I've seen a few similar split grip conversion post and figured I would share mine. It was done, like the others, with channel lock pliers, sandpaper, dremel tool, and an emory board.

Here's what it looked like before.

Big, clunky, gold colored double foot guides all the way to the tip.

After

Nice job!

It looks waaaay better, particularly with the better guides.  What was the original rod?

Great work!

Really nice job.

It looks waaaay better, particularly with the better guides. What was the original rod?

It was an old BPS rod that I picked up for around $30.  It didn't have a model name on it but it did say "IM8".  It was terribly tip heavy before.  I used to have about 3 ounces of weight attached to the back of it, now it balances nicely with no additional weight.