# Old to New



## johnmyjohn

A few months back I was taking some rods down from my wall rack in my garage. I accidentally hung an eye on my oldest rod and it rolled off the rack dropping about 6' landing almost flat on the concrete floor and the bump lip that most garages have. It was all in slow motion. After it bounced around the concrete floor for what seemed an hour I stared at it for what seemed another hour. I picked it up to check it out and found that the rod's first and hardest hit was taken by the eyes. There was no cracks, chips or scratches except what 30+ years of use put on it. I took it outside and started flexing it a little to full simulated cast to see if it was still usable. At that point I was half way across the river, do I retire it and build a new one or rebuild it an add to it's many fishing trips. I have a twin rod to this one and decided that if I retire a rod I would do so the one still in one piece. So I'm going to rebuild this old rod.
I wasn't going to post what I was doing because I didn't know how long it was going to take and didn't want to drag it out. But if someone was going to do this I would be interested myself so I'm going to post it as I go, slow as it may be.
First of all if that rod could talk it would start by telling stories of majestic tarpon and speeding king fish and end with magnum hard heads. It was one of the first rods I built, circa mid 70's. I believe it is an old Fenwic 14 1/2 foot fiberglass blank cut down to 13 1/2 foot. The grips are foam and the bottom is nylon string with resin over it. My intention was not to win a beauty contest but to get as close to commercial as I could. The reel seat I believe is an old Marshal, as you can see it was too big for the reels I was using but that was all that would fit the diameter of the blank. I engineered a spacer out of the cut off blank so when I tightened the ree seat it would close down on the reel. The eyes are stainless, the brand I don't have a clue because back then I didn't pay much attention to those things. I just knew I needed a some rods and those two were probably the end of it anyway, yea right. For those who have seen my newer rods you can see my style of wrapping hasn't changed much, maybe just a little neater. 
I'll try to keep in touch.


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## johnmyjohn

I went see my local rod building monger and took my project with me. Terrynj helped out and selected replacement parts. Decided to stay with steel reel seat and stainless eyes. I'll be using left over thread and epoxy from previous jobs. Don't let the picture scare you.


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## johnmyjohn

I remove the grips and the base wraps with a utility knife. I used a machete on the trot line wrap on the bottom. Just make sure you leave the blade flat when cutting off wraps, like filleting the flesh of the skin on a fish. I used a grinder on the metal reel seat. I'ld make a couple of passes the cool it down with a water hose. Once I got the metal to seperate or saw daylight I'ld stop so not to hit the glass. A small tap and the seat just slid off.


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## Goags

That's a beast of a rod! Looking forward to more pics as you continue w/ the rebuild.


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## xxxxxQTRODS

you would be crazy not to rebuild a good fenwick blank. that would be like not rebuilding a 57 chavy!!! nice work bennie, be looking forward to finished product.


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## xxxxxQTRODS

*second time*



QTRODS said:


> you would be crazy not to rebuild a good fenwick blank. that would be like not rebuilding a 57 chavy!!! nice work bennie, be looking forward to finished product.


hey, also wasn't it easier taking that seat off with a bench grinder than a hacksaw. if you want to know another secret of taking old thread off, bench grinder with a fine wire wheel. you have to be careful but u just barelly stick it to the thread and it will shread them to the blank or not it will make the thread soft and easy to cutoff with a box cutter just like you are doing with the jungle knife then you peal it off. once you get use to it works real fast. hey i got to go i have rods to build!!!!!!!.............bennie


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## xxxxxQTRODS

*second time*



QTRODS said:


> you would be crazy not to rebuild a good fenwick blank. that would be like not rebuilding a 57 chavy!!! nice work bennie, be looking forward to finished product.


hey, also wasn't easier taking that seat off with a bench grinder than a hacksaw. if you want to know another secret of taking old thread, bench grinder with a fine wire wheel. you have to be careful but u just barelly stick it to the thread and it will shread them to the blank or not it will make the thread soft and easy to cutoff with a box cutter just like you are doing with the jungle knife then you peal it off. once you get use to it works real fast.............bennie


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## johnmyjohn

Yes, it was better using a grinder on the seat. I decided against the Dremil because it was so much to cut and it was brass. I figured I'ld take my chances with a surface grind mark rather than a Dremil cut. You ever hear '' measure twice cut once'', I've found years ago there's not much room for err on rebuilding.


