Just got these 8 Cardinals. Never had one before and they are neat! Looking for video tutorial. I have seen the tutorial here from Tommy. I need to do my homework on these. 4 need spools but 7 appear to be in working condition and just need a good bath and lube. One needs a handle and line guide parts also. 20221016_174336[1].jpg
Great flock, Chris!
Looks like (6) 3's & (2) 4's —- or all 3's?
There are original spools and there are aftermarket aluminum spools.
Both are pricey —- but the reels need these —- depending on what you have in mind to do with them (keep, restore, sell, trade, or display).
Tom is our local expert on these.
The drag stacks are a little tricky to install —- until you have done a few and figured out the trick.
Everything else is pretty straight-forward on these.
Excellent reels!
Best, Fred
7-3s and a 4....Great score! Where in the world did you come up with 7 Cardinal 3s at one time? Definitely go aluminum on the Cardinal 4 spool, regardless of price. Mineral spirits should take the marker off the tan one without hurting the finish. I've never had a Cardinal 3 plastic spool break so you should be able to find a couple on daBay pretty reasonably, usually around $15 if you are patient. Just make sure when you put line on them that you use some sort of backing, dacron or a red spacer. All mono, when stretched, will put a lot of pressure on the front flange and pop it off, especially when stored in the cold.
You really don't need a video tutorial if you follow the ones I did and read them closely, but there are two on YouTube by YoungMartin'sReels. Problem is, it's his first time taking one apart and putting it back together. His shimming is wrong and the bail & bail spring assembly leaves a lot to be desired, he didn't take the bail arm & line roller apart. He is fighting it and there's no need to, plus he has one wrong spring and bail screw. Also, his cleaned parts are nowhere close to as clean or burnished as I see as satisfactory, mainly because he only uses WD40 as a cleaning agent. He does show how to assemble and install the drag stack, though. If you use the video just use it as a guide.
Line rollers/guides, teflon inserts and handles are easy to find on daBay.
Don't hesitate to ask questions if you run into a snag.
Nice bunch; should be fun working on them.
Frank
221016
Agree with Midway. Aluminum spool for the 4 if you are gonna fish it. Plastic if you want original for a shelfie.
Al. aftermarket left, newer-version plastic right, for the 4. If interested PM me. Stickers easy to get off😅.
Thanks guys, I knew you would come through. I service trolling reels now for a tackle shop west of Cleveland. Mostly all Great Lakes trolling reels. I got these from the owner of the shop. Not sure how long he had these or where he got them. Next time I need to ask. They have been sitting in the back for years. There are 7 Cardinal 3's and 1 Cardinal 4. I want to keep one of the 3's for personal use and maybe the 4. I hate flipping reels. I would rather just get them, fix them and get $. lol I should stick to those Great Lakes trolling reels! lol I would be looking for a partial trade for a newish 2000/3000 series spinning reel. Pfluger Supreme or President, Daiwa Fuego LT 2500 or Procyon LT, Tatula LT similar size. OK if used and need work, I can take care of that. Others such as Lew"s or Okuma in a Spinning reels size for using on a float rod steelhead fishing. I will get back to work on the one Cardinal 3 I opened up and am thinking of using it on one of my float rods for steelhead. I was not looking for these, they just ended up in my lap! It turned out to be a nice surprise. I will work it out with the shop owner. I do not think I am going to rebuild them all, just 2 for myself. Probably not going to get spools for those that need them. Ironically, I sold a few boxes of parts that had Cardinal NOS pieces, drag knobs and a couple handle for sure I remember.
Chris,
Sent you a PM.
Any interest in carbon fiber drags for these Cardinal's?
Quote from: Christopher M Songer on October 18, 2022, 04:02:00 PMAny interest in carbon fiber drags for these Cardinal's?
The flat sides on the inner circle make it difficult to fabricate them unless a special cutter is made or the entire configuration is changed to incorporate SS washers with the flat sides and CF washers with round holes.
I'm not aware of anyone that has been successful at switching them out, besides, there's really no need to, the stock ABU fiber washers work just fine when the reels are used as designed.
I may have to tear apart a few 3's. The one I cleaned and rebuilt has flattened misshaped fiber drag washers. One looks almost egg shaped. Must have been stored for years under full drag. They are a mess. This is what came out.
I forgot the 3s have the flat side holed metal washer and round holed fiber washers. You should be able to find the appropriate size CF washers for the 3s from smooth drag. Measure a decent one to get right size. The 4's are just the opposite design.
Yeah, I tried several different things to make them for a 4, failure. The hard fiber stock stuff with the flat keyed sides is it so-far, for me. I broke the originals testing the drag at a high setting.
Quote from: Gfish on October 19, 2022, 02:44:19 AMYeah, I tried several different things to make them for a 4, failure. The hard fiber stock stuff with the flat keyed sides is it so-far, for me. I broke the originals testing the drag at a high setting.
I have to say, Greg, if you broke the fiber drag washers on a Cardinal 4 testing at a high setting then you had way stronger line on your reel than the reel was ever designed to accommodate! :o Never heard of such a thing happening to anyone before your issue. :-\ The huge positive note is the reel didn't fail. :al Not many reels out there can withstand that kind of abuse. ;D
Yeah, perhaps to used to testing conventional's.
One thing about using these Cardinal's in saltwater, I never have any problem with corrosion in the rotor cup or the gear box. The only water ingress I've had was me forcing some rinse water into the gear box through the drag knob hole, once. Some oil on the line roller after fishing, some on the knob, and it's good for a year. Externally they don't look like anything special to me(except for that drag knob), but that is some great engineering by Abu, IMO.
Besides the print, what is the difference between these 2 spools? Thanks[attach id=117366]
i think just a newer model , it will work no problem. harryk
Quote from: Christopher M Songer on October 20, 2022, 07:27:04 PMBesides the print, what is the difference between these 2 spools? Thanks[attach id=117366]
Nothing, just a little newer version of the same spool as Harry indicated. The originals didn't have the yardage writing. The writing came around '77/'78.
Is there a thread on the Cardinal history? I was curious about the 3s,some have the Abu crest/Zebco Cardinal 3 on the cover side with a black drag knob.Some models just have the Crest on the cover side with the light colored drag knob.Which model is earlier and what years were they made? I saw one on ebay stating it was "expertly painted" what are the correct paint colors? Does anyone have the link for the aluminum spools? I will look for Tommy's tutorial until I see more,they must be great reels.I was just a teenager in the late 70s primarily a Zebco 33 fisherman back then,had I known better would have had got some of these guys.
The ABU Cardinal history is fairly long and detailed. I'll expand on it one of these days, but for now: The first Cardinal came out in 1965, a 6/66. Shortly thereafter they came out with the 7/77, the exact same reel with a larger rotor cup and spool. The 4/44 actually came out in 1969 but the earliest ones have a 1968 date. The 3 came out in 1974. The originals were dark green with a cream rotor. In '78 they changed the side plate style a little and that is when the European versions changed to tan with a black rotor and black drag knob. The Zebco version stayed green with a black drag knob. ABU bought Garcia when Garcia went bankrupt. In 1984 manufacturing moved to Japan and new style black skirted spool ABU Garcia version replaced the original non-skirted spool version and the 5 replaced the 6 & 7. The black skirted spool ABU Garcias ceased sales/production in the early '90s.
Google Les Shaw for 3 & 4 aluminum spools, although a couple of other guys sell them but theirs don't always fit perfectly.