ABU Garcia Cardinal 3, 4, 5, C3, C4, C4X, 5, etc. Tutorial

Started by Midway Tommy, March 03, 2018, 07:12:21 AM

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Flounder Boy 3

Were any of these C3,4,5, and the X models reels made in Sweden or were they all Japanese?

Which came first, the X models or the non-X?

Finally, is there any difference in quality between the X's and non-X's?

Thanks for any info.


Midway Tommy

Quote from: Flounder Boy 3 on March 07, 2018, 01:32:13 PM
Were any of these C3,4,5, and the X models reels made in Sweden or were they all Japanese?

Which came first, the X models or the non-X?

Finally, is there any difference in quality between the X's and non-X's?

Thanks for any info.



All of those skirted spool models were made in Japan at the beginning of the transition. The "green line" was the first version, the Cs were the second version. X stands for high speed and they only made it in the 4 after the first version. No difference other than the X retrieves faster. Bass fishermen seem to like the X, but personally, I don't. For a walleye fisherman they can get a fish to the boat a little too fast for my liking. My son used to use one and I couldn't get the motor to neutral, reel in and get the net before he had the fish at the side of the boat. He used it a couple of trips and went back to exclusively using a 4.   
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

#17
Ran across an ABU Garcia Cardinal on a slightly damaged rod at a garage sale for $1 (yes, a buck).  The reel body itself looks very much like the Cardinal 4 you show, Tommy (green over silver stripe, with "Cardinal 4"; looks like metal).  The spool says "Graphite" and "Ball Bearing" and "C4", as well as "5.1:1" and "High Speed", with line capacities for 8 to 12 lb. test.  Bottom of foot says "84-0". No indication of country of manufacture.  Would I be safe in guessing this is a Cardinal 4, with a C4 spool?  Or...?

Frank

happyhooker

I see on the big auction site that a goodly number of the black Cardinal 4 reels have C4 spools, marked "high speed".

Frank

Midway Tommy

Frank,

The first version ABU Garcia Cardinal 4 (i.e. "Green Line") spool has a green band with a gold band and black & gold "dental mold" design below the green. It has "C4" in the green & gold bands. The spools are graphite. It sounds like your spool is correct to the reel. The second version (i.e. "C3") spool does not have any green. All those black Japanese fulcrum brake spools, within their individual model sizes, are interchangeable, though. The C3 & C5 in that photo are the second version. The Cardinal 4 is the first version. There were a couple of minor part revisions between the first and second versions but all parts are interchangeable. They are basically the same reel with a different outside color trim/label design.
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, Tommy, for further enlightening me on these interesting reels!

Frank

happyhooker

Festus suggested a Japanese website to me that has a lot of info on Omori (Ohmori) reels, and if I understood the dialog there, Omori made the Cardinal C series.  Does that match up with what anybody else knows?

Frank

Midway Tommy

Quote from: happyhooker on April 04, 2019, 03:09:45 AM
Festus suggested a Japanese website to me that has a lot of info on Omori (Ohmori) reels, and if I understood the dialog there, Omori made the Cardinal C series.  Does that match up with what anybody else knows?

Frank

No, Frank, that is not correct.

It says most Japanese people believe that, but actually Matsuo Kogyo of Nagano, Japan made the Cardinal 700 series, & others including the Mitchell 3500s, and Mizuho of Nagoya Japan made the Cardinal C series.
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

#23
Gotcha, Tommy; I double-checked that website; my Japanese hasn't had much use since the local sushi bar closed up.

Gotta thank you again for sharing all your knowledge on these Cardinal fulcrum brakes; they really are some well designed specimens.

Frank

Finngol

How well regarded are these reels? From what I've seen in ebay, they are regularly being sold in there so it must not be rare one, and must've been very popular back in the day as based on information I found online, they were in production from '84 to '91. My father says that it's one of the best reels ever made, but he might be biased, being big user of Abu's reels.

One thing I've been wondering, my C4 has ever so slight looseness in the crank/crank shaft, which isn't present in the modern reels I've used, is it normal or is my reel worn down slightly?

Midway Tommy

Your father is correct. Many consider them, and their ABU & Zebco predecessors, the best and highest quality mass produced spinning reels ever made. They are highly regarded by serious freshwater, especially walleye and pan fish, fishermen. That's why you can rarely buy one for less than $45 or $50 unless it shows a lot of wear. The easiest way to tell if they have had a lot of use is if any paint is worn off the handle close to the knob. That is the first place I look and if any paint is missing I move on unless I can pick it up for little to nothing. The bodies rarely show any signs of use unless they have been neglected or abused.

