Hi aadam
Mate striping the rod is easy
also make sure when you remove the lacquer that makes the rod shiny that you use the non sharp side of a stanley knife
be careful when removing the eva or cork gripd with a sharp stanley knife that you do not cutinto the blank
to remove the reel seat use a hackaw and cut the seat in a spiral from one end to the other. You can also heat up the real seat to get the epoxy(araldite) to meltthen pull it off.
I have done several and the rod looks like brand new.
Ken AKA Rodman