What improvements have you made and what improvements do you recommend for yor ABU Garcia 6500 sized reels?

I have two 6500 sized reels, an obsolete UltraCast and a TCST. Both reels have Smoothie Drags which are quite an improvement over the stock drag but are still lack somewhat. I also repalced the stock bearings on the TCST with ABEC 5 bearings, what a diference in smoothness and casting. I want to replace the bearings in my UltraCast but they are extremely hard to find. I ended up removing the shields on the bearings and polishing them with very fine abrasive compound.

I know some of you are using Penn 704 drag washers as an additional improvement over the smoothies, how are they working out?

If you really need more drag pressure from those Abu's that already have smoothies then I would say you need to get the a larger reel like the 7000 BigGame. ;)

I have an Abu 6600 C5 mag-x that I changed to the std Smoothies, Smoothie washers, steel power handle and have had no problems horsing in 30 lb fish using 30 lb Stealth on a 7' MH rod.

I know a rod maker who firmly believes there is no need for anything more than stock washers in any reel and he believes its a big waste of $ upgrading. :P

Another SB guy tells me of how another guy cranks is drag all the way down on his spinning reel when he is using 65 lb braid jiggin in the Canal.

" If it ain't broke don't fix it. " <---<< Whoever said that was a smart person. :D