Originally Posted by LudwigGuy

Ok, so far so good! I was able to fix all of the stripped holes with the heli-coil kit and I have the tools whenever it happens again! Instead of spending lots of money on memory locks, I bought o-rings from the hardware store that fit tightly around the floor tom legs. I’m also going to put some on the inside sections of the spurs so set-up will be easy.

I also needed a wing screw for one of the spurs. There are almost none out there to be had with this particular size/thread, and if you find them, they are sort of expensive. Luckily I found something that would work off of an old kick drum pedal, so I’ll be using that.

I ordered new heads all the way around, but it still may be a week or so before I get it all put together. Thanks for everyone’s help!

Another update:

Unlike my vintage Ludwigs, I was able to fit Remo coated ambassadors on all the batters and Remo clear ambassadors on the resos. I also added an Emad to the kick which REALLY helped the sound. I ordered a couple of old Slingerland t-screws with the proper threading. While my substitute works, I want the part that it was meant for. In addition, I bought one of those kick drum anchors for the front. I played it last week for the first time with the band, and it sounds great! I can't wait to gig with it.

I didn't finish installing Helicoils on everything but I have everything needed to do so on an as-needed basis. I was in the middle of doing my last one, and the thought came to me that if these drums are closing in on 50 years old and they've not stripped yet, then my chances of them stripping out are probably pretty slim. In any case, I have memory lock on the legs anyways, so on the off chance that one may strip out, it can make it through the gig until I get home to fix it. It's time to stop worrying about it and time to start gigging them.