

Thanks Sandman,
I was hoping you would join. I just realized I should post the schematic that was given in the Garcia Parts and Service booklet and have included it below.

My308,
Sandman is one of our resident experts on the 308 models and several others as well. Everyone here at the MRM has learned a lot from him.
You are beginning to sound like a collector and we would be happy if you could join us and join our wonderful hobby of collecting Mitchell reels.
Kind Regards,
Bill

1976 Garcia Service Schematics-308-408-508-408DL.jpg (171.12 KiB) Viewed 4781 times

[Sandman]

Hey Bill,

Etching: There was no etching on part number 53 (back cover plate). he diagram you posted dated 1966 shows Mitchell 308 etched/engraved on the back plate. This was from an original artists rendering in 1959.

Round Axle Post: Part number 44. The man body. Note the round axle support post. The axle slides into the post. These posts had a flat side after about 75000 reels.

There are other differences between 1959 reels and 1966 reels, but I cant identify most of those differences in the diagram because there isn't enough detail in the diagram. One I can see that is on the cusp of 1966-67 is the spring loaded crank handle. These did not show up until 1967. There are axle, pinion gear, nut and screw and engraving differences that I cant tell in this diagram. That said, most of the changes were subtle, so all of the parts work on all the reels, so the parts diagram is effective.

The 1976 diagram you posted generally works from 1969 to 1976.

Chris

[Sandman]

I just noticed the reel in the photo on the owners manual you posted (the one in the guys hand). It is one of the rarest ULs. My records indicate this is one of the first 3500 made in 1959 of which the first 3000 were not serial numbered. I've only recorded three of these with serial numbers and they ranged from 3000 - 3500. I own all three of them. It also tells us this photo was taken in 1959, not 1966 (again using the photo for a long time). Can you tell what attribute indicates this?

Sandman

[my308]

Sandman,
just from that 308 booklet photo's one angle i see:

* Mitchell cursive engraved namesake on handle side upper, 308
* spring type handle counterweight, lift and turn type
* spur type stop on locking head bail wire
* Correct spool drag knob, that gas lower ( shorter) than center post quad wings
* handle knob is smooth
* Reel foot ( from the angle i can see) has no France text casted on the foot, no serial number is visible

i cannot read the handle side ( front) plate, if it gas FRONCE casted on it, i cannot see that text, so i do not think it has FRONCE on the handle side ( front) plate.

-mike

[Sandman]

One correction to my post above. I meant to state that the screw-type crank handle did not show up until 1967.

Mike, all good observations which are consistent with early UL reels. Can't see the bottom of the foot to know whether there are letters or digits. I too, cant tell if FRONCE (its actually FRANCE but looks like FRONCE, hence the nickname "FRONCE" reels) is cast into the front of the body. However, none of the attributes you mentioned identify the reel as definitively being produced among the first 3500 ULs produced. There is a characteristic in plain view that does this. I'm glad to share the answer but thought I'd provide the opportunity to figure it out first.

Sandman

[my308]

Sandman,
i see two cover photo possibilities of the one thing that might fit that range,

either the cone line guide does not appear to be tungsten, but that could just be the photo lighting angle.
or
the chrome anti-reverse lever does not have a ridge, it appears round thru its entire length.
this would be my choice, the anti-reverse lever design.

Am i close?

- mike

[GreatLaker]

Sandman and my308,
Thought a few more images would be of interest.
Kind Regards,
Bill

1966 308 Manual-p4-5-resized.jpg (154.32 KiB) Viewed 4676 times

1966 308 Manual-p32-33-resized.jpg (181.68 KiB) Viewed 4676 times

[Sandman]

Mike, well, the silver (a hardened nickel/chrome or something) line guide vs the (dark or Tungsten) line guide was on all ULs up until about 200,000 reels, so that does not make it exclusive to very early reels. Good eye though. The anti-reverse lever difference you note is not something I've recorded or tracked, so can't say, but unfortunately, neither of those are the dead and obvious give away. I say obvious, but of course if one doesn't know of the characteristic I elude to, its not so apparent. Is it however, as I've said, in plain view.

Sandman

[Sandman]

Hey Bill, those are great photos from the 1966 manual. Again, they have used photos from 1959, or at least its a 1959 reel. My guess is the former.