Remember that these reels are 30 to 35 years old so they will obviously show a little wear. Most reels made today, other than the most expensive models, with constant use will have long been consigned to the scrap pile by that time in their lives. If you have excessive play in  your handle/crank you may be missing a spring washer or two on the main gear or on the main shaft in front of the oscillation arm/connecting link. Also, sometimes the oscillation gear/stainless steel screw hole gets worn and a little loose. To tighten that issue I make, and install under the gear, a small Mylar washer to remove any slack.   
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)

Finngol

Quote from: Midway Tommy on August 28, 2019, 07:04:04 PM
Your father is correct. Many consider them, and their ABU & Zebco predecessors, the best and highest quality mass produced spinning reels ever made. They are highly regarded by serious freshwater, especially walleye and pan fish, fishermen. That's why you can rarely buy one for less than $45 or $50 unless it shows a lot of wear. The easiest way to tell if they have had a lot of use is if any paint is worn off the handle close to the knob. That is the first place I look and if any paint is missing I move on unless I can pick it up for little to nothing. The bodies rarely show any signs of use unless they have been neglected or abused.

Remember that these reels are 30 to 35 years old so they will obviously show a little wear. Most reels made today, other than the most expensive models, with constant use will have long been consigned to the scrap pile by that time in their lives. If you have excessive play in  your handle/crank you may be missing a spring washer or two on the main gear or on the main shaft in front of the oscillation arm/connecting link. Also, sometimes the oscillation gear/stainless steel screw hole gets worn and a little loose. To tighten that issue I make, and install under the gear, a small Mylar washer to remove any slack.    

There's a teeny bit of play in the main gear, through which the crank goes through, but at first glance, nothing seems to be missing. Should probably take it apart, it's been in my family since the beginning, and I doubt it's ever been taken apart, just opened for some lubing from time to time. There's also very slight, but annoying looseness in the handle's knob, I do wonder if there's anyway to tighten it, as it doesn't have screw in it.

Edit: I think my feel might be missing "Drive gear shim", part 14657 in the schematic/exploded diagram. Looked for it in ebay and google, but couldn't find anyone selling it with a quick glance.

Midway Tommy

Quote from: Finngol on August 29, 2019, 08:27:58 AM
There's also very slight, but annoying looseness in the handle's knob, I do wonder if there's anyway to tighten it, as it doesn't have screw in it.

Edit: I think my feel might be missing "Drive gear shim", part 14657 in the schematic/exploded diagram. Looked for it in ebay and google, but couldn't find anyone selling it with a quick glance.

The knob hole is probably worn. Those are pinned so it would be tough to tighten that. You could replace the pin with a threaded knob bolt and new knob or buy a new handle, but new handles are tough to come buy and usually cost $15+-.

Those shim washers are tough to come by, too. You may have to buy a thin piece of bronze or brass sheet and make your own. That's what I usually end up having to do. 
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)

Finngol

Quote from: Midway Tommy on August 29, 2019, 06:40:51 PM
Quote from: Finngol on August 29, 2019, 08:27:58 AM
There's also very slight, but annoying looseness in the handle's knob, I do wonder if there's anyway to tighten it, as it doesn't have screw in it.

Edit: I think my feel might be missing "Drive gear shim", part 14657 in the schematic/exploded diagram. Looked for it in ebay and google, but couldn't find anyone selling it with a quick glance.

The knob hole is probably worn. Those are pinned so it would be tough to tighten that. You could replace the pin with a threaded knob bolt and new knob or buy a new handle, but new handles are tough to come buy and usually cost $15+-.

Those shim washers are tough to come by, too. You may have to buy a thin piece of bronze or brass sheet and make your own. That's what I usually end up having to do. 

Thanks for the replies, I'd rather not take the handle apart if I can avoid it, will have to look for replacement crank, as it's just small annoyance.

I did some more searching, and found out that this part should be the same one to 14657:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ABU-CARDINAL-3-MODELS-MAIN-DRIVE-GEAR-WASHER-ABU-PART-REFERENCE-977401/183759326536?hash=item2ac8e8cd48:g:FYgAAOSwc-tY3967

Ordered it, should arrive next week or so, if it's not suitable, at least it wasn't expensive. Otherwise the reel seems to be in very good condition, despite some wear outside.

Midway Tommy

That's the correct part. They had multiple numbers for the same part depending on which model schematic you're looking at. 
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)