Macgregor Armour 693 Jumbo Refinish Project

I have finally finished this Macgregor Armour 693 Jumbo persimmon driver, one of the rarest Macgregors drivers ,this is the only one I have ever seen other than a picture of one. I acquired this driver about 10 years ago in an Ebay 4 club lot for 5.99, The picture of the woods were poor but I could tell it was a jumbo, I did not know what kind though until I received it in the mail. It was a basket case.You could barely see the 693 on the toe IT had at least 2 shaft replacements by the 2 holes in the neck, neck cracks, terrible rusty shaft. The worst was someone took red epoxy and filled in holes they drilled in the face for repair.
I let it sit until about 6 months ago and decided to dive in. Because the face was destroyed by the drilling I did a complete face graft.Cutting the face off this baby will make your heart skip a beat. I used new face material off of some raw persimmon heads I had. Replaced the insert with new red fiber.I decided to replace the soleplate also since I knew it might not fit on the new face and used a blank Macgregor soleplate I had.
I used a very nice period True Temper silver banded shaft with a nice leather grip and made it 43 inches long.
Swing weight is D3 and bulge and roll are 10 degrees for both. Face is 1 3/4 inches high
Since I could not use stain because of the grafting and epoxy used for shaft and neck repair I trie to match the Macgregor burgandy red color. I spent hours at the paint store with the guys trying to match it. I thought I had it ubtil I put the poly on and it changed colors. I got tired of messing with the hassle to get the red right.I will refinish it again when I have the time and patience to get the match correct.
I Hope you enjoy the pictures

Good job Tim! Cant imagine why anyonbe would fill the face with red epoxy...
I think one of the hardest parts with putting a new insert is getting the screw holes drilled in just the right place.. You can really tell if they are off just a little bit.. You did a great job!

Thanks John, that means a lot![quote name='persimmonpal' timestamp='1307017211' post='3279536']
Good job Tim! Cant imagine why anyonbe would fill the face with red epoxy...
I think one of the hardest parts with putting a new insert is getting the screw holes drilled in just the right place.. You can really tell if they are off just a little bit.. You did a great job!
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Amazing restoration. I can't imagine doing a complete face graft, wow. Where did you come up with blank MacGregor soleplates? Very impressive job, maybe some day I will have the patience to try something like this, but I'll have to beg John to send me back the parts I gave him. :-) Well done.

Steve

Thanks Steve,
I think I got them from a retired repairman years ago. Lucky to have a driver soleplate made for that year.[quote name='stevehj' timestamp='1307062768' post='3281136']
Amazing restoration. I can't imagine doing a complete face graft, wow. Where did you come up with blank MacGregor soleplates? Very impressive job, maybe some day I will have the patience to try something like this, but I'll have to beg John to send me back the parts I gave him. :-) Well done.

Steve
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Really impressive. All the time spent. You've got to love it!!

Awesome job! You did the club some justice. I've never seen a Jumbo 693, thx for sharing.

Really nice work Tim.

Thanks You
I just started on a couple of Macgregor Jumbos yesterday that need new inserts, a Bayer GB1W and a M09T LFF.
They will be fun

[quote name='teevons' timestamp='1307070744' post='3281441'] Thanks Steve, I think I got them from a retired repairman years ago. Lucky to have a driver soleplate made for that year.[quote name='stevehj' timestamp='1307062768' post='3281136'] Amazing restoration. I can't imagine doing a complete face graft, wow. Where did you come up with blank MacGregor soleplates? Very impressive job, maybe some day I will have the patience to try something like this, but I'll have to beg John to send me back the parts I gave him. :-) Well done. Steve [/quote] [/quote] Tim- Just saw this post... Perhaps you would like some more MacGregor soleplates? Will send pictures...

And here they are....

[attachment=873897:100_9663.JPG]

..BTW.... the TA SS W 693 "Blondie" came today....thanks again.

Thought I would add pictures of my original shaft, sole plate, insert MacGregor Jumbo 693, '50 LFF, and all time favorite 693 which is as deep a face a normal 693 gets yet looks small in comparison to the 2 jumbo drivers.