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## Doc Labanowski

Awesome project. Cant wait to see the end results.


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## johnmyjohn

Last weekend I managed to get a little done. I finished stripping off the blank. It took a while getting off the old epoxies, the threads left little ridges where they didn't meet flat on he surface. Got these and all the other humps off by lightly scraping, I never put so much force as to dig into the blank. I used sandpaper on the reel seat area down and used a light abrasive pad forward to the tip. All I wanted to do was get the surface flat and get the oxidation off. Unfortunately the cleaning took most of the Fenwick bird logo and model number, they were going to be under the reel seat anyway. I prepped the blank with a coat of high gloss spray which not only brought back the old color but shined up the buffed areas.


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## johnmyjohn

I did the base wrap between the mid grip and the butt grip. I thought I had it all planned out but not. I went from putting some sort of wrap to painting a fish there. There's so much beautiful space there I've pretty well decided to add a personal personal touch and paint a fish like my previous build. I've also decided the fish would have to be something this pole has fought and brought in. The fish I've narrowed it down to are bull reds, sharks of all kinds, king fish, tarpon, specks, rays and other not so desirable species. There's so much space I can just do one fish or two, but which one or ones?


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## johnmyjohn

It's been a while but I got a chance to work on old yellow.
I ended up choosing a tarpon to paint in the space between grips on the bottom because it was a great catch and a nice looking fish. I managed to get the base wrap between the handles done and flex coated twice. I drew and cut out what I wanted on a piece of tape, stuck it to the rod and spray painted the area mentioned. I removed the taped image trying to get depth but it turned out so so. I then painted the fish and put another coat of epoxy on it to protect it while finishing up the rod. The painting came out o.k. considering it was rolled. The bottom grip is nothing more than 3/16 nylon cord wrapped and tucked like a normal wrap, flex coated and allowed to harden. I then painted the grip and coated it again to protect the paint. The reason I went back to the cord type grip is because it works very well for surf fishing. A rod holder does almost all the holding of a rod and tends to beat up that area when putting in and removing it. This is especially true when taking new comers and kids who don't have the strength to keep from scraping the sides when the pole is in a bind with a fish on. I also stayed with the full length on the reel seat which I normally cut down for weight and just fit the reels I was using on it. The full length was for extra support on an old rod and chrome just looks good. The fore grip wrap is also done and coated ready to slide the grip on. 
I have no photo shop skills what so ever so I couldn't flatten out the fish painting. 
I've rebuilt just a few poles but the long rods are something else. I believe when finished it will be that much more rewarding, especially since it was mine and I was the original builder.


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## CoastalBent

Wow, that tarpon looks great!! That's talent!


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## Goags

CoastalBent said:


> Wow, that tarpon looks great!! That's talent!


WOW X 2!!


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## Wafflejaw

Goags said:


> WOW X 2!!


x3..Tarpon looks great!...Nice work


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## Jrob78

Beautiful work!


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## YAKNTX

Very nicely done


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## d4rdbuilder

Nice ****! Great Job!


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## johnmyjohn

Thanks all for the comps. It's good to hear outside input, sometimes it helps in taking a secound look and whether to keep doing something or not.


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## Goags

d4rdbuilder said:


> Nice ****! Great Job!


Doug, ya can't say pooon on here! hwell:
John, I say keep doing what your doing...that's a talent that few have!!


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## d4rdbuilder

How about Tarpoon?


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## johnmyjohn

Between a little fishing , work and the holidays I've been away from my project. Actually I'm proud of my rod, not about the workmanship but the fact I finished it. I can't see someone doing this for hire, I truly believe I could build two or three big sticks for the time it took to redo this one. 
I wanted to take as much from the old one as I could, other than the blank itself I salvaged a tightening ring from the seat. I took it and reamed the threads out where it would slide on the new seat and work as a spacer in case I want to use a smaller reel. My wife said it looked like a wedding ring. I also found some of my old thread on wooden spools which are from about 1975 era and used it on the gold and the green.
As far as the grips go the bottom I couldn't find a plug to fit so I improvised and used a coin concho as a stopper. The top two grips are foam.
The space where the fish is has seven coats of Flex Coat, base wrap coat, coat, silhouette the fish and painted the wrap, painted the fish and coat, three coats, sand and finish coat. I am curios how age will treat this area. 
I weighed the rod and it came to a flyweight 2.7 lbs on my Berkley digital. I added the original 4/0 Penn and together you'll be carrying 5.3 lbs.
I hope you all enjoy my little write up.


