Need Advice On 2500C Main Drive Gear: Aluminum Versus Brass

[Walleye Guy]

I'm building two nice 2500C reels (vintage 1975 and 1976 per the lot numbers) and also have acquired two complete...but very rough (so very affordable)...2500C reels (vintage 1975 per the lot numbers) for parts.  So I have four reels.  All four have brass pinion gears but three of the four have aluminum main gears and one has a brass main gear.

Was this a design revision by Abu or is the brass gear an aftermarket part?  What are everyone's thoughts on the durability of an aluminum main gear? 

I know certain aluminum alloys can be heat treated but it seems to me that brass is a better choice for durability.

Looking at the Abu schematics I only see one P/N for the main gear: 10213

Thanks in advance for any thoughts & advice.

[JasonGotaProblem]

Check the gear ratio. All the aftermarket aluminum gears I'm familiar with have a faster gear ratio than any stock offering. That would tell you a lot.

Also every Abu baitcaster I've ever been in has a brass main. Even my modern cheapo blackmax

[Walleye Guy]

Good point, I'll do that.

If the aluminum is an early version then I wonder if Abu had failures of the aluminum gears.

[DougK]

aluminum were all aftermarket I believe, and mostly not made anymore because of those durability concerns..

see,
https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/phone/product/647
"The pinion gear is still made of brass.
Due to wear resistance, we will not manufacture extra super duralumin pinion gears in the future."

I'd fish the aluminum until they wear out, then replace with the Avail brand brass.

All my small ABUs have the original brass gear, I don't need high-speed so the stock gearing works fine for me.
ereplacementparts still has the original brass gears for the 3500, which theoretically should fit the 2500 also. I bought one of these for a 3500 rebuild, have not started it yet tho.

https://www.ereplacementparts.com/parts/conventional-reels/abu-garcia/erp18322331/drive-gear-975493/?SourceCode=45

[drumbum]

ABU used a lot of aluminum gears through the `70's.

Still aluminum in some of my `83-84 reels.