Shaft transplant - Golden Bear to 1980 MT

[kaboboom]

No, this is not very inspired club repair

I bought a bag of "closet queens" to get my hands on a set of Hogan Apex PCs. That set was a bit rough, but you have to start somewhere. Also in the bag was a fairly unused set (1,3,4) of MacGregor MTs...just stamped "Oil Hardened" so this looks like the 1980 re-issue. I have a set of the same 80's copper faced re-issued MTs, so these woods look like a nice pairing to make a "matched set". The problem is that the MT Driver shaft is completely broken off. Probably got driven over in a driveway. So I've got this really nasty looking Mac Nicklaus Golden Bear laminate. Same flex R as the MT, and the flights even look like they match up. I never planned on buying let alone restoring the MTs, but it seems a waste not to attempt to fix the driver so the set is playable. The MT is bore through, but the GB is not pic (below). However, both are pinned. I do not care one bit about the GB head, so it seems like I could pull the shaft on the GB by figuring out how so expose the shaft from the heel so I don't need anything long to heat/pull the shaft. Then it drill through the bore through on the MT, also not needing a long bit or solid rod. The rest is epoxy and whipping. What are the chances of this approach being successful? Again, I have a lot of older and more interesting persimmons, so I don't want to spend money to have the MT driver professionally repaired.

Thanks for any opinions...

[rex235]

Let's see if we understand what you're trying to do...

remove the pinned shaft from a MacGregor Nicklaus Golden Bear laminated wood that is NOT drill thru hosel, and then

transplant it into a 1980 MacGregor Oil Hardened Persimmon with a broken shaft that is pinned, and IS a drill thru hosel....

....have we got it right? both shafts are pinned?

I posed this to my friend who has 30 + years of golf club repair..

He says it's NOT worth it.

Pin position on shafts is different.

[teevons]

If you use the shaft from the MT and make it drill through it will also change the flex, much stiffer,it then will be shorter and you will need to lengthen it which will make it heavier, , are you sure you want to tackle that??





[quote name='kaboboom' timestamp='1327327745' post='4138941']
I bought a bag of "closet queens" to get my hands on a set of Hogan Apex PCs. That set was a bit rough, but you have to start somewhere. Also in the bag was a fairly unused set (1,3,4) of MacGregor MTs...just stamped "Oil Hardened" so this looks like the 1980 re-issue. I have a set of the same 80's copper faced re-issued MTs, so these woods look like a nice pairing to make a "matched set". The problem is that the MT Driver shaft is completely broken off. Probably got driven over in a driveway. So I've got this really nasty looking Mac Nicklaus Golden Bear laminate. Same flex R as the MT, and the flights even look like they match up. I never planned on buying let alone restoring the MTs, but it seems a waste not to attempt to fix the driver so the set is playable. The MT is bore through, but the GB is not pic (below). However, both are pinned. I do not care one bit about the GB head, so it seems like I could pull the shaft on the GB by figuring out how so expose the shaft from the heel so I don't need anything long to heat/pull the shaft. Then it drill through the bore through on the MT, also not needing a long bit or solid rod. The rest is epoxy and whipping. What are the chances of this approach being successful? Again, I have a lot of older and more interesting persimmons, so I don't want to spend money to have the MT driver professionally repaired.

Thanks for any opinions...
[/quote]

[Ol_Pardner]

Kaboboom,
Whether you plan to re-pin or not, or just rely on good epoxy to hold the shaft in place, once the MT shaft is removed, couldn't you use the pin hole in the GB shaft for depth alignment? Have never tried it, but it seems possible, that, say using a nail or punch, or set screw, to 'feel' and align the holes in the MT head with those in the GB shaft. Then attach the shaft, and after the epoxy dries, plug the hole in the bottom with a dowel or fill it with epoxy. There would still be an incremental change in overall weight, but only a few grams. (Should be lighter, as you would lose that fractional piece of metal from the MT shaft that extends through the bore, and the GB shaft is 'effectively' shorter, yet when affixed in position, the overall club length remains about the same.) What do you think?

Pardner

[kaboboom]

Well, I knew what I was proposing was "hokey", but the alternative was to trash a nice persimmon driver that could have completed a set of matching woods and irons. So I think I need to go back and understand how to do this the right way. I believe that the current, broken steel MT shaft tapers to something not easily found today. I do have an unused taper tip steel driver shaft (the only "wood" shaft I have...a remnant from my now deceased Father-in-Law). So now I am interested in knowing if the "oval ring" that shows the bore through is in fact the cut shaft. If so, I wonder how that was done...before or after insertion and epoxy. I can see doing it afterward with a Dremel (awkwardly), but I can't envision getting the angle right by cutting it before insertion. I suspect it was ground flush somehow. I probably need to go back to Google, but I very much appreciate these insights. I'll probably proceed to see if I can remove the screw and the shaft on the MT, then "dry fit" this shaft I have lying around. Thanks.

[tagnut69]

The oval ring showing on the sole is the end of the shaft, this happens as the shaft is at an angle coming through the sole, and would have been cut almost flush, then sanded smooth along with the rest of the sole, plate and screws

[kaboboom]

Just for closure, I now have a nice persimmon paper weight. I got the screw/pin out without too much difficulty, but I've now given up on extracting the old, broken shaft. I did everything short of microwaving that puppy to break the epoxy, but I could never get the shaft to budge, and I ended up breaking nearly flush with the hosel trying. From the bore through, I can actually see charring around the outside of the shaft from my efforts to heat it up. I think there must be a special tapered rod that has features like an easy out that can be heated with a propane torch to do this job right. I got the screw out intact, so my issue must be with getting the shaft hot consistently, then get ii pulled without having to twist the shaft so forcefully. But this was a good learning experience...leave this stuff to the experts.

[tagnut69]

I have in the past used a bolt/stud extractor to twist out the broken stub of a shaft. Once epoxy has been heated the bond is broken, it does not re set as it was before heating. this sort of thing [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BROKEN-STUD-SCREW-BOLT-EXTRACTOR-SET-EASY-OUTS-REMOVAL-/280811390718?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item4161a9c6fe"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BROKEN-STUD-SCREW-BOLT-EXTRACTOR-SET-EASY-OUTS-REMOVAL-/280811390718?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item4161a9c6fe[/url]