Hope someone can give me some advise. A friend asked me if I could possibly redo 2 rods for him and I said I would give it a shot. He wants to use these rods for wire line trolling but doesn't want to use roller guides. Any suggestions? Also, the entire rod blank had been coated and is now chipped and of course the spaces where the guides used to be. Any suggestions on which type of rod restorer to use? Any help would be greatlt appreciated.

I would use sic guides. As for the rod. I would use a scotch brite scuff pad in gray and wet scuff it with water mixted with a little liquide soap.and scuff the entire rod and feather out all the chips. Then take the rod to a aut body paint shop and have them shoot the rod with an epoxy urithane. In my own openion it is a lot of work. It would be cheaper to have a new rod built. How old are these rods and what are they made of.
Good luck Bob

As far as guides go, you can use sic, carbaloy or titanium nitride depending on the types/styles/colors you want. The blank can be more difficult. If it is fiberglass, as are most trolling blanks, I normally scrape the old finish off with a carpet knife or razor blade held at a 90 degree angle to the blank, being careful not to gouge the glass. Once the majority of old paint/finish is removed, then wet sand the blank with some 400-600 grit sandpaper. Wipe the blank with some alcohol. This is the simplest method I've found and I have never had any rebuilt rod fail under heavy pressure (tuna over 100lbs). I don't recommend this for graphite rods though. You can then mix some color pigment in with your flex coat and apply a moderately thin coat to the blank. I have found this to be more durable than paint, and you can do it yourself. Also on trolling rods you can completely wrap the blank with black size A thread and apply flex coat. I only do this with black because the thread seams are not visible under the finish. Obviously you would only do this on a heavier rod where weight is not really an issue. (yes a wire line rod qualifies) I have refinished probably 75 rods this year using this method, including a few of my own, and done properly with a little practice, it will look as good as any new blank and it wears well also. The customer is happy because all he remembers is the ugly rod he gave you and I haven't had any complaints while using this technique. Once the finish has dried for a few days, wrap the new guides and finish as usual. Just remember, This is rod building not brain surgery. Stick to the KISS principle.

Kevin:
Try doing a seach on this site for "wire line" there's a wealth of very good information there. To much to even begin to explain.

Try carefully adding alittle heat to the area that your scraping , the finish seems to come off alot easier.

Jim Gaskins