The biggest problem I see people have with 2 piece rods is having the tip half fly off while casting. That being said, I have a couple of 2 piece rods and have never had the tip half come off on a cast. I use my 2 piece 10' Star rod almost every weekend both for casting lures or soaking bait....have hooked everything from tarpon, jacks, kings, snook, bonita, blacktips, etc and have never seen anything that would indicate any weakness in the rod from the joint. I have the same problem you do as far as driving a very small car (Mini Cooper)and the longest rod I can fit in it is 8' 9"....so when I had my custom made, I had them shorten the blank from 9' to 8'9". But to each his own!!

Well the reels are now set in stone, just ordered an avet mxl mc from charkbait along with a Penn Battle 8000, all thats left is the rods.

I just acquired an old Master Grey Series 3210 rod. The rod looks old but its still very fishable, my only concern is it says its rated for 10-25 lb line ( i will be using 20) and for 1-3 oz lures (my lead alone will be 3-4 oz, so I'll probably have a final lure weight of 5-6 oz) Do you guys think I can use this with the Penn?

I would give it a try.......Im not familiar with Master Grey rods but should do the job for ya

Alright, well I bought some stuff, had some stuff, and have some stuff coming in, i'm going to list some of the rods/reels I have/will have and it would be greatly appreciated if you guys can advice what I should pair to what.

Reels-
Penn Battle 8000
Quantum Omni 60
Avet MXL MC
Penn 309
Shakespeare t20l0
Shimano Torium 30
Penn Fierce 8000

Rods-
9ft Master Grey Spinning medium action
7ft spinner med/heavy
8ft spinner med/heavy
8ft penn fierce spinner medium/heavy (came with fierce)
7 ft custom conventional rod medium action
7'5 custom conventional rod heavy action
8'6 Bass Pro Leopard conventional
9' Custom 30-80 bottom rod
6' Penn Mariner rod (came with 309)
7' generic shakespeare conventional rod (came with t20l0)