Ben Hogan - '73 APEX Irons - Refinish (completed)

[pkuhr9]

I'm refinishing or cleaning up an old set of my Dads Hogans for Christmas.

 

He used this set for a few years on his college team, and is the set he used in a tournament he won to pay for my mom's engagement ring.

 

steps I took:

removed all the club face browning (CLR soak and scrub brush)

touched up all the paintfil (club # and Apex on the sole, Script "Ben Hogan" and Star back of the club, and painted black in all the grooves)

gave the ferrules a quick turn to restore the shine (a blueish tint came off on my paper towel after doing this that was a surprise)

polished the heads with bench grinder

removed and replaced shaft labels (large thanks to weeicemon for providing the new ones!)

 

Check out the pics and let me know what you think

 

6-iron - Equalizer (top to bottom)

 

1-iron - 5-iron (top to bottom)

 

5-iron - 1-iron (left to right)

 

6-iron - equalizer (top to bottom)

 

wasn't sure if the equalizer was supposed to be in Red or Black fill

 

all ferrules turned to a new shine (hard to see but they all have matching serial numbers)

 

good look at the ferrules, held up well for being 40 years old!

 

New shaft lables courtesy of weeicemon!

 

[birly-shirly]

might be worth searching teevons' posts - he's posted a ton of original hogan adverts, you might be able to grab some images from there.

[teevons]

[quote name='pkuhr9' timestamp='1386607402' post='8272727']
I'm refinishing an old set of my Dads Hogans for Christmas and wanted to put on new shaft labels and GP Victory grips... any idea where I could find the labels?

I thought about printing some off on paper, and just applying them with clear scotch tape... but don't have a good picture of the label though
[/quote]
Find a real nice hogan shaft with a like new shaft band , take the band off very carefully and have it color printed on thin very nice paper, then cut and use glue to apply it, I have done it a few times and looks great

[Bella Woods]

Sometimes you can take the same label teevons is talking about and use the
actual label itself, depending on the state of the label and how it was applied.

Cut the (back side of shaft) label with a very sharp knife, apply slow, even
heat and use a razor or knife very slowly and carefully to remove the band.

If you are fast enough (or should I say lucky) - you might even be able to use
the original adhesive that has been "warmed up" to apply it to the new shaft.

Usually though, you have to use some other adhesive.

Edit:

I say backside of the label - but don't cut near the overlap to close.

[teevons]

Bella, I agree, I was referring to making numerous labels for an entire set. I guess someone could take labels off an entire set and re-glue.

['53 Precision]

Which labels are you looking for? there are several different versions of shaft labels for Apex Shafts, also which flex? PM me, I may be able to assist...

[weeicemon]

I have a bunch of Hogan shaft labels. Let me know which one(s) you are looking. A picture would be great.

[pkuhr9]

The clubs are Apex's from the mid-70s

I remember him saying the shaft flex was 4 a while back

I like the method of printing them and using glue as Teevon's suggested... I'd be happy with anything label that looked like a real Apex label

that is unless your able to send real labels for me to have them before Christmas

I will upload a picture tonight, but it is a red label, script "Ben Hogan" APEX and a 4 with a circle around it... none of the labels are good enough to save, most can't even be read

Thanks,
Paul

[weeicemon]

Paul:

This is probably the closest thing I have. Let me know if they will work.

Steve

[pkuhr9]

Those are perfect... I PM'd you
Paul

[birly-shirly]

Seriously, I never love this forum more than when I read threads like this. The classiest, friendliest, helpfullest place on the golfing web.

[russad]

ditto the above, great to see!

[pkuhr9]

Thought you guys would be interested in my progress..

I forgot to take pictures of the condition of the clubs before I soaked them in CLR.
But here they are after I cleaned them post CLR soak.

I going to work on the painfil tonight, it looks as though the grooves have black paintfil in them, was this standard for Hogans?

Equalizer - 6iron (top to bottom)
[attachment=1982869:IMAG0062.jpg]
6iron - equalizer (top to bottom) any thoughts on trying to fix that nick on the 8iron? I'm thinking about leaving it..
[attachment=1982871:IMAG0063.jpg]
5-iron - 1-iron (left to right)
[attachment=1982873:IMAG0064.jpg]
5-iron - 1-iron (top to bottom)
[attachment=1982875:IMAG0065.jpg]
Equalizer - 1-iron
[attachment=1982877:IMAG0066.jpg]
[attachment=1982879:IMAG0068.jpg]
face of the Equalizer... this was very rusted over
[attachment=1982883:IMAG0069.jpg]
[attachment=1982885:IMAG0070.jpg]
chorme plug? something to do with assembly, missing on the 4 iron
[attachment=1982887:IMAG0072.jpg]
condition of the ferrules, hopefully they will brighten up with a little acetone!
[attachment=1982889:IMAG0073.jpg]

[super20dan]

another fan of the awesume 73-78 apex! arnt the numbers on the bottoms of the irons supposed to be in red? i re-did mine and they came out good. the star on the back can be re done in gold with an artist paint pen. works perfect with little mess. get one with a very fine tip. lreally need to learn how to post pics here. you could see how nice the stars looks now. ben hogans signature is supposed to be in black i believe

[freddiec]

Wow, that set is in nice condition and cleaned up real nice. Well done! IMO those are one of the finest sets of Hogans ever made. Nice to see you guys stepping up and helping out with the bands

[ScooterMcTavish]

Re: The 8 Iron

I went after some nicks on an old Acushnet flanged Bullseye, and I was actually impressed at how little material I had to take off to get even the deepest nicks out. Thread of before and after is here:

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/887454-polishing-old-brass-bullseye-to-a-mirror-finish/"]http://www.golfwrx.c...-mirror-finish/[/url]

Guess to me the biggest thing would be the chrome. I'd want to leave as much intact as I could.

