On to the ABU/Zebco Cardinal 6 & 7

Started by Midway Tommy, February 10, 2017, 10:35:45 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Gfish

#75
Update: disassembled fulcrum and drag stack. No mylar wahers present on my "Zebco" Card. 6. Only option was 2 under the spool shims(some kinda brown mylar-like plastic?) from a large Shimano, that I reamed out the i.d. on. Didn't lube anything.
Also, smoothed out the 2 fiber board(kinda look like c-tex)friction washers with fine grain wet/dry sandpaper... Not great results from all this, but much improved.
Also x2, couldn't fit the fulcrum spacer back in after adding the new washers, so I left it out. Hope it don't cause problems. There is still good drag adjustment range.
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

Midway Tommy

Chester,
Zebco & ABU are the same reel, just a different badge or sticker. All those Zebco Cardinals were made by ABU in Sweden, shipped to Zebco in parts and assembled at the Zebco factory.

Both Mikes,
That nylon, not plastic, fitting is always spread a little, it has to be for the oscillation arm to slide in easily. Installing the pin and e-clip and pushing it together a little generally won't stress it enough to break it unless it has been used &/or abused by sitting around in sunlight. They do show up on eBay now and then, but there is also a replacement arm with a metal block, just like the one in the X models, that show up now and then on eBay.

I fish with 3 6s and 1 7 from 1970ish that still have the original nylon part. I am not at all concerned about hooking into a big fish with any of them. They will last a long time if they haven'y been abused.

Mo,
I made and added the thin Mylar washers for no other reason than "just because". The original setup works just fine.    
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

#77
Quote from: Gfish on January 25, 2020, 05:13:11 AM
 Lemme know if you're getting smooth drag at the higher settings, as I am getting some slight start-up stickyness on my 6.

  I think what we're dealing with here G is just the nature of the beast. Those Abu hard carbon washers are famous for "slight stickiness". It's not unusable...just not silky. And since that hard carbon washer is the keyed washer we're kind of obligated to keep it. I guess if you really needed to improve it, you could sub in a metal keyed washer with a thin carbontex on either side. For my needs, I think the ol' Abu washers will suffice. By the by...does anyone know the correct term/name for these Abu washers?
 

Quote from: Midway Tommy on January 25, 2020, 10:08:57 PM
I fish with 3 6s and 1 7 from 1970ish that still have the original nylon part. I am not at all concerned about hooking into a big fish with any of them. They will last a long time if they haven'y been abused.  

  I feel better about fishing this reel after hearing this...if it works for Tommy it should work for me too.

Quote from: Midway Tommy on January 25, 2020, 10:08:57 PM
Mo,
I made and added the thin Mylar washers for no other reason than "just because". The original setup works just fine.    

  I tried something a bit different. I found an Ambassadeur 5000 drag washer that was the correct OD and I ran the Dremel a few laps around the ID to correct it. Now I would have hard carbon washers on both side of the click washer. Did this improve the smoothness? Not at all...but with the extra friction surface...the thing has a sick amount of power! It was a very tight squeeze getting the brake arm back in place. Even fully backed off I still have 2 lbs., but for what I want to do with the reel that is no problem. I easily reached 10 lbs. and stopped pulling there, since I spooled the reel with 20 lb. mono.

 
~YOU CAN TUNA GEETAR...BUT YOU CAN'T TUNA FEESH~


Midway Tommy

That ol' girl cleaned up nice, Mike! Well done!
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)

Gfish

Good job Mo!
You got your "fulcrum spacer" back in too.
I'd say I now have about a 50% improvement in the start-up stickyness factor, and about the same amount of high-end drag pressure.
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

mo65

#80
Thanks guys,
  I made sure I didn't soak or scrub the drag knob too much this time, kept those original numbers on it. These reels are everything they are hyped up to be. A rock solid build, much like the Penn Spinfishers and Quick Finessas. I hope I can work this reel into the fishing schedule this summer...if not it still looks great resting on the shelf! 8)
~YOU CAN TUNA GEETAR...BUT YOU CAN'T TUNA FEESH~


foakes

#81
Super job, Mike --

Turned out better than new -- after your fine tuning and detail skills!

I have a couple of crates of these to do some day -- not a lot, maybe less than 20.

One of my sources is sending me another "4" to toss in the crates.

I am planning (4) multi-day old-school gear trout fishing trips in the next few months --

One will be only Cardinals -- 3, 4, 6, 6X, & 7.

One DAM Quicks -- 265, 110, 1000, 1001, 220, 221, & 330.

One will be only Penns -- 716, 714, 712, 420, 4200SS, & 710.

One will be only Mitchells -- 408, 308, 720, 722, 330, 300C, 440, & 314.

For trolling on these trips -- it will only be Penn 9's & 209's.

Western and Eastern sides of the Sierras -- Bridgeport area, Twins, Courtright, Edison, Florence, and smaller waters.

Best,

Fred

The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

reelrepair123

good  morning   fred,   that sounds like a nice fun thing to do fishing and comparing different reels,   have a wonderful time when you go,  take care my friend.    harryk

foakes

The Cardinals you gave me will be fished on the "Cardinal Trip", Harry.

They are among about a hundred reels in my personal spinning arsenal -- and am looking forward to using them.

Caught some nice fat 18" Rainbows with the "3" you gave me last year.

Best, Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

reelrepair123

fantastic  fred, use them in the best of health,  guess all that tree work beefed up your muscles to help land those beautiful fish.  harryk

tumolt

Help.  Give me a call.  part for ocillating arm cardinal 6.  Matt 786-741-9329

foakes

The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.