ABU/Zebco Cardinal 4 Experience

Started by Midway Tommy, February 01, 2017, 03:23:11 AM

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Whit

I love these reels.  Used then since I was about 12 years old.  Like 50 years ago.  Lotsa great memories.  This reminds me to pull mine out and take it fishing!

Midway Tommy

You should! I fish exclusively with mine, all the time. I think they are more reliable than most the new age stuff out there.
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

MeanMachine

How is the drag mechanism disassembled?  I tried doing mine with the Abu Garcia cardinal 4, but I haven't figured it out.  Tried backing the knob all the way out but it still will not release the drag washers.

Midway Tommy

Quote from: MeanMachine on August 14, 2017, 01:29:42 AM
How is the drag mechanism disassembled?  I tried doing mine with the Abu Garcia cardinal 4, but I haven't figured it out.  Tried backing the knob all the way out but it still will not release the drag washers.

The ABU Garcia comes apart the same as the ABU & Zebco. First, the main shaft has to be removed. While you don't have to, it's best to remove the drag knob to remove the brake mechanism. The drag knob screw is reverse thread (loosens to the right). Back the tension screw off as far as it will go. The brake arm should be loose without any pressure. Remove the insert that's between the brake arm and the body post. Push the brake arm back against the post/stud. Slide the entire brake mechanism, including the click washer, back in one piece. There's not a lot of extra space but the entire stack will slide out between the brake arm and the pinion/worm gear bushing. It goes back together the same way it came out only in opposite order.
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

MeanMachine


Shark Hunter

Picked up my first C Model.
They aren't easy to find like this.
Life is Good!

Gfish

Midway, or anyone else: what's the best source for the Zebco Card. 4 drag washers and the the click gear sleeve(part name?)? Both original washers snapped while I's testin the drag's high end. I fabricated my own with 0.5 mm c-tex glued on 2 sides of a 0.4mm metal washer(also my fabrication), but they got high spots 'er somethin, as the drag pull is intermittently soft, then harder.
Any ideas if I can't get nos, about how to fab. some.? At present the drag performance is unacceptable to my perfectionist self.
Gfish
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

Midway Tommy

Quote from: Shark Hunter on August 17, 2017, 04:55:19 PM
Picked up my first C Model.
They aren't easy to find like this.


Nice find, Daron! I think you'll probably like that reel, although it almost looks too nice to use.   ;) You can manually close the bail on those. It's not a big deal to me but some people really like it. I guess they feel it reduces stress on the trip mechanism parts. I've never really noticed a wear problem there, though. The anti-reverse is silent on those, too. They're nice, well made reels.   
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

Midway Tommy

Quote from: Gfish on August 17, 2017, 08:04:37 PM
Midway, or anyone else: what's the best source for the Zebco Card. 4 drag washers and the the click gear sleeve(part name?)? Both original washers snapped while I's testin the drag's high end. I fabricated my own with 0.5 mm c-tex glued on 2 sides of a 0.4mm metal washer(also my fabrication), but they got high spots 'er somethin, as the drag pull is intermittently soft, then harder.
Any ideas if I can't get nos, about how to fab. some.? At present the drag performance is unacceptable to my perfectionist self.
Gfish

I think you're talking about the click washer if you mean the plastic/nylon cog wheel part that the drag stack slips onto. There are 3 or 4 guys on eBay that sell Cardinal parts. They rotate their inventory/listings so if it's not listed today one of them may list it in a week or two. If I can't find a badly needed part I usually contact Les Shaw to see if he has it in stock or if he can get it. For some reason he usually comes up with hard to find parts, although they may be a little pricey. I haven't seen any Cardinal 4 drag washers or click washers listed for awhile, so that's a bad deal. Good luck.   
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

Shark Hunter

Les is a class act.
I received two aluminum spools from him yesterday.
I don't plan on fishing these Tommy.
New in the box they will stay.
Picked up a really nice C5 today.
The ones I fish are the original Zebco's.
I notice a lot of the exotic models. 33, 44 express and 3E are selling from the other side of the world.
Bulgaria, Malaysia, Croatia, Germany and Japan. All high priced.
These 3 and 4 spools came from the UK in less than a week.
Better than most domestic sellers.
Life is Good!

