AG Conolon rod; need info, please

Started by happyhooker, June 13, 2023, 07:39:57 PM

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happyhooker

Obtained an Abu Garcia Conolon rod, model no. CNS662M.  Guessing this dates to early 2000s.  How do you tighten/loosen the rod seat where the reel is gripped?  I am assuming you turn the knurled rubber ring right below the lower seat hood.  You can see where this hood appears to have "tracks" on either side to allow it to move closer or further away from the front hood, thus allowing for tightening or loosening.  However, this ring does not move on the rod I have.  Am I wrong?  Something jammed?  Any insights appreciated.  Seems like a decent rod.  I have seen info in a 2003 ad relating to an "exclusive" -type handle on AG rods of that era, but no further details.

Frank

JasonGotaProblem

I wouldnt trust any reel I like to a setup like that. At least to me it needs a new (preferably fuji) seat.
Any machine is a smoke machine if you use it wrong enough.

Cor

Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on June 13, 2023, 08:14:41 PMI wouldnt trust any reel I like to a setup like that. At least to me it needs a new (preferably fuji) seat.
Agreed!

I don't know how it works (or doesn')t either.
Cornelis

Brewcrafter

If it is the one I am thinking of, the entire back handle rotates to make the hood slide back and forward. - john

Midway Tommy

Quote from: Brewcrafter on June 14, 2023, 01:55:37 PMIf it is the one I am thinking of, the entire back handle rotates to make the hood slide back and forward. - john

I'm thinking the same thing. Wish we had a photo of the entire handle. Is there a model name on it anywhere, Frank?
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

#5
The model number is as I previously stated.  Rod also notes "Carbon Alloy Technology  IM7 Modulus Graphite System."  There is no noted model name.  I am familiar with some old AGs where the reel seat is tightened by turning the butt cap, or a ring right next to/attached to the butt cap, but this isn't one of them.  The handle below the knurled rubber ring is cork, with a 1/2 in. thick foam butt cap and a 5/16 in. ring which separates the cork from the knurled ring.

Frank

thrasher

No twist to tighten is interesting, never seen anything like this one. I agree a full handle pic would be helpful.

Maybe you put the rear foot of reel in and pull backwards and then slide front front forward to snap in place?

happyhooker

Here's a pic of the full handle.  At first glance, there is no front cork grip to match the rear grip, and no visible threads to where the rear hood would tighten to grip the foot of the reel.  It does not appear there ever was a traditional foregrip; on the underside of the seat where the reel foot would sit, there is a hard rubber-like knurled grip right where the palm of your hand would rest as you gripped the rod with the reel leg between your fingers.  Two narrow chrome trim rings bracket a 3/4 in. knurled rubber ring that I took to be something that could be turned to tighten/loosen the reel seat, but the ring does not rotate (either stuck, or it never was meant to turn or....)

Been researching and it's obvious ABU has put in some time looking for alternatives to the old-fashioned and still commonplace metal or plastic tube with a spot for the reel foot to sit on, two hoods and one or two rings to tighten the seat down.  Those old seats could use some improvement; when you grip the rod with the reel in the seat, all your hand feels is the metal/plastic of the seat, hoods, reel foot, tightening rings, etc.  ABU currently has something called a "Grip Lok" fitting, but this rod we've been looking at doesn't have one of those.  Pretty sure other rod building suppliers have their own ideas about improving grips, and, or course, custom builders have come up with a lot of alternatives too.

ABU, being a well-known name, I was hoping somebody had a rod like this one & knew how it "operated".

Frank

MarkT

I have to think it's that knurled rubber ring. It looks a little cocked. Tap it a few time to see if it'll straighten and try a strap wrench to loosen it. Maybe wrap it with tape and try some channellocks on it.
When I was your age Pluto was a planet!

JasonGotaProblem

#9
It looks like that ring was twisted too far down and is now biting on cork. Like someone was using it for a reel that barely fit, and left it in the "all the way open" position. Thats why it's stuck.
Any machine is a smoke machine if you use it wrong enough.

Midway Tommy

It also looks as though it had some pretty rough use at some point. The metal rings look sprung or cocked and the knurled rubber ring looks like it got twisted. I'd do like a Mark says but also use something like a butter knife to gently pry forward on the metal & rubber rings while working the knurled ring back and forth until it breaks loose.
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

Thanks for the advice folks. I'm not one to force anything without being pretty confident that it's the only way to go, so I like the ideas about a few taps on it and gently prying/twisting.  That knurled rubber ring has to be the answer; can't see any other way the thing would work.

Frank

happyhooker

Well, I think I have it figured.  That knurled rubber ring is, indeed, the answer.  Followed some of the ideas expressed & baked in a few of my own & finally got that ring to turn.  I rinsed the whole seat off/out, figuring maybe there was some dirt down inside somewhere and also guessing there was nothing inside that would get rusty (that was pretty much true, except for a tiny coil spring, about the diameter of the lead in a pencil, which sits upright, on one end, in a matching hole drilled in the threads on the movable rear hood and, and the other end, into the threaded part of the knurled rubber ring -- not sure what it does).  Dribbled a bit of Teflon lube down the back of the rear hood and around the rubber ring.  Tapped all around on the rear hood and the ring.  First attempt to try twisting the rubber ring again led to the whole seat coming loose on the rod blank!  No sweat; just grabbed the seat in one hand and the knurled rubber ring in the other, and the ring finally started turning.  In the pic below, you can see where the rear hood has moved forward (compared to the first pic that started this post) to the max tighten position, as well as the threads on the base of that hood that engage similar threads on the rubber ring.  Total travel of the rear hood is about 3/4 in.  I'll refasten the seat to the blank in the proper spot, and put a little more Teflon lube on the threads and hopefully, all will be well.

I guess this seat would be a little more comfortable in the hand than the old-time type of seat.  Always liked aluminum seats compared to graphite, but the graphite seems pretty popular on newer rods, and this one, with the knurled rubber on some of the parts the hand would touch should be fairly grippy.

Thanks to all who commented on the original post and gave me some tips on this seat and getting it working.

Frank

jtwill98

At this point, "First attempt to try twisting the rubber ring again led to the whole seat coming loose on the rod blank!", I would have removed the the whole seat and looked for a different one. IMO, that setup looks like it's going to be an issue.  I wasn't impressed with the front hold down, but perhaps the picture didn't do it justice.

As "JasonGotaProblem" said "I wouldn't trust any reel I like to a setup like that. At least to me it needs a new (preferably fuji) seat."

However, I'm glad you to see you got it working.

jtwill98

#14
Here are a couple pictures (before and after) of a Conolon rod that I picked up a while back (on the cheap)  with a reel seat that needed some help. I opted to remove the reel seat because it wasn't positioned onto the blank correctly. 

To do so, I removed the foam grips which were already breaking down and leaving particles in my hands.  Then, I applied some heat to the aluminum seat and twisted the seat off the rod.  Once off, I cleaned off the old epoxy with some sand paper, applied new epoxy and slide the seat into place.

If I had new foam or cork grips I would have added the to the seat before hand, but I was being thrifty and had a plan to use paracord as the grips so I skipped that step.

While the the epoxy cured, I asked my wife to get some paracord that matched the rod color as I didn't trust my eyes (I'm red-green color-blind).

A couple of days later, I wrapped the grips and I think it turned out good for an everyday fishing rod.