One note on soldering if you have never done it before. You need to apply constant heat to both parts for the solder to flow into the joint. Applying a little solder to the tip of the iron then touching the joint will help with the heat transfer from the iron to the rod. Keep adding solder until the joint if sealed (when it started to drip out). If you end up with a bunch of beads near the joint then the parts were not hot enough to let the solder flow good. This is called a cold joint and will fail under vibration. Hope this helps. Drop me a PM if you need more assistance.