Trash customs

[LowRange]

Post ones like these. Beaters and trashy reels.

This is my Abu C3. I wanted a small Ambassadeur to play with and tune up but wanted something dirt cheap so I got this for $30 and an Amo spool. The stickers were shot so I took some slices out of a JDM sticker bomb sheet I had and used that.

I'll probably go with Amo vintage acrylic knobs but these Daiwa style ZPI knobs look kinda good on it. Just going to throw some aliexpress parts at it and a polish to see what it can do. Might find an ali pistol grip rod for it if I like it.

The brown thing is a T3 Ballistic I rattle canned matte brown. Going to do a Domo Kun theme to it. Domo sticker on the palm plate and rising sun under the hood then matte clear it to see if it will hold. It's either this or it gets turned into a door stop. I have an MX T3 to actually fish with.

[LowRange]

Another angle on the trashbassadeur

[Gone Phishin]

Dude, the doorstop line made me giggle out loud.

[LowRange]

Raided my color parts junk drawer and came out with this.

[toddmc]

It is amazing how good the Rustoleum spray paint is. If you spend the time sanding, taping, and prepping properly, the end result should be good because the new nozzles on spray paint cans are much better than they used to be. I painted one of my old full suspension mountain bike frames for my oldest son with flat black Rustoleum. Three light coats on my bike stand rotisserie and ithe frame was perfect. The paint job has lasted also.

[LowRange]

I'm actually surprised how well the T3 took the paint but I guess that is to be expected. It is a plastic wedge after all. I actually like the look of the Abu. It has a drift missile look about it. That was kinda what I was going for so I'm happy.

[LowRange]

Got the drag star in. Anyone know what this 4 point star came from originally?

[hoohoorjoo]

Got the drag star in. Anyone know what this 4 point star came from originally?

That is similar to the star that was on my green 4600CB, circa 1985.

[Big-Bass]

4 point stars replaced the 5 point about 1980/1981. Then the rounded 5 point came back late 80s early 90s. Now they have the longer rounded edge ones.

[LowRange]

Thanks everyone. Then 4 point looks good on these reels.

[uljersey]

Me likey
Reminds me of Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat ...


I always had a bent towards design from this perspective vs perfect specimens that get perched upon silk pillows. It makes it uniquely yours. Function should always trump form

Well done sir

[Bass Junkie]

Bumping this thread back up with my own contribution. I’ve got another reel to add at some point, but this will do for now.


The ITÖ 103 reel started me on JDM reels many years ago, and I always longed for one but at that point they were unobtainable for me. So my runner up was the original purple Alphas. I always had a soft spot for them, and although I ended up getting my hands on an Itö (or two) the Alphas eluded me. At the beginning of the lockdown here in Ohio I was cruising Facebook Marketplace and ended up seeing a beaten LH Alphas listed for a decent price. A few messages later and I was meeting the guy in an abandoned supermarket parking lot. I had my Alphas. The reel was very rough. It had plenty of boat rash, an Abu Garcia handle with Lewis’s paddle knobs, and the original drag star broke into two pieces when I attempted to remove it. I played with the reel a bit, fished it as it was, and didn’t love it. It was rough, the handle was never tight, and overall it was just underwhelming. I tried to revert it to a stock 80MM straight handle from a previous project and learned that the driveshaft was stripped, so no matter what I did the handle would always work it’s way loose. By now I had fished the reel enough to grow attached to it, so I started hunting for parts. Through a mash up of parts bin digging and TT members I ended up putting together a solid performing reel. It now sports an Itö 103Ai spool, new drive shaft and 5.8:1 gear set, Alphas R edition star drag, T3 MX handle and retainer, and some SLP Works metallic purple knobs. It’s still a rough reel cosmetically, but I love fishing with it and often end up using it over my Lauda or Itö 103Ai. It still lives a rough life, it’s a designated kayak/travel/trunk reel, but it does it’s job well and I won’t be getting rid of it any time soon.

[LowRange]

Love the Alphas

[LowRange]

Found these weird little rubber rings on aliexpress. I'll use them on whatever rod I get for this reel.

[Cristo]

Looks like a cross country VW Bus