I was not on the forum when this first came out, but ...wow!

Tim, that is such a great piece of work. I really admire guys like you who can do creative craftsmanship like that, and you saved a great old driver in the process. I feel good about myself when I don't eff up a regrip on one of my hickory clubs and it comes out halfway decent. The only graft I can manage is bribing the maitre d to get a better table at a restaurant. Can't imagine the skill it takes to do what you pulled off here.

Impressive.

[quote name='Kirasdad' timestamp='1402640105' post='9485677']
I was not on the forum when this first came out, but ...wow!

Tim, that is such a great piece of work. I really admire guys like you who can do creative craftsmanship like that, and you saved a great old driver in the process. I feel good about myself when I don't eff up a regrip on one of my hickory clubs and it comes out halfway decent. The only graft I can manage is bribing the maitre d to get a better table at a restaurant. Can't imagine the skill it takes to do what you pulled off here.

Impressive.
[/quote]

I second that.Great job, Tim.

Tstephen
Those old macs are incredible, especially the 2 with the sweep back plates. So classic.

[quote name='tstephen' timestamp='1402635531' post='9485513']
Thought I would add my pictures of a Jumbo 693
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Absolutely Beautiful Woods!

As a golfer, you get used to hyperbole.

My Big Bertha never blew up my opponents.

My Pinseekers did nothing of the sort, and don't even start me on Pinsplitters.

My Burner Plus did not go further than my Burner.

But you can't argue with the name Jumbo on those heads.

Great photos - and great job Teevons.

Wow! What a great job! I would not have tried to restore a wood that bad. I have a persimmon Walter Hagen in my garage that I stripped most of the black paint. It's block, not laminated. I didn't know block Hagens came in black. I had a nice block Hagen 3W, a Goodwill $2 purchase, that was honey maple in color. I gave it to a nephew. I was going to take the black block Hagen to Goodwill, but I think I'll have a go at refinish next winter.

Again, good work!

I don't have the talent of Tim to work on my own clubs.

This is my 2nd '50 LFF and Dave Wood is restoring it for me.

Dave replaced the old 50's red insert with a new vintage 50's insert.

That will be a beauty when she is finished!

Great job on the restoration/rebuild...!

Be sure to post pics when finished

[quote name='tstephen' timestamp='1402894158' post='9504405']
[quote name='HoganApexBlades' timestamp='1402892537' post='9504299']
That will be a beauty when she is finished!
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Dave compared her to Marilyn!
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She was one of a kind way back in her day!

[quote name='robert horneman' timestamp='1402932908' post='9506555']
Be sure to post pics when finished
[/quote]

I heard from Dave today and my LFF is 3 coats from being finished(or fully restored).

He said she looks great and should be coming home next week. Can't wait to see and share this super LFF.

Maybe I can start a new thread where she can compete in the 1st annual Golfwrx Persimmon Beauty Pageant.

[quote name='robert horneman' timestamp='1402932908' post='9506555']
Be sure to post pics when finished
[/quote]

I just received my club from Dave today.

I had left out some other pictures he had sent.

The face looks perfect with new ultra rare vintage paper insert.

Tstepen and Teevons:

Beautiful restorations and thanks for sharing your experiences and pictures.

Keep up the good work guy's, some of us need a little inspiration now and then. Thanks to threads like this I'm back in the workshop breathing some life into some long forgotten persimmon ... finally!

J

The LFF is back!

I had to send it back to Dave for a new shaft to bring the swingweight down below E.

He did improve it with a little lighter stain and a more serious looking paint fill for the face lines.

The last photo is of my 3 jumbo MacGregors - the 693 and 2 '50 LFF drivers.

Where's the MacGregor Jumbo 693? There are 6 LFFs in the mix.

 

I was looking at my jumbo drivers picture and it took me awhile to find it.

Tstephen-

 

There's the Golfwrx watermark in the middle, so...

Tstephen-

 

There's the Golfwrx watermark in the middle, so...

 

The 2nd to the bottom above the wbw EOM LFF

 

Just above the Jumbo 693 is the LFF restored by Dave.