If you want to avoid all the hassle, just cut the old gear off and rig them like a Shortbus flasher.

Get yourself some larger duo lock snaps and your choice of swivels and you're good to go.

Here's a nice video too about how you can experiment with your old flashers. Also, you can see the set up with the duo lock snaps I'm referring to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joJi0tNSQwc&index=83&list=WL&t=251s

Basically, attach the swivel on the smaller end of the snap then attach the large end of the snap to the flasher. And it makes swapping out gear really easy.

One last thing. I wouldn't worry too much about switching tape etc. I think people overthink things a lot (myself included). As long as you present your setup to the fish in the correct way, you're likely to hook up.