ABU Garcia Veritas 2.0 Top Section

Hey guys,

So I recently lost the top section of my Abu Garcia Veritas 2.0 rod while out on the water. Damn thing went overboard and went straight to depths of Davey Jones' Locker . I called ABU and put in a claim and within a week, I received a whole new rod . Now here is my dilemma:

What do I do with the bottom section of my older rod?
I tried calling Abu to purchase a new top section but they said that they don't carry spare sections of the rod to try to match them. They referred me to Jann's Netcraft and Mudhole but had no luck with them either. Would hate to just have to use it as a nice looking Beatstick.
Any Suggestions?   

Plenty of people have turned them into down riggers.

^ This.

^ This.

+1