The Hunt For Big Fish with Larry Dahlberg

I have an old Shimano Bantam Magnumlite that I bought from an older guy a few years back. I disected it and rebuilt it freshly oiled and greased. It was my favorite real until I ate it on the rocks, landed on the reel and bent something. It would rub and stick slightly on casts and I stopped using it except for a back up reel. It stayed in the shed for a long time. It gets really cold in the shed. I brought the reel out and decided to give it a run. It is working perfectly again. I could cast a 1/4 oz with no rub or stick. How did this happen?
Chris

Hi Chris,
That's a strange story, with an obviously happy ending.
Myguess is that the tolerances are so tight on the shimano that a tiny impact created the rub. The expansion and contraction due to temp variations in your shed must've flexed the metal in the frame enough to get back within tolerance. Either that, or, in the process of using it the metal on the frame "lathed" down the spool enough so it no longer rubbed.
Or, you have a rare, self-healing reel.
best,
L

I thought it might be the temperature changes also but wasn't and still not sure.
You don't think it could be the long time in between uses and my love for the reel that magically brought it back to life?