oldschoolbasser

His name is Tom Taiton,he's on FB. You can contact him there,or you can PM me for more info. His parts are top shelf, very well made. He builds some insane reels,and is one of the few tuners out there who is always willing to help others out.

I Francho, sorry about the misspell,my mistake! I also have a 2500C with 6:1 gears in it. There are so many new upgraded parts for these reel, it's unbelievable. Abuholics are a community of fisherman trying to keep the brand relevant,and also taking our reels to the extreme. As long as parts are available, we will continue to build reels for our fishing pleasure. Sure, there are newer, smoother, better casting reels out there, but that's not what it's all about. It's about continuing a tradition started over 50 years ago,we're just keeping that tradition alive.

J Franco, all the excess material was removed from the line guide to make it lighter. Less weight makes it moves easier. Same as with the cog wheel. My friend in Australia makes these parts along with the bearing supported drive shafts. He has also manufactured a dual bearing worm gear for the 1500-2500C Series Ambassadeurs. That's why I love using my Ambassadeurs, easily upgradable, indestructible, and just fun to fish with!

My most modified reel is a Violet 4500C with every bearing upgrade available, and a lightweight spool,and frame. Mods include a ceramic pawl, a skeletized line guide,Avail dual bearing cog wheel,spool,and star drag wheel. Dual bearing worm gear,bearing supported drive shaft, and drive shaft bearing. Finished off with a Composite Studios swept handle with matching accents. All friction points have been polished for extra smoothness. One of my favorite builds. Can't upload pictures of the frame and drive shaft as I can't get the file small enough to upload. The drive shaft has a bearing on the bottom,while the frame is 39% lighter than a stock frame.

Josh,was the drive gear brass? Does the click wheel on top of the drive gear have rectangular slots? Or are the holes round? If the drive gear is brass,,or if the click wheel has round holes,it's probably s rebuild.

It's. "76", 5500's didn't come out until "75". It also had a 4.7:1 ratio. Looks like someone replaces the side plates. Fading usually occurs on both side plates,unless one side had more exposure to light. If it was unused, there wouldn't be that much rash on the side plates either. Fish with it, it's not really in collectable condition.

4500D Direct Drive with dual bearing worm gear and cog wheel,ABEC7 bearings,Carbontex drag washer,and swept carbon handle with Megabass cork knobs.

I build 4500 size direct drive Ambassadeurs with 4.7:1 gear ratios like the 5500D's. They're easy to build,but finding the drive gears is the hardest part.

Turn plate counter clockwise until you can get it across the handle,then lift it off

I have an older 5000 High Speed gear set 4.7:1. I converted my brake plates to accept the collar style pinion gear as they are easier to find.

Thats the year that the reel was produced. 760102 means it was produced in January of 1976,and was the 2nd production. Look at the 1st 2 numbers on your reel foot,and that will tell you what year it was made. A lot of guys make the mistake of trying to add bearings to the 5000 Series reels. But the spool shaft diameter is odd sized, and somewhere in between 3x10x4 and 4x10x4, so the bearings are either too big or too small.

It's probably Dacron. Your reel didn't come with any line on it,but the Garcia line was Royal Bonnyl,and was brown in color.

Lightweight spools are already available from Japan, and I'm sure they are more cost effective than trying to make one yourself. Removing the line guide might add a few feet to your cast, but you'll spen a lot of time manually laying the line back in the spool because without the line guide, your line will bunch up in one spot

Jason, you can't put modern side plates on your "70's style reel as they are not interchangeable. 80's style reel have the brake adjustment on the right side of the reel,and the spools are completely different. You can have 3 sizes of frames,and spools (46,56,&6600) but they all have to be from the same style of reel to be interchangeable.

Get a 4600 size reel for bass fishing. It has plenty of line capacity, and you really dont need a bigger reel. I'd stay away from the new Ambassadeurs unless you go with the Record,or C4 Series.

Jason,putting 5600C side plates on your 6600C will not change the size of your reel. You can put any model side plates on the frame as the hole patterns are universal on all Ambassadeurs. Jerry Foran is a great guy to go to for your reel parts,and he may have a set of side plates for your reel. Maximus has seen my work, as have a few of the other Abuholics. They are fun to build,and a blast to fish with. Like Maximus said,he can have a 4500 size reel with a clicker on it,try swapping Daiwa,or Shimano reel parts,doesn't work.Restore your reel,and put it on the shelf. If you're not going to fish with it,at least you can enjoy looking at it.

