I love my Zebco 33, but the other day I dropped it in some dirty water while fishing and it started to make strange noises when I reeled in the line. I started doing some research on how to clean the internal parts and I found this guy on YouTube who had a guide on how to do just that, plus a cheap upgrade to turn the Zebco 33 base model into one of the more expensive gold or platinum models. This upgrade replaces the plastic bushings with steel ball bearings for a smoother, faster, and further cast. I ordered the bearings and plan on doing this upgrade soon.
You need the following items to do this upgrade:
3 bearings part number EY030-01 – https://www.tackleservice.com/Consumer/Product_detail_m.aspx?ProductID=5406
grease and oil for bearings and gears – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005F07P3K/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=cbillpgc-20&linkId=75518ab1f283ac31ba41c0b3a7cb5ca5&language=en_US