Hi experienced rod refinishers.
I had an early System 5 show up on my doorstep the other day and have been taking some time to assess its condition. Overall, the blank appears very sound but the rod is showing its age in many areas: bubbling in the surface coat, wrap finish is cracking/flaking, wraps are loose, no gap at the spigot, etc. This rod was definitely fished hard by its previous owners.
I'm thinking about stripping it down to the blank, leaving the original grip/seat in place, and rebuilding the rod. I have a couple of builds under my belt but haven't stripped/refinished a classic just yet - I'm looking forward to it and have put the next couple of clean builds aside for now.
I do have a couple of questions to help me thru my planning phase:
1. BLANK RECONDITIONING. What's the best way to address the blank bubbling? Looking closely at the blank, it looks like the bubbling is limited to just a surface coat on the glass. If I scratch at the bubbles with my finger nail, they chip away leaving a smooth, continuous (but dull) surface underneath.
Can I cut off guides/wraps, protect what's left of the markings, remove the surface coat with steel wool/scotch brite, etc., and recoat with a thin application of spar before landing new hardware? Is there a cleaner and/or different method I ought to be using to clean the blank surface? Citrus strip?
2. RESTORING THE FERRULE GAP. I'm familiar with the standard method of cutting the female to create a new gap. On this rod, I can only trim about 1/8" from the female side before a new ferrule wrap will step over the serial number that sits just above it. I know from other threads, some have built up the spigot using a very thin layer of CA glue. When I assemble the sections, they bottom out just as you can start to feel a little bit of friction in the fit. I'm thinking a 1/8" trim isn't going to be enough.
Any recommendations on how to solve the gap issue here? Perhaps I try bee's wax first before doing anything . . .
3. RE-WRAPPING. Even though i plan to rewrap the entire rod, does anyone have any good leads on thread color matches for the two browns used for these builds? I'm sure I can eyeball a couple of reasonably close NOCPs but I'm curious if anyone has re-wrapped a System rod and can get me close on color and manufacturer. At this stage, I'm guessing I'll spar the new wraps.
4. REPLACING FACTORY MARKINGS. Is it bad form to try to replicate the factory SA logo and writing and send out to have a decal made to apply over the existing (and almost entirely gone) factory stamps?
Has anyone done this and can they provide any tips or leads? If this is a good idea, it'll solve my ferrule gap problem - I could simply cut the ferrule as needed, re-wrap it, and re-apply a new section serial at the right distance above the new wrap.
Appreciate your feedback on the long post but considering how highly regarded the System 5's are, I don't want to muck this one up too badly.
Thx!