Fishing rod restoration

[SonofDitka]

Good day all! A little guidance needed here.

I have a very unremarkable 60-year old-ish fishing rod that I'm mulling over restoring, but is important to me because it's the only thing that I have of my grandfather.

At any rate, I'm fairly certain when I intend on doing in some aspects of this little project. The cork handle has already been cleaned and I'll be putting cork protector on it soon. I intend on replacing the line guides with something a little more modern but still aesthetically appropriate.|

It's the rod itself, however, that is giving me pause. It is, to be charitable, in rough condition. Still usable but it's got scratches and the lacquer (?) coat is patchy at this point. I know I could sand this rod down to the blank and re-paint and coat from there, but I'd rather not do that. I would like to keep as much of the original paint and markings as possible.

So with that lengthy background out of the way, what could I do to restore this rod? Some people recommend an automotive clear coat as a replacement for whatever protective coat was on top of the paint. Is that a reasonable step?

I'm not looking for perfection -- this is an old rod that I might use fishing a few times to pay homage to the past, so I dig that this thing will never be show room ready. I just want it to be good.

[Oldfart9999]

I would hope that one of the rod guys would drop in, Lee, FD.....
Rodney

[FD]

If it was a yard sale find and going to be just a wall hanger, then that's pretty easy to do.  But since it has sentimental value AND you want to fish it, that's a different story.

I've done several rehab videos on my YouTube channel but if you want, send me a pm with your phone number and I will walk you through it.

FD

[SonofDitka]

I don't want to be a bother -- I'll check out your YT videos first. If I fail there, could be a follow-up message afterwards, ha ha.