# Rod repair question....



## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

I've got a question for the rod builders and repairers....

I have an Abu Garcia Villian flipping stick that I purchased at a "heavy" discount through a Pure Fishing employee 2 years ago..... it was the first model of the Villian line, and they used a very radical, skeletal reel seat with the intention to cut weight (and it looks pretty cool as well). Well, as I was afraid of, the trigger broke off of the handle, and due to the manner that I bought the rod, it's not eligible for a warranty claim...
I love the rod. I tried to epoxy the trigger back on with devcon 2 ton, but there's just not enough material to hold. I'm wanting to replace the reel seat, but I have no idea how to get the EVA foam butt, and the rest of the reel seat off without screwing up the blank. Is this doable? How do I measure the blank for a new reel seat? And what tools/equipment do I need to get it done? I'd really like to do it myself instead of paying someone else to do it, because I assume it would cost more that I actually paid for the entire rod new. Any help is appreciated.


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## Cutt'em Jack (Feb 17, 2008)

If you want to use a reel seat like the one on it now you would have to strip the line guides and slide the new one from the top down. Or you could get a bigger one and wrap tape to make some arbors and push one on from the bottom. Either way you have some work ahead of you. If it were me, I'd strip the guides and put on another low profile reel seat, then put your guides back on.


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## Cutt'em Jack (Feb 17, 2008)

As far as tools. Scalpel to cut guides off. Some rod bond to epoxy on new reel seat, some sort of rod wrapper to put guides back on, flexcoat to seal and protect wraps and a rod turner. The wrapper can be as simple as running your thread through a phone book to add tension. You don't need a power wrapper for one rod.


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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

Cutt'em Jack has you dialed in as far as replacing it. As far as getting the old one off, using some heat may soften up the epoxy a bit, but I'd be careful as to how much heat you use. Getting the trigger part off would probably be pretty easy. Getting the thread tube off will be a different story. 

I just took a reel seat off of an old rod and replaces it. I used a Dremel with the cut wheel on it to cut a split in the thread tube and peeled it off. If there's a fore grip or a winding check at the front of the reel seat, try to remove it first to see how much room you have between the blank and the inside of the tube. Getting the EVA off won't be a problem. Nor will putting it back on from the rear if you so choose. Ream it so it's pretty snug on the blank an inch or two from where you want the final position to be. 

When you go to put it on make sure you put rod bond on the blank from where the grip is loose on the blank, to where you want its final position to be. That way you'll be assured of getting epoxy inside the grip. Clean it with denatured alcohol. Fight the urge to go with the 5 minute rod bond. If you're a little slow getting it in position, it may set up on you too quickly. 

If you want a reel seat that has an exposed section of the blank you'll need to measure the diameter of the rod blank where you want the rear of the reel seat to be. You can use regular calipers but digital calipers work better and take any guess work out of the equation. Reel seats are sized in milimeters so you'll need to covert that to inches. Most suppliers list both mm and inches in their sizes. 

Depending on what size guides you have on the running portion of the blank, you may not have to strip them all off. If they're micro guides you may only have to strip off the reduction guides. All depends though.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Well.... I definitely don't want to get into stripping and replacing guides... I've still been using the rod, and it's not nearly as "weird" feeling without the trigger as I thought it would be, but now, the entire reel seat kinda scares me. I'm just waiting for it break somewhere else and the reel coming detached from the rod. I've been looking at reel seats on Jann's, and there's several that I like. I just don't know if I'm up for this project quite yet. Lol


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## Cutt'em Jack (Feb 17, 2008)

It's not as bad as you think it will be. Maybe practice on an old one. That's what I did when I started building rods. Removing the reel seat is the hardest part of the job but a dremel will make it easier.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Well... I have a dremel. Guess I'll start doing some pricing and choosing what I want to put on there and see where it goes from there. Thanks everyone!


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