Tightlines667

Hope springs eternal
for the consumate fishermen.

MeanMachine

I finally figured out that drag on the Abu Garcia Cardinal 4 with your help this evening Tommy.  Also got my Aluminum Zebco Cardinal 4 spool today and 2 aluminum spools for my Cardinal 54s from Les.  Those 2 54s have been out of action since the Late 80s. I will be fishing with mine after their long break.  Thanks again 

Gfish

#27
Quote from: Midway Tommy on August 18, 2017, 04:47:36 AM
Quote from: Gfish on August 17, 2017, 08:04:37 PM
Midway, or anyone else: what's the best source for the Zebco Card. 4 drag washers and the the click gear sleeve(part name?)? Both original washers snapped while I's testin the drag's high end. I fabricated my own with 0.5 mm c-tex glued on 2 sides of a 0.4mm metal washer(also my fabrication), but they got high spots 'er somethin, as the drag pull is intermittently soft, then harder.
Any ideas if I can't get nos, about how to fab. some.? At present the drag performance is unacceptable to my
perfectionist self.
Gfish

I think you're talking about the click washer if you mean the plastic/nylon cog wheel part that the drag stack slips onto. There are 3 or 4 guys on eBay that sell Cardinal parts. They rotate their inventory/listings so if it's not listed today one of them may list it in a week or two. If I can't find a badly needed part I usually contact Les Shaw to see if he has it in stock or if he can get it. For some reason he usually comes up with hard to find parts, although they may be a little pricey. I haven't seen any Cardinal 4 drag washers or click washers listed for awhile, so that's a bad deal. Good luck.  

Thanks much Midway. I'll keep an eye out. It was a good learning experience, tryin to fabricate my own stuff and failing. Some things gotta be almost perfect ona reel, some don't. That's why I like the old Penns, modifying drag stacks, dog arrangements, click springs, adding posts, etc., there's some room for error. Correcting errors usually's not that hard, either.
Gfish




Gfish
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

Midway Tommy

Quote from: Gfish on August 17, 2017, 08:04:37 PM
I fabricated my own with 0.5 mm c-tex glued on 2 sides of a 0.4mm metal washer(also my fabrication), but they got high spots 'er somethin, as the drag pull is intermittently soft, then harder.
Any ideas if I can't get nos, about how to fab. some.? At present the drag performance is unacceptable to my perfectionist self.
Gfish

Here's something you might try with your self fabricated washers. Corian needs a completely flat & smooth surface when joined with their epoxy so that glue lines/joints are practically invisible. Many of the guys that play with Corian for smaller projects, i.e. like fabricating multi colored blanks for turning, etc., get a thick piece of quality plate glass, at least 1/4" thick and size is relative to project sizes, and then glue a couple pieces of different grit wet/dry sand paper to it, one being around 600-800. The glass is extremely flat so you can hand sand in circular motions and in little time get a perfectly flat surface. You could do that on both sides of the metal insert and both sides of the CF washers. I would do the two outsides after it had been laminated.

Wash off the paper when it starts getting clogged and scrape off with a razor window scraper when it's wore out. Who knows, it just might work.  ;D
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

Midway Tommy

Quote from: MeanMachine on August 18, 2017, 06:55:56 AM
I finally figured out that drag on the Abu Garcia Cardinal 4 with your help this evening Tommy.  Also got my Aluminum Zebco Cardinal 4 spool today and 2 aluminum spools for my Cardinal 54s from Les.  Those 2 54s have been out of action since the Late 80s. I will be fishing with mine after their long break.  Thanks again 

Good for you! Glad it worked out. Sounds like you'll be puttin' those ol' girls back into action.  8)
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)