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## newsharker

very nice rod. i love the colors.


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## 22fish

Great job!!! Cool rod


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## On The Hook

Great project! Hope you get to enjoy the rod for many more years.


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## tank8677

the tarpon look great, beautiful fenwick you got there sir!!


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## johnmyjohn

Thanks all for your comments and input.


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## Paleo Dave

I love old tackle that has good mojo. Tried to photoshop your tarpon views out flat. Nice job all around salvaging an awesome rod.


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## fishin styx

awesome work sir.


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## cva34

*RE-TREAD*

What a beautiful ROD.Thanks for takeing us by the hand/picture and walking us through the process....CVA34


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## wshniwasfshn

That is absolutely amazing. awesome job


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## johnmyjohn

Paleo Dave said:


> I love old tackle that has good mojo. Tried to photoshop your tarpon views out flat. Nice job all around salvaging an awesome rod.


I appriciate the compliments, I hope someone gets something from this in the future. Thanks Dave for the photoshop, I was wondering what it would look like flattened out.


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## Doc Labanowski

You done gud. I have done projects like this in the past and I think in some ways, the satisfaction is greater. In any case great seeing an old friend come back to life. :an5:


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## johnmyjohn

Yes it took a while but here it is boys. I post this picture on the fishing reports but I had to put a closer on this old Fenwick rebuild. I bought the reel right after I finished the pole 35 years ago the first time. I was going to hang it on the ceiling in my man room but decided to put it to use. The first run I got on it my little buddy got to it first, he broke it in just fine.


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## Goags

I LOVE when a plan comes together! Excellente, Juan! Thanks for the update. 35 yrs is simply awesome!!


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## CaptDocHoliday

I just love a happy ending!


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## troutsupport

really great craft... your handiwork is exceptional, sometimes new is not always better and it's fun to salvage that stuff and make it better... I'm restoring a skitterwalk the fall... lol... it's minor compared to a rod, but it was my favorite one.


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## oldguy

Man what a great project really nice looking restoration. Well done


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## Charlie2

*Many Thanks*



cva34 said:


> What a beautiful ROD.Thanks for takeing us by the hand/picture and walking us through the process....CVA34


Same here! It was fun watching someone else do it for a change.C2


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## Silverfox1

Nice referb.


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## YakMan

Nice! Love the tarpon.Think Im gonna have to pull my old big rod out and get to work now. It was my very first build back in 1986.


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## johnmyjohn

YakMan said:


> Nice! Love the tarpon.Think Im gonna have to pull my old big rod out and get to work now. It was my very first build back in 1986.


That trip was at a place I surf fished starting in my teens. Going there, adding I was using my original equipment, getting in the water and a few reds sacrificing themselves was like reacting a time long gone. Funny how just the smell of salt air, live mullet and a drumming red on the beach brings youth back into you. I have 3 more old rods now just like that one on the rack that need a touch of care, maybe this winter. Once again, thanks all.


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## johnmyjohn

I didn't want to rewrite everything so I'm adding it to this post. It took me 5 years to build up the courage to do the other Fenwick. I cut this one down to a short 12'6". The black under the redfish is not paint but black C thread. The grips came from mud hole, the Lakeland chrome plated brass seat came from FTU and the eyes I got from Jann's sport tackle about twenty years ago. Excuse my photos, my phone won't load multiples.


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## johnmyjohn

Another


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## johnmyjohn

Another one


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## johnmyjohn

Last


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## Goags

Good stuff, John! Glad you tacked on to your old post, as it tells the story.


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## teamfirstcast

way cool!! just a beautiful old rod with new life... many new stories left to tell.


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## cfulbright

Both look amazing!


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## Skiff

Amazing!


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