CarGem Lancer 23

[Midway Tommy]

I noticed this fairly rare CarGem 23 Lancer about a year ago in a small lot of spinning reels on eBay that was going really cheap. They don't come up very often. This one looked to be in nice condition and would fit right in with my CarGem and Italian made spinning reel groups so I decided to grab the lot.

Between 1956 and 1962, after Emilio Carnevalli took over running CarGem from his ill father, Emilio greatly expanded the CarGem line and models of spinning reels. Their very first ultra light model was the 230. The 23 Lancer evolved directly from the 230. At the same time the 33 Mignon was put into production. The 23 Lancer was slightly larger than the 33 Mignon with a slightly different design. The 23 did not have a push button spool and was less expensive to purchase, an economy version, so to speak. CarGem continued to offer the 23 Lancer for quite some time as a lesser expensive option in between the smaller 33 Mignon and somewhat larger 44 Super.

This reel wasn't terribly dirty, but it obviously hadn't been cleaned in awhile. Here are a couple of photos of what it looked like when I took it apart.



After disassembly I continued with my usual process of soaking all the unpainted metal parts in my lacquer thinner jar, and did my normal Original White Goop scrub & warm water Dawn wash on all the painted and plastic parts. After a couple of days soaking, good cleaning and wire bushing/burnishing all the parts were ready to reassemble.


Before my fingers got greasy I started with the spool and installed the simple click dawg and spring. The drag stack is as simple as it gets, consisting of one thin Teflon washer and the top keyed metal washer. They'll go in later when the spool and drag knob are installed.


Next, while my hands aren't greasy, I'll install the bail trip lever, bail spring and bail arm. This is the easiest way to install a bail and not have to struggle with the process. This reel, as do many of the Italian made reels, utilizes only one bail spring. I use ArmorAll as a lubricant in these locations because it stays slick and doesn't collect dirt & grime. It's easy to add a little at anytime if needed. A lot of spinning reels use a slotted cap/nut to secure the offside of the bail. Years ago I adapted a cheap straight screwdriver to handle this task. I flattened and widened the tip on an anvil, ground it down and filed a slot in the center to go over the bail wire to tighten or loosen those nuts. It works just fine, although it might work a little better if it were bent at a 90° angle.


After the bail trip & bail arm are installed I'll check the bail for perfect alignment and bend, or adjust it where necessary, for free movement. This reel also has a metal line roller sleeve.


Once everything is in perfect alignment I tighten the off side nut and install the line roller.


I generally install the anti-reverse mechanism now, but this time, because the pinion slides in from the inside, I opted to install the pinion worm gear first. This reel has a metal retaining washer with five holes and five balls sandwiched between two metal washer plates to act as a bearing.


I prefer grease lubricated ball bearings even though they may seem slower, so I lubricate them with Super Lube grease and then add a little oil to thin the grease.


Now I'll install the anti-reverse pivot & knob. The spring washer goes on the outside. The dawg and tension spring are both secured by screws into the body. There is a ratchet gear on the back side of the main gear and the dawg will wedge against a ratchet gear tooth. All the internal parts get lubed with Super Lube grease and synthetic oil. I grease every screw hole during installation for easier removal down the road.


Now I'll install the bail trip stud and attach the rotor to the body. The nut that secures the rotor to the pinion isn't a hex nut, it has four notches in it and requires a spanner type socket or wrench. Since I didn't have one that fit I thought about adapting/grinding an appropriate size socket to the notches to remove the nut but decided it was more work than it would be worth. I decided to use a thick washer, grind and file it to fit two of the slots and use a small vise grip to turn it and the nut. Like most Italian made reels, the pinion and nut are reverse thread. The notched washer worked just fine as a spanner and didn't mar the rotor or nut.



With the rotor installed it's time to slip in the main gear and snug up the spanner locking nut. Here you can also see the ratchet gear on the back side of the main gear for the anti-reverse dawg to wedge against. The main gear gets well lubed with grease and oil prior to installation. I use my small spanner wrench to tighten the spanner nut.




Now it's time for the main shaft and oscillation arm get installed. As I mentioned earlier, all the internal parts get greased with Super Lube & synthetic oil for protection. The oscillation arm is threaded and the main shaft threads into it and is secured by a lock washer and nut. The oscillation arm rests on a stud on the main gear and kept down by the side plate. This design allows the main shaft to be adjusted forward or backward for optimum line lay, a somewhat unique design. The fiber washer installs on the click gear for the spool to rest and rotate on.


It's time to install the side plate, handle, spool, drag washers and drag knob. The crank handle arm is pinned to the main gear shaft. The fold down adjustment nut needs to be threaded onto the main gear shaft prior to pinning the handle. I prefer to use ArmorAll for knob lubrication, also, since it doesn't attract dirt.


It's all back together now. It cleaned up nicely and works like new! CarGem 23 Lancers are somewhat interesting because many of them have a goldish colored body yet they have bronzeish colored side plate. Evidently their paint quality control lacked some over sight.





I pulled out my 33 Mignon and opened it up for a side-by-side comparison. As seen, they're similar but the 23 is a little bit larger and 33 has a different oscillation arm design and mechanism, and it also has a pushbutton removable spool.


It's a little difficult to visualize just how small these reels really are so I grabbed a Zebco Cardinal 3 and stuck it in between them. They really are small ultra light reels.
     

[oldmanjoe]

 Very impressive little reel .  I like the little details giving this reel ,looks strong .
    The threaded spool shaft into the oscillation arm must take a little time to dial in a line diameter / line lay if you are not using shims under the spool .  I like the idea of the adjustable thou .

   Very well done on the Tutorial.   

[jurelometer]

Nice!

A nice clean simple design.  And bonus point for the thrust bearing.

Looking at that photo with the Cardinal, it is easy to pick out which is the Italian design. That Cardinal looks like a reel designed by Volvo, the CarGems- Bertone. 


-J

[Gfish]

Ha! Them Swedes like to box-out some of their stuff. Maybe it helps seal-up the gear box tolerances/cover plate, better?
What's the main gear made outta? Looks like ss.
Indeed, being able to adjust the spool shaft height is real +.

[Midway Tommy]

Ha! Them Swedes like to box-out some of their stuff. Maybe it helps seal-up the gear box tolerances/cover plate, better?
What's the main gear made outta? Looks like ss.
Indeed, being able to adjust the spool shaft height is real +.

The pinion is steel. I'm not a plated metal expert by any means, but I'm pretty sure it's chrome plated brass. There is one small place on the main gear face where the plating had worn off and it looked to me like brass underneath.

[happyhooker]

Beautiful reel; good work Tommy!  That bearing was interesting.

Frank
230223

[Walter61]

Super Tommy, thanks for showing. I've had a Cargem 44/M for years and it runs perfectly.
But since I'm curious, I would have liked to disassemble it completely.
It has always failed to loosen the nut. What is the direction to untie this nut. I'll attach a picture.
Thanks in advance.




Walter

[Midway Tommy]

Turn clockwise to loosen, Walter. I usually work them back and forth a little at first to break the bond loose. Once I feel it give a little I go ahead and loosen the nut completely. Be careful not to lose the balls when you take the outer race washer off.

[Walter61]

Turn clockwise to loosen, Walter. I usually work them back and forth a little at first to break the bond loose. Once I feel it give a little I go ahead and loosen the nut completely. Be careful not to lose the balls when you take the outer race washer off.

Thank you so much Tommy