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Post 12 Sep 2021, 11:26 • #1 
Sport
Joined: 06/06/21
Posts: 41
Location: Northeast Oklahoma
I picked up this rod and reel for $5 yesterday at a garage sale. It was encrusted in old barn dust, so I wasn't sure I would be able to find a manufacturer's mark. After soaking overnight in a mild dish-soap solution, I've removed enough grime to vaguely read the word "Phantom" and to clearly see the model number "F286" in block letters. (Unfortunately, there is no casper logo.) The rod is tubular (not solid). All guides are in good shape. Wraps are tight around the guides, but the spiral portions of the wraps are coming loose. The rod has a hook keeper and stripping guide with mylar underneath. There are four snake guides (without mylar). The tiptop was designed with a crimped tube. The guide feet are full thickness (not filed down) and the tips of the feet appear to be deliberately exposed in the wraps.
After a vigorous cleaning with isopropanol, the ferrules now work great (but they still need lots of external cosmetic cleaning). I cast it in the road with 6-WF line, and I love it--very slow and smooth action.
I plan to continue cleaning, stabilize the wraps, and fish with it a few times this fall. Over the winter, I'll completely refinish and re-wrap with new (and more) guides and thread. (If the word "Phantom" was easier to read, I'd just clean it up and repair the spiral wraps. Without a good original logo, however, I think I prefer to give it a complete refinish and make it nice.)
The rod came with a cheap, corroded reel. I intended to toss the reel in the junk bin, but it operates smoothly and the clicker works great. It's such a simple and functional reel, I'm thinking about putting some line on it. If I succeed in getting rid of the rust, is there a way to prevent the corrosion from coming back? It appears to be made of ferrous metal with a flaking chrome finish. I think the clearances are large enough to accommodate some rust-o-leum or other finish on the visible parts. Any thoughts?
Best wishes.
Mitch








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Post 12 Sep 2021, 13:37 • #2 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 11/06/17
Posts: 2498
Location: South of Joplin
:like
A long thread about cleaning reels- viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1385

And this one has a bit about removing rust- viewtopic.php?f=4&t=57740#p280314

Not an expert on reel preservation, but, I'd either spray the cleaned reel with lacquer or hot wax it like I do steel traps and other ferrous metals. ~220F on the wax pot for me, that drives out any remaining water from crevices and such.


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Post 12 Sep 2021, 13:55 • #3 
Administrator
Joined: 01/10/06
Posts: 7811
Location: Holly Springs, NC
Phantom rods don't show up often. I don't know if they simply didn't sell well, didn't make their owners happy, or didn't survive the intervening years. Maybe a combination of all three.

I've attached an image of the fly rod page from Phantom's 1954 catalog. The 'ghost' mascot is nowhere to be seen in the catalog. It appears you have a 'Standard' model rod, but your F286 is not specifically listed. Perhaps the F286 came out in 1955 or 1956? Based on the model numbers in the catalog your rod should be 8'6" assembled.

Your rod was an economy build. The ferrule is made from a piece of chrome plated brass, swaged to shape. Often these ferrules start bad and get worse with time. You are lucky that yours is fully functional. The reelseat is thin metal with a single lock ring. The rod has a minimal number of guides. The tiptop is not original. Factory rods nearly always have a wrap at the tiptop. It appears the original tiptop was lost and a larger size tiptop was crimped to fit.

I like your idea of stabilizing the rod and fishing with it first. Before you put effort into a rebuild, make sure you aren't putting lipstick on a pig. A high quality re-wrap with more guides won't improve a thing if the underlying blank is unresponsive. On the other hand, if you really like how it fishes, go for it. In the process, you will likely have to patiently file the tip top off. Hopefully the underlying fiberglass was not damaged during crimping.


Tom



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Post 12 Sep 2021, 16:16 • #4 
Sport
Joined: 06/06/21
Posts: 41
Location: Northeast Oklahoma
Thanks, Trev & Tom. I'm intrigued by the notion of electrolysis to remove rust and paint from the reel, as discussed in the older thread that Trev mentioned. I may give that a try, as well as Trev's suggested spray-on lacquer as a finish (your post reminded me that I also used wax when I trapped muskrats for spending money as a kid; I had forgotten all about that). As Tom mentioned, the rod is 8'6" when fully assembled. The crimp on this rod is very near the tip, so I think the filing will be a manageable a job. Hopefully, any damage will be easy to encase in a new standard-length tiptop (I'll use epoxy in the replacement tiptop for extra strength). I'm hoping that fishing the rod will be as enjoyable as the practice casting was. Tom, I appreciate the catalog page. I've looked through all of the Phantom catalog postings I could find on the forum, and I haven't seen this model mentioned so far. It will be interesting to hear if anyone is familiar with the 286.
Best wishes.
Mitch


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