Just wanted to comment on your carbon rod with JB weld. I use a similar setup with carbon rods and all thread but follow the advice of Darrol Cady who sells rods for the pylon crowd. His method has been foolproof and I've used it for many years. You might want to take a look at his web site and check out how he reccomends installing threaded rods into carbon tubes. It's very informative.

He also has a very good article on painting fiberglass and filling pin holes.

http://www.darrolcady.com

Hope this helps.