Originally Posted by
willwork4fish
1. Alconites will be just fine
2. File them down even if the appear to have a bevel already, makes wrapping them a lot easier.
3. You can put the same size guides on but I wouldn't. Most older rods use larger guides than you see now and they weren't always placed where they should have been. A nice recipe is a KWAG8 for the stripper, then a KBAG6 and then KTAG5.5's for your runners. It'll "modern up" the rod and save you a little weight from what was on there.
4. I'd put a new tip on it. I've come to like Kigan tips better than Fuji's myself but for ease of ordering for you I'd just say get an FAT6 with whatever tube size you need (I like going .5mm larger on the tip than I use for the runners but that's me.
If I was redoing a 7' rod with the above guides I'd order 10 total (1 size 8 stripper, 1 size 7 and then 8 of the 5.5 runners) and then the tip (my guess is that the tip is gonna be a 2.2mm tube but I'd get a 2.0 and a 2.4 just to be safe). You might have one left over guide but better safe.
Biggest pain in the ass with the whole deal will be stripping off the old ones and then getting the blank all nice and clean. Be careful when stripping them, basically all I do is heat up the old finish a little with a lighter and then scrape down the foot of the old guide and then pick at it until you get an thread end and then unravel it. Don't apply too much heat and don't nick the blank. A little more heat and your fingernail should get off the rest of the finish.
A lot of times with an older rod you'll have some discoloration where the old guides came off. If you take a Scotch Brite pad and some simple green to it you can usually get rid of it. I'll take it to the whole blank to get it a uniform color if need be. I've also used some 400 or 500 grit sandpaper to do the same thing. It'll change the overall finish of the rod but as long as it looks even it'll look good.
The rest is just having the right equipment and supplies to wrap a rod. It's not difficult just takes some time. Plenty of youtube vids out there.