[JMSDKS]

Very nice work. For my Hogan paint fill I have been using Testor's Enamel. Gloss Dark Red, Gold Metallic, and Gloss Black. The red is a pretty good match for the original. Insignia Red is a good match as well.

[JMSDKS]

Also I have tried to paint fill the grooves with black but mine always end up so much fatter looking than the original. Of course I just lather it on and then wipe off the excess with acetone after it has dried. I am sure there is a better, more professional method for the grooves if you want to get them back to looking original.

[teevons]

here is what they should look like

[birly-shirly]

[quote name='pkuhr9' timestamp='1386870416' post='8289259'] any thoughts on trying to fix that nick on the 8iron? I'm thinking about leaving it.. [/quote]

I would NOT go after it with a file. I'd either leave it - as it doesn't look too bad to me, or if it was really bugging me (and if it was my own club!) I'd have a look at this ([url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/392064-renovating-old-and-rusty-wedges-back-to-life/"]http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/392064-renovating-old-and-rusty-wedges-back-to-life/[/url], in particular how Howard talks about "cold smithing" the dings on the leading edge. He's dealing with raw wedges - which makes things easier, but I took out the worst ding on a chromed equaliser with a hammer. I was worried that the chrome would flake off when I did this. Not saying yours won't - but mine didn't.

[birly-shirly]

[quote name='JMSDKS' timestamp='1386909543' post='8292953']
Also I have tried to paint fill the grooves with black but mine always end up so much fatter looking than the original. Of course I just lather it on and then wipe off the excess with acetone after it has dried. I am sure there is a better, more professional method for the grooves if you want to get them back to looking original.
[/quote]

Did irons leave the Hogan factory with paintfill in the grooves, other than maybe the first groove as an alignment aid? Surely it defeats the purpose of the grooves to paint them? Or is this another example of Hogan "anti-game improvement"? ;-)

[super20dan]

the star isnt supposed to be in gold? it really stands out in gold. i used testors red as well. perfect match.

[ScooterMcTavish]

[quote name='birly-shirly' timestamp='1386925774' post='8293461']
[quote name='pkuhr9' timestamp='1386870416' post='8289259'] any thoughts on trying to fix that nick on the 8iron? I'm thinking about leaving it.. [/quote]

I would NOT go after it with a file. I'd either leave it - as it doesn't look too bad to me, or if it was really bugging me (and if it was my own club!) I'd have a look at this ([url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/392064-renovating-old-and-rusty-wedges-back-to-life/"]http://www.golfwrx.c...s-back-to-life/[/url], in particular how Howard talks about "cold smithing" the dings on the leading edge. He's dealing with raw wedges - which makes things easier, but I took out the worst ding on a chromed equaliser with a hammer. I was worried that the chrome would flake off when I did this. Not saying yours won't - but mine didn't.
[/quote]

LOL, I'm a bad influence. Compared to the guy who's going after the head with a hammer.

But if the chrome is gone off the 8i like it's gone off the Equalizer, I can't see what harm some filing and sanding would do. You're down to the base metal already, something that will rust automatically when exposed to the elements. to cosmetically clean it up can't do any harm IMHO. But please note, I used very fine keyhole files on my putter, not a big bast**d file or the like (had to self-censor here).

From my car detailing days, I'd find a very good paste wax to use on the clubs after paintfilling, as they will need this protection from the elements to keep the rust from returning. If your Dad loves them so much he wants to game them, a reapplication of wax should happen after every round, or the rust will return.

[teevons]

Here are 2 pictures of new old stock heads from Hogan, these heads I acquired from a Hogan rep years ago, I have a set of frosted back and smooth back, they have never been shafted hence the no pin holes in hosel, The both have gold paint in the starburst and red on the H, Red in numbers ,black on Hogan Scrip and black paint fill in grooves
Hope this helps in your restoration

[super20dan]

these have the gold in the star-simply beautiful clubs-brilliant desighn.mabey the best iron of all time

[oldschoolrocker]

Pretty snazzy there T.

[ScooterMcTavish]

Very sweet Teevons.

[teevons]

thank you, too many pretty iron sets/brands/makes made through the years for me to pick a favorite

[super20dan]

but with these you get beauty and playabilty-in spades

[JMSDKS]

I just love looking at all these great pictures. Such craftsmanship. Now you can't even get a hamburger done right.