Delaware Valley Tackle

Many modern reels have more feel and sound once they free up. I believe it's the result of light weight rigid materials transmitting vibration , same as a high end rod. Factories tend to pack reels with grease which initially masks some of this. I doubt there's anything wrong with your reel

If you're walking the frog you're likely throwing some slack into the line and spooling over loops. Same fix: occasional long cast and tight respool.

There are better platforms for a BFS project.

There's no right or wrong. Fwiw in selecting a reel I look for overall build quality , line capacity, drag, ergonomics, weight , aesthetics. I can't force myself to add unnecessary weight to a blank I paid top dollar for due to its light weight. I fish for steelhead holding a 13' rod all day. It would take 1/4 pound or better to make it "balance "

It's not so cut and dried. All these term are subjective for starters. In very general terms a mh/f casting, mh/mod casting and Med/f spinning setup will cover all the most popular and effective bass techniques. Personally I find myself moving more toward ML spinning setups. We're talking Ned's, small hair jigs, 3-4" worms...

You'd have to try to go wrong with any name brand reel msrp >$100. Put the rest of your budget toward the best 7' MH/fast rod you can. Fwiw I'm right handed and use mostly left hand casting reels. If you don't go with a daiwa, look for something with centrifugal or dual brakes.

You either got grease/oil where it doesn't belong or something is misassembled.

You may need to stick a hollow needle into the void to allow air to escape or the pressure can keep the epoxy from getting in or inject in multiple spots. When I do loose reel seats I drill two holes for the same reason.

Don't mess with ferrules. Splice it internally and over wrap it. If it's far enough down the rod to where it won't flex much you can get away with a graphite insert but old glass rods are usually pretty easy to find.

Braid is strong on a straight pull but has poor shock absorption due to the lack of stretch. If you get hung up or pull hard on a fish, pull the braid loose before casting yo be sure it didn't dig in.

The top should slip on easily but not be sloppy. I don't suggest arboring them to fit. They are sized in 1/64 in increments and available in half sizes (1/128 increments). The kits are an acceptable DIY repair

10# trilene xl

Armageddon

Stuff happens and I'm sure they'll make good. But I can't help but think if this was ABU or god help us quantum, it would be all pitchforks and torches. Lol

That's the business I'm in so I don't have a choice. Lol hence my disdain

Sure you could disable or convert the T wing but there's no advantage there. It works fine, just isn't the game changer they hype it to be. Just another way to skin the same cat.

Imo all else being equal I wouldn't pay $1 extra for the T wing. I have an original Tatula and like it, don't get me wrong. The T wing is gimmicky and unnecessarily complicates service.

That's how I receive rod blanks. Common practice. Just flex the rod a couple times(not past 90* and it should be fine.

Very few modern reels are 100% silent after being freed up.

20# handles well just use your drag and common sense to protect the rig.

There are two different causes for binding of wet spinning reels. Neither has anything to do with factory grease or viscosity. Contact me if you need help with a specific situation.

A lot of these terms have no clear definition and get thrown around with different meaning. No drag should be "locked down". That defeats the purpose. There needs to be some give to protect the weakest link in the system. Drag should be 1/3 of line or leader. 20# should suffice. Straight pull on a scale will tell you where you're at. Don't stress over it.

The 5 will pass that connection easily.

The rear hood is fixed as is the diameter of the seat. I'm afraid you're looking at swap or rebuild.

if I understand your post, there's no modification that will address the issue short of replacing the seat with another design. Not likely cost effective but possible.