Hey friends! I have a quad fish Pendoflex with lock box removable fins. Its kind of an older board, thing rides like absolute magic, its my favorite board of all time so i have to salvage it. Its glassed in epoxy and as you can see the glass is starting to lift up around the boarder on all four of the boxes 
Luckily it hasnt lifted up enough for water to penetrate the foam yet… but thats just a matter of time. Any ideas for getting the glass pushed back down? I was thinking of injecting epoxy with a syringe and pushing it back down, but i got a feeling it just might pop back up again later. I’m not a big fan of the lock box system, its weighs a ton. I’ve always thought that board would ride mental with a different fin system. I’m kind of tempted to just router those boxes and drop in some fcs fusion plugs. Thoughts?
Since you seem to already have your heart set on trying a different fin system, seems like the ideal time to do it. I don’t see routing out for new plugs as being a big deal, as long as there is no metal in there (never used that fin system).
Otherwise, you could just sand through the glass until all the de-lammed glass was gone, then re-glass that area, and feather the edges. Or… just glue down the fiberglass that is lifting with some 5-minute epoxy glue, that would be easiest of all and less noticeable than fresh glass.
Be nice to see a couple overall shots of the board.
Hey mg:
First of all, you should consider what you have, a magic board that is a bit yellowed, but still performs great! Second, this is an easy fix, and from your pics, it looks like the board has spent a lot of time in the direct sun, not a good thing for EPS/Epoxy construction. The Lokbox fin system is a good system, I have used it on many boards that are surfed in heaving beachies & shallow reefs and it has saved a lot of boards as the fin is lost upon impact but the damage to the board non-existant or minimal. I would do as you say, get some 2-part epoxy and some heavy weights and inject the epoxy under the lifted glass and do a press with the weights (bricks work well) on that area. Lokbox boxes are very light, they are the same weight as Futures and the FCS Proboxes. If you are not an experienced fin-setter I would not even attempt a re-fit. As you said, the board is magic! One last thing about Lokboxes, they are curved to match the rocker in the tail area of most hpsb’s and fish. My fav use of lokboxes are for speeddialler type fish… Just my 2c!
All very good ideas. thank you Huck, still not sure what i’m gonna do yet. I’m probably going to trace the outline of the fusion plugs over the lock box and see what i end up with. Here’s some pics of my Pendo, drink her in…most fun i ever had on a board. I live in San Diego and this can handle anything the ocean throws at it. Works good in all conditions. Took it to Cabo this summer and surfed head and a half high Old Mans on it when the wind was pretty fierce but the waves had a real nice shape and was amazed how well it worked there too. Hands down the fastest board i ever ridden, all my buddies who tried it agree as well. Always makes sections. In speedy waves like blacks it works great where most guys on standard thrusters get stuck behind th foam ball and can’t keep up with the wave, i can ride ahead of the wave on the pendo with enough speed to throw a cutback. My quiver is pretty big, includes 12’2 skip frye eagle, cooperfish nose devil, a bunch of christensons of all shapes, some Haydens, xanadu’s and MR twin fin… i could go on and on but this has been my go to board for years. THey’re pretty expensive new, i think almost $1k, i happened upon this one thanks to craigslist. Most people never heard of these boards you dont see to many in the water, they have kind of a cult following.
good point, its very risky replacing the lock box. Especially considering the flex tail thats very thin and i might cut through something i shouldnt with the router. Steve has said in the past that some boards he only leaves like 1/8 of foam in the tail!
So for epoxy, could you just grab some 5-min epoxy from Home Depot for this? Anyone ever use this on boards? Works well with cloth? tks !
Just my two cents worth - your board so do as you like.
You have a pretty easy fix there. If the board is really magic, just fix it and ride it. I’ve messed with a couple of magic boards, switching a glassed on fin for another that I was sure would go better, or removing the tiny offset fins on a funky quad I made, and always regretted it. You’ll likely end up with a switch that weighs more than the current system, or the extra resin will mess with the flex in that area of the rail, or some weird little undefinable element will shift… Maybe making it better but, maybe not. As much as I like to experiment, I’ve learned not to push it too far on the magic ones.
does the tail flex?
after reading your ride report, I’d kinda hate to mess with anything on a board that good…
better start saving up for a new model!