I don't think so Jason. You have to remember that Abu's evolutionary design has made it easier to upgrade reels, where as other manufacturers completely redesign their reels every few years and older reels become obsolete, and parts are no longer available. I just purchased side plates,spools, and other parts for reels made in the "70's" and "80's". Try that with Shimano, or Daiwa! Another thing you have to remember is that these reels have bee in production since the 50's, and many fisherman started off using these reels as their 1st bait caster. Add that to the fact that their collectibility, and popularity continues to drive the prices up on hard to find models. Abuholics are a tight knit group who have a passion for these reels, and continue to push the envelope of performance, and customizing. Until other manufacturers produce parts for older reels, and fisherman continue to use older reels, they will never have the following that AbuGarcia enjoys.

my mistake,I meant 12 bearings. 2 worm gear,2 cog wheel,2 spool, 2 drive shaft, 4 handle, that's 12. My buddy in Australia makes a bearing supported drive shaft, and the other drive shaft bearing replaces the black plastic bushing. A C4 has 4 bearings, not too hard to add 8 more. BTW counting the bearings in the knobs is something every company does.

Jason, I know a guy who powder coated his side plates. But what would that cost compared to just buying new side plates? I asked my friend about side plates for your reel, but he doesn't have any with the holes for the clicker. BTW, you can put 13 bearings on your reel, I have 3 reels with that many. A new set of side plates will run you about $55

Yeah,on every trip! Been fishing these rods for over 35 years,and they still catch fish! These Are the Phenix Excaliber Series and TR1 Series rods. Boron an graphite composite, these were some of the 1st technique specific rods with applications for worms,jigs,gitzits,crankbats,and splitshotting. The bottom set up is for worm fishing,and I usually have 4 of them when I go.

Here's the spring wire position on the left side of the frame. BTW the pawl doesn't have a spring!

Here's a picture of the brake plate. You can see where that wire piece goes. That piece where the wire fits in must be pushed in before you can get the side plate back on. Also,that wire has to be completely under the side plate. It it can be a little tricky because the tension on the wire wwhen you out the side plate on causes the part to come out. I use a thin screwdriver to push the part back in before the side plate goes on. Carbontex drag kit #079 is what you need to replace the drag,and base washer. The bearings are 3x10x4. You can add a dual bearing cog wheel,and worm gear if you want to upgrade those parts. Make sure the cog wheel upgrade if for the 5152 cog wheel.Newer cog wheels have a lip on top that causes it to bind when you put the cog wheel screw back on. There shouls also be a bent wire that goes on the right side of the frame that returns the thumb bar to it's up position after you depress the thumb bar. New side plates might be available,I'd have to check on that for you if you want me to. You stole that reel at what you paid for it!

Hey Josh,the Ultracast models have up to a 6.3:1 gear ratio,but the "70's" models,no such luck.Also the Royal Express models have 6.3:1 gears, and those are the earliest model with those gears. Unfortunately they won't fit your reel.

Hey Josh,I don't think that those gears were ever made in the ratios you quoted. Noboby I know has heard about those gears,and we are all Ambassadeur fanatics.The fastest gears you can get for a "70's model Ambassadeur is 4.7:1.unless it's a 2500C. 5.3:1 and 6.0 gears are available for that model. The cheapest way to go is find a high speed conversion kit. You can find them on Ebay for under $20,if you want to add bearings, then you'll need a different spool, and conversion kit for a 5000C.

The 5000 Series reel from the "70's" are not high speed reels. Their gear ratios are 3.8:1. The 5500 Series are the the high speed models with the 4.7:1 gear ratios. The spools from the 5000 and 500C are not adaptable as the spool shafts are different in size. You can convert the 5000 to a 5000C by changing the, pinion gear, spool and adding bearings. To make it a high speed model,you need to change the pinion and drive gears.The easiest way to do that would be to find an high speed conversion kit that has both gears, or hope to find the parts on the web. The other way would involve changing the pinion yoke to accept the high speed gears with the plastic collar,get a new spool,pinion gear, and add bearings. Some of my current Ambassadeurs have 12 bearings which is all you can put on a "70's" Ambassadeur. Ultracast models have a spool that rides on an axle, older models have a fixed axle spool. There are all kinds of upgrades you can give your reel,it just depend how far you want to take it. BTW I checked the links to Castaways,and those gears will not fit on the 70's style reels,nor will the bearings.