My grandfather's vintage reels

[MichaelAngelo]

As some of you may know, I fish with some fairly retro stuff. Well, it comes from my grandfather. He let me take home some of his stuff yesterday, I didn't take home all of it, maybe 3/4 of it.

Here're the reels I found:



Silstar ET35
Shimano 200Q
Mitchell 2140 RD (anti-reverse is broken)
Abu Garcia Cardinal 4 (absolutely mint)
Silstar EX2140 (I've been using this one so far)

I'd love to hear memories or thoughts on these reels. They're way before my time, what abouts are they worth and which ones are the better of the bunch?

Thank-you guys for the help!

[MikeH]

I did a quick search on vintage reels. Most of yours seem to be from the mid 1980's.

You can get silstar reels on ebay for not a lot, if you want spares.
Silstar ET35 $5
Silstar EX2140 $15

Shimano AX200Q $15 - 20. Does the Quick fire trigger still work on the bale arm? This one could be worth cleaning up and trying out.

These two are the interesting ones:
Mitchell 2140 RD (anti-reverse is broken). Made in France if theres a serial number on base of foot. This is one of the first ones where the spool is angled upwards a few degrees towards the first eye on the rod.

Abu Garcia Cardinal 4 (absolutely mint) made in Sweden. some of these are going for $50-100 with box.

[OldTimer]

The Cardinal 4 (black body) in the pictures is a later model of this fantastic reel. I have several earlier ones (light colour body), and a few of the matching larger 6X's.

Your reel is a definite keeper. Like Mike said - their value increases as time goes forward (they are considered a collectors piece)

I still use all of mine........... I dont collect .............I fish!

Some of these reels have metal spools, some have plastic.. the plastic spools are prone to cracking which pops off the top of the spool. This is caused by the line winding on too tight - use the originl red spool insert if you have it - or put a bit of braided line backing on before the mono to cushion the spool.

Regards,

OldTimer

[MichaelAngelo]

MikeH, yes the quickfire trigger works like a charm. I can't wait to try it out! However the drawback is uneven rotational mass, and this one has the most pronounced wobble when I reel it in my hand.

The Mitchell 2140 RD is made in Taiwan... bummer . I've been trying to tinker with the anti-reverse mechanism. It seems the "claw" that grips the anti-reverse teeth is worn out. Better reels have a bigger anti-reverse gear, this one is very very narrow, about 1cm.

I super-glued a small piece of metal on it last night, but that did not hold. Maybe solder is in order...

Anything come to mind?

OldTimer, I definitely do not have that red spool insert, was it some sort of insertable backing? I've read that mono should be used before braid to prevent slippage and spool cracking spool.

[OldTimer]

Lay the braid on loosely to act as a cushion - few freshwater fisherman ever see the backing in regular fishing................ string could be used as well.............

Yes - the soft polyethylene red insert was a form fitting split collar that afforded the spools dual capacities, and did act as a cushion if used.

OldTimer

[infante]

Woo....curio

[MichaelAngelo]

(05-16-2012 07:20 AM)MikeH Wrote:  Shimano AX200Q $15 - 20. Does the Quick fire trigger still work on the bale arm? This one could be worth cleaning up and trying out.

I tried it out yesterday. I've been holding my reel with just my index finger in front of the reel stem, so I couldn't even reach the quickfire trigger.

I gotta change that habit

The trigger did get in the way some times, and I had a few disastrous casts when the line wrapped around the trigger before the cast.

Also, I hold the rod/reel in my right hand. The quickfire would be useful if the reel spun in such a way that I could catch it with my index finger. Actually, any reel could be improved by reversing the spin direction. It would allow me to cast without looking down at the line. :|

Does anyone know why this isn't the case?

[MikeH]

I dont think you can reverse it as the bale arm only has a line guide on one side. This is probably your grandfathers fault, have you tried shaking the reel at him and shouting "THIS IS YOUR FAULT....YOU DID THIS!!!"




Not really.....

[OldTimer]

(05-17-2012 01:45 PM)MikeH Wrote:  I dont think you can reverse it as the bale arm only has a line guide on one side. This is probably your grandfathers fault, have you tried shaking the reel at him and shouting "THIS IS YOUR FAULT....YOU DID THIS!!!"




Not really.....

I give this an 8+ outta 10 on my "one liner scale"..........smile

Cheers,

OldTimer

[MichaelAngelo]

LOL!

Well I meant in general, wouldn't it be nice if spinning reels spun the other way, so right handers could grab the line more easily by feel.