the paint I just finger scraped off, the cork and reel set are clamped via ferule and tightening nut, no glue/no mess, only one major guide issue with bent support, pliers were no help really, can do all prepwork, just not able to wrap and align new guides. I own other rods, dont want or need a shimano clarus, I just needed help from someone who knows better than I. BTW, Thank you very much SNDSLNGR.