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As far as I can tell, there's no way to convert that leaf spring tension from RHW to LHW. They aren't the greatest drag mechanisms, either, in my opinion. There's a very narrow range between "not on" and "really big fish only."

A couple of my wide-spool Steelhead & Trout reels have that as a second drag mechanism on the reel, along with the screwdown pawl tension button. I have yet to hook a fish that would require me going to "plan B", as it were, and cranking down on the leaf spring brake. Although it would really be something if it ever happened.

As already noted, these types of reels seem a little more prone to get out of alignment, leading to complications like difficult gear cranking and spool scrape. I just got mine out again after having it stored for a while, and it looks like I'll be needing to file the spool edge a few millimeters to keep it from hanging up on the frame rim. I like the look of them, they're stylish. But I wouldn't want to have to rely on mine to either protect light tippets, or to slow a fish in one of those critical circumstances where a split-second hesitation of the reel payout can lead to lost fish. The design just isn't smooth enough for me- not enough gear teeth, and prone to pick up grit somewhere in the workings. Although I can't say that I've done my utmost to smooth out pesky little bugs like that scraping spool...and I think that a reel design like this may have some advantages for trolling streamers and such.

The Ausable was my Potomac River bass bug/zonker tosser last summer. It worked pretty smooth, but it's important to maintain them so they don't slip out of alignment. A single action crank wind isn't nearly as reliably smooth as a good multiplier, or a reel that uses a winding plate.

Speaking of which: I've just recently picked up a Stuart- I think people call that design the "neuter Perfect"? because the spool bushing doesn't use ball bearings, like the original Hardy Perfect and its various mostly English imitators (and the Shakespeare Steelhead & Trout reels, the only American exception I know of.)

But- what do you know?- the Stuart is a right nice, smooth running reel, for what it is. Very stripped down compared to the features on my 3 1/8" Hardy- no ball bearings, no adjustable button tension, a choice of "line guards" amounting to three 3/4" holes drilled in the lower cross brace of the aluminum frame, and a single pawl tooth that has its gear tension provided basically by a single well-balanced strip of spring steel- without any elaborate bends or radial curves- bracing and backing the broad end of the pawl with a nice, easy amount of elastic tension to keep the pawl ticking along, engaged to the spool gear. And how wonderfully well it works! I'm not sure whether my reel is new, or whether they always stay in this condition, but as it is, the pawl tooth is perfectly balanced between LHW and RHW. Either direction that this Stuart is reeled, it feels to me as if it's just a bit easier on retrieve than on payout- and the drag tension, one position though it may be, is set just right for the usual trout tactics and the usual run of tippets and fish. Nothing fancy or finicky...it just gets the basics right. Smooth, easy winding, no sticking, no spool wobble, nice trout size, lightweight...