Progress report: I've been working on my Pearl Wood-Fiberglass kit as I have time in the evenings and have gotten a good bit accomplished. I decided to start with the hardest drum, the kick, which had the most hardware and square footage to clean. i was lucky in that no lugs broke as I removed them since they're larger than the ones on the toms and I couldn't swap them around. The hardware was in great shape structurally and poor shape cosmetically (see side-by-side pix above of a couple of lugs I removed from one of the toms). I took the lug assemblies completely apart--screws, washers, lug casing, threaded insert to receive the T-rod (what's the name for that piece?), spring, and styrofoam cylinder--and soaked the casings and inserts in warm, soapy water and the screws and washers in vinegar. Wow, what a good trick! Happy to have learned about that before this project. The vinegar dissolved the worst of the funk on the screws and washers and allowed me to just rinse and dry them instead of having to get the old toothbrush out.
The lugs were nice and heavy and had a good chrome job. Every one had some pitting but none of them had any rust, dings, or dents. They shined up great after a cleaning with soft-bristle toothbrush, washtowel, rinse, and t-shirt buffing. Didn't even need to apply chrome polish. Toms mount got the same treatment and looks great. The ball-joint tom arm that I was able to completely disassemble also got the full bath, but the one I couldn't crack loose got just a vigorous surface cleaning (they don't look any different but I like to do the job right when I get into a project). The spurs were the hardest because of the grease and grime on the threaded lower sections, but they finally got finished and are shiny like the rest of the hardware.
I cleaned the drums inside and out with a moistened, lightly soapy cloth. The interior was done after two scrubbings and rinses, but the grime on the wrap was seriously thick. I wound up having to rub it down several times with a wet cloth just to get it softened enough to scrub off, but at that point diligent application of elbow grease to a soapy washtowel removed it.
I've reattached the kick drum's hardware and will address the hoops next. It's great to have both original hoops with a kit like this, but of course there are some issues. The strip of wrap is equally grimy and there is some surface rust on the lower third of the batter side around where the kick pedal was. Fun! After I redress those wrongs, I'll apply some car wax to the wrap and shine it up and be ready to put new heads on.
The bearing edges are in good shape overall, but not pristine on the reso sides of the toms. I'll probably touch them up with some light sandpaper and steel wool. Tom rehab should be much quicker than kick drum work.
Of interest is the fading in the wrap, which is highly uneven. You can see in the pix below where I've removed the lugs from the 14" tom that where the orangey color was predominant the fading is severe, but where the other silvery black is there's not much fading at all. The wrap's not torn anywhere but it has shrunken over the years and there's a slight pucker at the end of each lug and around the holes where they mount. Tough stuff overall, though.
The floor tom's bottom lugs had been removed and a few more broke when I was taking them off the other toms, so I'm missing a few parts that I'll need to complete the rehab. Here's what I need: eleven lugs for the 14" tom, a 14" six-lug rim, a claw and T-rod, and ... that's it, really. Bill, Mikey, anyone have these before I post in the "Wanted" section?
