Thread: Old to New Again - Daiwa & Penn 850SS

So my first couple of forays back into saltwater fishing a few years ago started out with surf fishing. I asked my grandfather if I could borrow some gear to fish with, and he "hooked me up" with a pair of Daiwa Apollo Gold 1927H rods with Penn 850SS reels! And while these are not "ideal" surf fishing outfits, they served me quite well for the first couple of years when I'd come down and fish on vacation.

Fast forward to now.... Many of you fine folks (and the search feature) have given me an overabundance of advice and recommendations. So much so that I am equipped for the surf, the pier, and have both of my kayaks ready for inshore.

The time has come to repay my debt. Both rods and reels have seen better days. I know I've caught plenty of fish with them! While it is unlikely that my grandfather will ever personally use these rods and reels again, I want to refurbish them back to new. The reels aren't too much of a concern for me. I'm 100% confident that I can find a tutorial or a YouTube video that will show me how to break them down, clean and lube them, and reassemble. The rods are what concern me. Most of the glue and threads around the guides are failing, so that is the main focus of my repair. I'm going to take some scrap wood around the shop and some old skate wheels and build a simple rod turning jig so that I can re-wrap the guides. One of my biggest questions is, should I go ahead and replace the guides, or just re-wrap them.

So....hopefully over this winter you will see more on this thread as the build moves on. Any advice, recommendations, and links to instructions are welcome! Also, here are a few pictures. We all know how many words they are worth!

Looking forward to seeing what you do with them, Maybe it will motivate me.
I've always thought of it as a "Dark Art" .

I hope it doesn't disappoint!

I'm interested in the process, how,materials, etc. As long as you are happy that's what counts.

I'm planning on building something like this for the wrapping, but probably with some skate wheels or something to help the rod roll easier. I want to find a way to redo the lettering on the rod as well.

You really don't need a roller with a bearing if you are wrapping by hand. I would suggest cutting a couple of notches on the edges of a box and have all you need to get started. Spend more time practicing wrapping rather than building a wrapper

Originally Posted by rabidawise

I want to find a way to redo the lettering on the rod as well.

do you think the vinyl cutting, like with a silhouette cutter would work? i think it would be easy to process and then seal once placed on the rod. i bet you could do an internet search for the lettering and then copy it. i know someone who could probably do that for you.

Since you are redoing vintage rods, and the lettering is legible, I would just clear-coat the existing lettering to preserve it. You can replace the guides. redo the wrapping, and as long as the blank is still good, you will retain the value of the vintage rod by preserving the lettering. If you're going to redo the lettering, you might as well start out with a new blank and brand it your own.

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys! Do any of you have a preferred vendor to get guides/thread/glue/etc?