ABU Garcia 652, 653, 654, 752, 753, 754, etc., Cardinals

Started by Midway Tommy, January 04, 2018, 09:34:19 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Midway Tommy

Lately I've been dinkin' around with some mid/late '80s, mainly because I like their boxes and think the are really neat looking, Japanese made ABU Cardinals.



Anyway, I didn't find much info on them here so I thought as long as I was breaking them down, cleaning, servicing and putting them back together I would document the process on one of them for future reference in case someone has a question or two. I used a Cardinal 754 as an example, but the process and parts are basically the same for all the reels listed, in addition to a lot of other rear drag spinners from that time frame with an anti-reverse slide button on the top of the body behind the reel leg. A lot of those reels, such as Lews, Shakespeare, KMart, Ryobi, Dam SCs, etc., came out of the same factory, so while not exactly the same, the process is similar.

This one was pretty dirty outside but the inside wasn't too bad.



They're a fairly decent made reel. The bodies are all metal, but it's a shame they cut a few corners. The pinion worm gear is brass rather than SS and the main & oscillation gears are pot metal alloy instead of brass or bronze. They also eliminated a couple of oilite bronze bushing/bearings at the rear of the pinion and the drag shaft post. It's too bad because upgrading those items would have made for extremely high quality reels.



Here's all the parts, a lot, 73, cleaned and ready to put back together. They were soaked in lacquer thinner, wire brushed and washed w/ dawn & water.



I'll start putting it back together, but disassembly would basically be just the opposite procedure. I start reassembly, before my hands get greasy, withe the crank handle and rotor. Here's the handle parts.



The rotor parts.



First I install the bail trip arms, screws, spring & cover. I lightly lube them with grease at the screw and ArmorAll on the arms.




Next I install the bail spring, bail arm and cover. No grease here, just ArmorAll.



Now install the bail and check for adjustment. The bail should sit and line up, with no added twist or tension, freely with the hole in the bail arm. Adjust/bend the bail if needed before installing the line roller. I lube the roller with ArmorAll, too, because it doesn't gum up with dirt as bad as grease or oil.



Rotor and handle together, I set them aside to install later.



The drag parts go in first. They are laying in the correct installation order. Left to right: fiber washer, click washer, fiber washer, metal shim & drag shaft below, teflon washer, metal washer, teflon washer, metal shim, retaining clip, light spring, spacer/bushing, bronze washer, drag spring, drag knob mount & drag knob.



Lightly grease and install all of the drag washers onto the rear portion of the drag shaft and grease and install the drag spring, bronze washer, spacer/bushing & light spring into the drag knob mount. Install the drag shaft first, making sure that the long side with the raised arch is down into the recess in the body, and lightly screw in the drag knob mount to hold everything in place.



Install the retaining clip. At this point I lightly oil the drag components working oil in between the washers. I use the main shaft to spin the drag components to make sure they all line up and work freely and properly.



Now I grease and install the drag indicator tab, click tab, anti-reverse dog & spring, anti-reverse switch spring & button and oscillation gear. At this time I also install, right to left, the pinion, shim, anti-reverse ratchet gear, spacer/bushing and main bearing with the retaining clip.



With those in place it's time to install the anti-inertia brake band and then install the rotor.



Next is to grease and install the main shaft, oscillation block (it's held in place on the main shaft with small C-clips on each side), main gear, shim and bearing/bushing.



At this point it's time to button her up. Check to make sure everything that requires grease or oil is appropriately lubed. Install the side plate, drag knob, crank handle & spool.



Operation complete and ready to fish or display.




Here's a little 652, 653, 752, 753 & 754 group photo.

         

 

     
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)

happyhooker

#1
Nice rundown, Tommy.  I have a 653 and use it mostly for ultralight crappie & sunnies.  For whatever reason, using it with an old Mitchell 5 ft. ultralight graphite rod and 4 lb. test line, I can cast a country mile with it.  The spool has a thin lip which I think helps.  The drag is decent too & I don't mind a good rear drag setup at all.

Frank

Gfish

Cool. I hada 752 years ago. I disassembled, cleaned & rebuilt it and it was never exactly right after that. I wasn't even gonna try and disassemble the drag.
Gfish
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

happyhooker

#3
Tommy, have you had good luck lubing the drag washers?  I always figured Teflon had a built-in slipperiness that worked OK just as it was.  I'm thinking you might know more about this than I would.

Frank

Midway Tommy

I always lube all of my drag washers. I use a very thin coat of Super Lube and add a couple of drops of synthetic slot car oil to thin it slightly. It's always worked good for me. Teflon washers may not need it but I do it anyway just to stay consistent. I never get a jerky drag as long as it's set correctly. I think one of the biggest factors to having a consistently smooth spinning reel drag is to make sure the drag has been loosened if the reel won't be used for a week or more. Then, when I tighten it back up I work it as I'm getting it to the proper setting. That seems to help reactivate the lube.
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)

Chuck750ss

Tommy, your amour all thing... makes good sense to me. Just taking spray bottle and soaking parts?

Midway Tommy

I just add a drop or two in the hole, pocket or pivot in those areas, generally bail springs & trips. When the reel's all put together the spin of the rotor coats everything that needs lubrication. I just wipe any excess that leaks out with a rag. It helps coat the exterior plastic parts, too, for awhile or until they get a lot of water/sun on them.
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)

Chuck750ss

Tommy, should be good on any plastic exposed to sunlight. Supposed to have uv protection. Or so they claim.

basto

Hi Tommy
I recently picked up a 353. I would show it but my photo bucket account is on the rocks at present.
It is also metal bodied with rear drag. a 4 to 8lb reel with an anti reverse that has a ratchet on the main gear which is alloy.
The colour is canary yellow and this reel functions perfectly.
I snapped it up at $5.00 AUD.
It will be handy for my grandchildren.
Cheers
Greg
DAM Quick 3001      SHIMANO Spedmaster 3   Jigging Master PE5n

Midway Tommy

Greg,

Nice pick! I've never broken down a 300 or 500 series reel, so let us know how close it comes to the info in this tutorial.
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)

mo65

   Nice post Tom. I've been wondering about these later Cardinals...they look like a decent build for the prices they bring...may have to pick one up. 8)
~YOU CAN TUNA GEETAR...BUT YOU CAN'T TUNA FEESH~


Reelmeneer

Very nice post. Followed it on my 754 and it runs great now. Unfortunately my breaknob broke... now in desperate search for a replacement. Maybe someone here has got one for me? Shipping to the Netherlands...

Hope you guys here can help me!

Kind regards,

Ed

Midway Tommy

Quote from: Reelmeneer on January 12, 2020, 11:46:18 AM
Very nice post. Followed it on my 754 and it runs great now. Unfortunately my breaknob broke... now in desperate search for a replacement. Maybe someone here has got one for me? Shipping to the Netherlands...

Hope you guys here can help me!

Kind regards,

Ed

That came up awhile back & I don't remember where the discussion is but shipping to the Netherlands was outrageous.  :(
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)

Reelmeneer

That's correct... for some reason i recieved some goods from overseas for reasonable prices. Don't know how this works in the usa. Just thought to give it a second shot.... the abu is still waiting for its knob 😔

DougK

thanks Tommy.. I just got a 752 for $20, and really like it a lot. As you say, pity about the pot metal, as the design is good otherwise. I have a range of Cardinals from the post-German years- Maxxar, etc - and this is the nicest of them I think.