Save yourself a phone call to Ted's and John's. Called Ted's first since they are a sponsor, and they recommended John's to convert Abu reels. John's won't do it anymore, according to the guy who answered the phone.

I'm going to call the place suggested above tomorrow, and then I'll try Ollie Damon's in Portland.

R& R Marine in PA used to do the switch some time ago, but the guy who owns it refuses to look at any reel based on a couple of visits I've paid there. Last time I was in, he had a handful of the parts for the older Abu reels but said he wouldn't do the engineering to replace the instant anti-reverse bearing on the newer models. If you catch him on a good day, you might get lucky if you've got the right reel.

I've got a converted 5000 C3 and may convince myself to reverse-engineer the switch and assembly process just to be able to have a decent direct-drive again.

I'll post my results.