Sandman

[my308]

Sandman,
Again, i see two additional differences:

1.) the anti-reverse lever does not have the pin hole all the way thru the swivel point head of the lever, as some early versions do have. but as you said you have not tracked the anti-reverse level changes.... then that cannot be it.
the 308 in the booklet photo cover shows a anti-reverse lever with no thru hole on the head where the pin is pressed on, the reel in the photo's anti-reverse lever has a solid head, no hole on the outside of the lever....... but i do not think that is the defining trait for of the very first few 308 made.


2.) You are correct, it is in plain and easy view.... the 308 in the photo has a large capacity / small arbor spool mounted on the reel, and all others Mitchell 308 reels shipped with the small capacity / large arbor spool factory mounted on the reel.
i have boldly stated this is the defining trait, i feel i am out on a limb for hanging my hat on this one trait, but having & emphasizing in a photo a large capacity spool factory mounted on a Mitchel factory shipped 308 is not standard in most early 308 reels.

Am i right or am i still missing it?
-mike

[piscesman]

I'm following this thread to learn about the UL's. I have them but don't collect them or study them. I'll go out on a limb here to say the glaring difference in the 1st version reel could be the bail trip lever. It's hard to see, if it's there, the trip lever has a serrated or ribbed end design??? Just giving my 2 cents..................
Kim

[Sandman]

To Mike and Kim, I love the interest and Mike's persistent review, but it doesn't have anything to do with the anti-reverse or trip lever. Mike may be on to something with the anti-reverse, but I cant validate that and it isn't what I am referring to. Again, I don't expect many to know this. It came to me from studying many reels and focusing on the early production years. Like all of you, most of what we learn about these reels comes from studying examples, since there is little historical documentation on Mitchell's. As far as I know there were small and large capacity UL spools made from the very beginning. I have examples of both that came with these very early reels. And of course, they can be easily swapped.

Kim, in regard to your trip lever call out. There were three different trip levers in the first ten years, though the first version lasted until about 100,000 reels. That said, no ULs had the serrated edge on the trip lever. That was limited to earlier models, such as the 300 and others.

Mike, I will give you a good hint. In some or our PMs I referenced the characteristic that is in plain view.

I will add that in Bill's recent additional photo post, you'll notice at least one photo it is clear to see the FRONCE on the body. Just on more indicator that the photo is of an early reel (not 1966), though not the indicator of the very early reel I speak of.

Sandman

[piscesman]

As far as I can tell, there are no pictures of the 308 in question posted here. All from brochures or pamphlets. They aren't always up to date or accurate. So, how can we look for something that is not posted in a picture form? The only thing I could think of is your, Sandman's, avatar. I can't enhance it to check for clues, so I'll bow out of this and be a spectator.
Kim

[Sandman]

Kim, we are talking about the photos of the reel(s) they used in the owners manual posted in this thread. Bill posted these and are named 1966 308 Owners Manual. They caught my eye because I had never noticed they used a 1959 reel in those photos, telling us they didn’t update the photos in the manual until after 1966. I believe all the manual files Bill posted are the same reel. I know they used that photo on the cover of that m all for many years, just didn’t know it was a very early reel. Incidentally. There was only one UL Garcia owners manual before this one.

Sandman

[Sandman]

Kim, we are talking about the photos of the reel(s) they used in the owners manual posted in this thread. Bill posted these and are named 1966 308 Owners Manual. They caught my eye because I had never noticed they used a 1959 reel in those photos, telling us they didn’t update the photos in the manual until after 1966. I believe all the manual files Bill posted are the same reel. I know they used that photo on the cover of that manual for many years, just didn’t know it was a very early reel. Incidentally. There was only one UL Garcia owners manual before this one.

Sandman

[Sandman]

Kim, we are talking about the photos of the reel(s) they used in the owners manual posted in this thread. Bill posted these and are named 1966 308 Owners Manual. They caught my eye because I had never noticed they used a 1959 reel in those photos, telling us they didn’t update the photos in the manual until after 1966. I believe all the manual files Bill posted are the same reel. I know they used that photo on the cover of that manual for many years, just didn’t know it was a very early reel. Incidentally, there was only one UL Garcia owners manual before this one.

Sandman

[Sandman]

Mike, you stated this earlier. What did you mean by this?

