I've soldiered on with about a half dozen old Ambassadeurs, some dating back to the early 70's. Technology has caught up to these sturdy old reels. I will be gradually replacing all my older reels with current production models. Just not worth my time to sit and rebuild the guts on these old reels any more.
The Abu Garcia Ambassadeur round reels still have a very strong following among anglers, At least the demand and sales on Ebay indicate this. Having replaced the bearings in my older round reels along with just replacing the cog wheels with the "2-bearing" cog wheels has added many feet to the casting distance for each reel.
We shooters add many upgrades to our hunting rifles so why not our fishing reels.......money well spent both times.
