Does Anyone Have Replacement End Guides For Old Garcia Conolon Rods?

JasonGotaProblem · March 28, 2022, 03:32:53 PM

Unless I am mistaken rings are measured from the outside diameter of the insert. That's why an alconite ring and an alum oxide ring can use the same frame but the inner diameter of the ring will be different.

If it were me I would measure the diameter of the next guide down and match that. If you get a .5 round up.

Walleye Guy · March 30, 2022, 08:20:12 PM

Yet another question from someone who hasn't done this before: the end guide on the casting rod has an insert but none of the other guides on that rod have inserts (ie they are all metal). Does this mean that the end guide was already replaced or was it common practice back then for none of the guides except the end one to have a plastic insert?

Midway Tommy · March 31, 2022, 02:01:25 AM

Can you post a photo of the guides & the label? The model makes a big difference. Most Garcia Conolon rods that I have seen with wire guides had a carboloy tip-top, except for their cheapest grades. Some of their highest grade models had all carboloy guides.

Walleye Guy · March 31, 2022, 12:10:16 PM

Tom, attached are the pictures...they are labeled accordingly for the casting and spinning rods (I have the same question for both rods since I need tip-top guides for each one). The casting rod is a 2159A but unfortunately the model number of the spinning rod is mostly worn off so all I can read is ___5-D. Interestingly, I just noticed the spinning rod has a separate label that says Tungsten Carbide Tip-Top (see last photo). Thanks in advance!

Midway Tommy · March 31, 2022, 07:00:09 PM

The pics tell a lot. It's clear now that the spinning rod has a carbide, sometimes called carboloy, tip-top.

The current tip on the Custom is ceramic, (hardloy). The other guides are carbide. That tip-top may have been changed at some point. Generally, when Garcia started using the ceramic guides, all the guides were ceramic, not just the tip-top. Also, when all the other guides were carbide, so was the tip-top. The lesser amount of brown thread there leads me to think it may have been changed. Was there any thread under the tip when you removed it?

You should still be able to find matching tips for both rods, though.

Walleye Guy · April 01, 2022, 02:28:46 AM

Tom,
No, I didn't see any brown thread underneath the Custom casting rod tip top when I removed it. Just so I'm on the same page, it sounds like you are thinking that most likely all the guides on both rods should be carbide (ie no ceramic inserts), yes?

Midway Tommy · April 01, 2022, 02:53:56 AM

No, just the tip-top on the spinning rod was carbide. The wire guides on it look to be original. I'm thinking all the guides on the casting rod were carbide, though.

Walleye Guy · April 02, 2022, 05:18:39 AM

Tom, how does one tell the difference between a wire guide and a carbide guide? Again, forgive my ignorance as this is new territory for me.

Keta · April 02, 2022, 02:45:59 PM

These guides and tip top are close.

https://mudhole.com/collections/tip-top-guides/products/crb-ssr-light-duty-tip-top-guides-model-xlt?variant=34476528861317

https://mudhole.com/products/crb-wire-frame-boat-rod-guides-braced?variant=34099339034757

Midway Tommy · April 02, 2022, 03:15:37 PM

Quote from: Walleye Guy on April 02, 2022, 05:18:39 AMTom, how does one tell the difference between a wire guide and a carbide guide? Again, forgive my ignorance as this is new territory for me.

You should be able to lay your rods side by side and tell the difference. Carbide guides are thicker and have a somewhat flatter appearance than the more rounded appearance of the wire in wire guides. You can also go to Mudhole.com and check out the pics. I can't remember if they actually carry carbide tip-tops, I haven't been there in a couple of years. In any event, you can Google carbide guides and see lots of examples on the image tab.

Walleye Guy · April 07, 2022, 02:26:24 AM

I ordered one of those CRB tip top gauges to help verify the tip top sizes I need.

Walleye Guy · April 13, 2022, 02:25:44 PM

The tip top gauge arrived and I used it to measure the rod tips. Here is what I found:

Spinning rod: the rod tip fits into the 6.5 hole nicely, so this one should be a 6.5 for the tip-top tube.

Casting rod: I have to continually rotate the gauge around the rod tip while sliding it up to the shoulder to fit the rod tip into the 11 hole, but it slips onto the 12 with a little bit of slop. Would this be considered an 11 or 12? It looks like there could be some leftover glue on the tip even though I tried to gently scrape it clean, so maybe it's an 11.

thorhammer · April 13, 2022, 03:05:31 PM

Personally I like to go up a half, so there is room for the adhesive to mate, intstead of being pushed out of the tubeand maybe not leaving much inside.

Midway Tommy · April 13, 2022, 04:36:18 PM

Quote from: thorhammer on April 13, 2022, 03:05:31 PMPersonally I like to go up a half, so there is room for the adhesive to mate, intstead of being pushed out of the tubeand maybe not leaving much inside.

I agree. Make sure you have enough play to allow for some glue.

Walleye Guy · April 13, 2022, 07:31:24 PM

Thank-you, that's helpful. Based on those two responses, I'll need a 7 for the spinning rod and could probably get by with an 11 for the casting rod since there is some slop when inserted into the #11 hole. Question about the guide eye/ring size (see attached picture of the CRB tip-top gauge I purchased): am I supposed to fit the ring OVER the plastic boss (which will be measuring the ID of the ring) or am I supposed to line up the OD with the plastic boss to match the ring OD? Again, I'm a newbie at this so please forgive my ignorance.