Hello all,

I normally build new graphite rods, but I ran across 2 old H-I fiberglass fly rods that are in very good shape.
One of the rods has a snake guide wrap that needs to be repaired. I know they used fewer guides years ago - this one only has 1 guide on the butt section and 4 guides on the tip, plus the tiptop. I am wondering if I should only repair the one guide, or if I should attempt to add more guides. Will adding the extra guides give me any major benefits? I am not so much worried about keeping it original, but making a nice fishable rod.
The other rod does not look like it has ever been used. For this one, I just want to add a little more strength to the wraps and I am wondering what would be the best to use on this. I was thinking spar varnish or lite build flex-coat, but wanted to get some other opinions, ideas, or suggestions before I get started.

Also, is there anywhere I could look to get information on old H-I fiberglass rods?

Horrock Ibbotson rods Utica, NY are fishable, but not very collectible.
The antique tackle sites should have some info on them.

Spencer

As far as the guide question goes, I would static deflect the rod and see if the line passes through without any sharp angles in it. If it looks smooth, then it's fine.

"Got Ink?"

Rod Restoreror speed coat by Gudebrod should work fine on the wraps, I've used it on occasions and been happy with the results.
Larry

I redone several old glass fly rods including one HI. these rods tend towards the heavy side. anyway, your question regarding number of guides is a good one. i will assume the designers of glass rods kind of knew what they were doing. even the great phillipson glass had less guides than modern graphite rods. i think that is because fiberglass has a different flex characteristic than graphite. the glass rods are
tough and tend to follow a certain flex pattern in spite of the number of guides. graphite is much more prone to breakage if the stresses are not evenly spread. as for finish it is likely that the wraps were nylon and color preserved and then varnished. or they may have had NCP thread but probably regulare nylon. it is hard to match color on these old rods with just one guide but what i have done is remove a whole chunk of thread from a guide by cutting along the guide foot and peeling of a whole section. look at the color underneath. it will give you a hint as to the actual color. it will have faded over time on the exposed surface. you can probably get close but it will still be visible that it was re-wrapped. if you do all the wraps you have a lot more freedom. one thing that will happen is when you remove the wraps the blank will be lighter underneath. over time these varnished blanks get darker, but not under the wrap. so placing your new guides on the same spot as the old guides will hide this. this complicates adding guides because you may not be able to get the added guides spaced right.

now, for color preserver i have been pushing the use of WATER BASED POLYURETHANE. i use three light coats of Olympic brand water based poly followed by two to three coats of marine spar. i think this will work very well on the old glass rods.

i probably told you a lot more than you wanted to know.