I had the same issue on a lokbox board I had. I used two part 30 - minute epoxy and glued the fiberglass back down to the box. Worked great and was barely detectable, although on mine the problem had just started to show. Yours is much more advanced by the looks of the photos.
just grind down the lifted glass, feather the hole, replace the glass with some patches, hotcoat and sand… Do NOT replace the boxes, it will never be a magic board again.
Pendo is in San Diego you know. If you don’t want to fix it yourself, call him and see what he suggests. Or just take it to Coconut Peets or Joe Roper.
hey noleash, you ever try that 30 min epoxy with cloth? how’d it go?
hell yeah the tail flexes, its scooped out, an concept borrowed from the greenough spoon, and then back filled with that black rubber foam stuff so you can stand up on it. The tail and the rail flex together dynamically creating a cantalever effect. Thing launches you out of turns, its nuts
No, it would need a lot of thinning with denatured alcohol to penetrate the weave. It has a toothpaste-like consistency otherwise.
not recommended if there is any contact with the foam - denatured alcohol can act as a solvent with polyurethane foam IIRC
“hell yeah the tail flexes, its scooped out, an concept borrowed from the greenough spoon, and then back filled with that black rubber foam stuff so you can stand up on it. The tail and the rail flex together dynamically creating a cantalever effect. Thing launches you out of turns, its nuts”
be interesting to see a thread on this - I’ve read a little on these boards but you’re the first person I’ve ever talked with that owns one.
There’s a few youtube videos out there of steve talking about the flex tail. The website is pendo.com. Can’t say enough good things about the board. Takes a few waves to get used to having your front foot on a hard surface while your back foot is on a squishy one and to get used to the speed, but its probably ruined most boards for me, everything just seems too slow. The flex tail makes the board really forgiving too, its really hard to dig rail on it i find. I have a christenson quadfish thats the same dimensions that i swore on as well until i got my hands on the pendo, and the pendo is way more forgiving. He scoops out the tail pretty far down, i heard he said he leaves only about 1/8" of foam in some areas. And because the foam is so thin the resin actually bleeds through and meets so its still super strong. I ride my boards hard and i can’t bust the thing. I’ve riden it for about 6 years now and still hasnt gotten old. theyr’e expensive knew, but if you have the means i’d highly recommend it, i’m always looking on craigslist, they emerge once in a while. A guy was selling a 6’2 in venice beach recently, brand new for $450, a little too big for me.
Hey here is a pic of my fixed up pendoflex. So initially i tried lifting up the dead glasss around the box and injecting epoxy with a syringe and then clamping it down. It worked on a few boxes but others it didnt stay bonded together. Thats the thing about epoxy it does not stay stuck to anything that isnt properly roughed up (which is a good thing because i got some of the epoxy down my screw holes…ended up having to take a small drill to open it up enough, and then used the bolt itself to re-threaded the hole on its own wheeew!). So there is no way to sand the plastic of the box under the delam glass for a proper bond. I have a air grinder with a disc on it, and ended up just grinding the old yellow glass down really thin. You wouldnt believe it but i just pealed that dead glass off by hand it and popped off around the box perfectly. no cutting with a razor bladed required at all. I guess when it was orginally glassed the plastic on the lock box top wasn’t roughed up which is why i did that. So yeah i roughed those boxes up good, poured epoxy over them to bring it flush, sanded it, laid my glass, sand, hotcoat and sand. Was a lot easier to fix than i thought and the boad looks like new. Oh and that gash i have on the bottom on the board thats white from the patch job, i went to dollar tree, bought some cheap acrylic paint set, and painted over it. Then i laid glass over it, worked good but dont have a pic handy. No reaction between the paint and the epoxy. cowaflex it!