“Mitchell cursive engraved namesake on handle side upper, 308“

Sandman

[my308]

Sandman,
i was only stating the obvious.... as an early series reel, that the photo reel was of a Mitchell reel, not a Garcia Mitchell & it is a 308,
the reel title of cursive-written word "Mitchell" is to the right above the handle.
-mike

[my308]

Hi Sandman,

In the April 10th 8:53 pm original bullet point list ( see below dotted line), i mention the FRONCE front plate casting would be a requirement, but i could not read that on the 308 booklets cover photo reel and i believe we were only analyzing that 1959 308 cover photo.
but as you point out, within the booklet there were photos that clearly show the word FRONCE on the handle side front plate of this first run 1959 Mitchell 308.

i still have not found out this defining trait?
Here is my final trait answer... no dashes between the digits of the engraved 308

what do you think,
mike
......................................................
Post by my308 » Thu Apr 10, 2025 8:54 pm
Sandman,
just from that 308 booklet photo's one angle i see:

* Mitchell cursive engraved namesake on handle side upper, 308
* spring type handle counterweight, lift and turn type
* spur type stop on locking head bail wire
* Correct spool drag knob, that gas lower ( shorter) than center post quad wings
* handle knob is smooth
* Reel foot ( from the angle i can see) has no France text casted on the foot, no serial number is visible

i cannot read the handle side ( front) plate, if it gas FRONCE casted on it, i cannot see that text, so i do not think it has FRONCE on the handle side ( front) plate.

-mike

[Sandman]

Mike, you are soooo close with your "final trait answer". I do think the 308 does have dashes between the digits in the photos in the manual. They are just really hard to see in the posted image. In fact, there were no ULs produced without dashes until about 1971.

Kim, I posted a larger image of my avatar below. It is a 1959 308 identical to the one in the manual.

I will post the answer tomorrow when I have more time.

Sandman

1959 MRM Avatar - Copy.jpg (143.93 KiB) Viewed 4287 times

[Sandman]

All, the photo below shows three Garcia FRONCE reels. Note the position of the model number engraving. There are three positions, Low, Mid and High relative the Mitchell engraving. This is the answer to my question.

The High engraved reels (I've only seen these in the 308 model) were produced in 1959 up to about 3500 reels. The mid position were produced until about 33,000 UL (308/309) reels. The exceptions to this were Prince and 358 reels, which had mid positioning model numbers through most of the 1960s. The lower position showed up on Garcia 308/309 around 33,000 reels and lasted for the remainder of France produced 308/309s.

This is how we know the reel on the 1966 manual is from before 3500 reels (1959). I have never seen a higher serial numbered High position UL.

I have recorded six High position 308s. Three have serial numbers between 3100 - 3500. The other three have no serial numbers. These are believed to be some of the initial 3000, or so, produced and not serial numbered in 1959. I have seen another 3-4 High positioned reels, but have not been able to identify enough of their traits to record them. I own five of these six reels. I believe they are among the rarest ULs.

Do any of you have High engraved 308s?

Sandman

308 Model Number Positioning.jpg (98.97 KiB) Viewed 4270 times

[my308]

Hi Sandman,
my Mitchell 308 FRONCE reels are mid and lower numeric 308 locations.
you offered a trait that i had not heard of before. your insights and historical knowledge are ver much appreciated.
i enjoyed the early 308 1959 trait analyzing game,
thank you
mike

[jtwill98]

Were the first (1959) Mitchell 308s only available to the European community?

[Sandman]

What we know, is there were Prince reels and unbadged reels from the beginning. While we know the Prince reels were only distributed in Europe (primarily in Britain) most believe the unbadged reels were distributed in the US. The unbadged reels became Garcia reels at about 33,000 reels, so weren't unbadged for long. Once Garcia became the sole North American distributor for Mitchell in 1954, the lions share of Mitchell reels were destined for the US/Canadian market.

The earliest Prince reel I've recorded is 003517.

Sandman

[piscesman]

Good to be able to tell the difference on those earlier reels. I have 1 or 2 FRONCE reels but locating them will be a challenge.
Kim

[jtwill98]

While the dates for this site https://www.salmonidesevenements.fr/308 ... arciaergot may not matchup with Sandman's writeup, I thought it is worth posting as the pictures contained within are quite interesting.