I am waiting to hear back from St. Croix on this, but maybe someone here can enlighten me...
I put a St Croix peel 'n' stick decal on the rod. I covered it with 3 coats of CP, waited 24 hours, and just put the first coat of PG on. It looks like the PermaGloss attacked the CP. The surface got all krinkly-looking, but the decal appears to be fine underneath. Any ideas on what I did wrong or on how to save it? The other decal on the rod (a peel'n'stick from Decal Connection, applied with the same technique, came out great.

PG has a hot solvent in it, but even a single unthinned coat of CP is usually enough protect a decal from it.

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her do some reading. This should answer your questions: [rodbuilding.org]

Bill - willierods.com

I think I got my answer (to the cause) from St Croix. Older decals (peel n stick) had/have a tendency to seep adhesive from underneath to the top of the decal. It could be the adhesive that is causing the krinkly-look. For this reason, St Croix has gone to the water slide on their current blanks and rods.
Would a finish epoxy be likely to "hide" the problem, and give a smooth appearance?

What brand of Color Preserver did you use?

Flex Coat

No...... a coat if finish is not at all likely to hide any decal issue.

DR

Did you put a a thine coat od thread finish down before you applied the decal? Also is the decal transparent and is the blank a flat black.?
Good Wraps Bob

I did not puyt down a coat of finish first.
The blank is pearlescent black.
It is a transparent decal with white printing.

I always put a thine/thine coat of PG down first. This well stop micro bubbles from forming and giving the decal a fogged looked. Send the guys at Decal Connection an email or call them I amsure they have a soultion for you.
Good Wraps Bob

OK, so now a big question for a newbie.....have a decal that i ordered from mudghole (peel and stick) I am assuming....that i hope to put on my first rod build (in progress)......what are the exact steps in applying a decal (so as not to screw it up)....i hope to put it directly above the line keeper, which i will wrap in.......tips? thanks.

Thanks for the tip, Bob. I'll try that on the next one.
My problem, however, is with the St Croix decal. I applied 3 coats of CP to protect it. When I put the PG over that, it appears that the CP wrinkled or rippled. The decal appears to be fine, underneath it all. Now I am just trying to figure out the best way hide or repair the ripples. I think that I will try applying a finish epoxy over it, hoping that the self-leveling characteristics will smooth things out a bit.

Go to Decal Connection. Good info there.
I would use epoxy finish instead of Permagloss. A lot easier.

Bill - willierods.com

When I apply a St Croix decal to the blank I rub the decal with a burnishing tool to get all the air bubbles out. I then put a lite coat of CP around the edges of the decal to cover any escaped addheasive, This has worked for me on hundreds of St Croix rods. Joe

I applied a coat of Flex Coat, and the ripples have "disappeared". Looks good!