Hey Sawys People! I was surfing the other day when I noticed something in the trash. I was delighted to find a 4’8’’ mini simmons type board that was reshaped from a broken longboard (according to the writing on the stringer) . I found a few large dings couple with a bunch of little dings. I posted pics of the large dings and was wondering how I would fix these:
a match and some gas may be the best tool for this thing…
no, I would never condone that - it’s certainly an interesting looking board. I like the shape and the grungy resin tint is kinda neat. That rail section is pretty blasted and that bottom ding is pretty good… Not saying it isn’t worth the work, but just know that this is what I would call a “can of worms” - if you plan to undertake this project, be ready for it to be a huge project.
That said, I would dremel off all the large shattered pieces on the rail and see what the foam looks like underneath, fill what you need to with resin/q-cell (assuming this is a poly board), then re-glass the section. Same for the hole in the bottom, dremel off the flap (or if you’re super crafty, peel it back and then keep it to mantain the color, then adhere it to the fill layer and glass over it). Fill the hole and re-glass.
I’ve done boards like this - it’s rewarding, but a lot of work
I’d see if I could seal them up with some packing tape and surf it before committing to any repair. Might find it’s not worth the time and effort.
First, you need to determine if it’s PU/PE or epoxy/styro construction. PU/PE costs less for resin. I’d fill the deep stuff with bondo and glass over the cracks and such. If it’s PE. Epoxy will need a different approach.
Is it missing a fin plug or is that just the light playing tricks?
Given that it was a discard, you need to decide how much time/effort/money you want to invest.
Its PU, and the fin plug is broken. It seems like a really fun looking board and I’ve been looking for a board for shorebreak so I’m pretty determined to fix it.
You may find it cheaper and easier to buy a blank and shape a new one - not trying to deter you though, I always hated when people did that to me. Just giving you a realistic expectation based on my experience… If this is your first repair job, get uv resin and use it properly so you don’t have to mess with catalyst. Make sure you prep everything out well, and don’t put resin beyond your prep area (it will flake off). When I say prepped well, you shouldn’t see any shiny glass and you should clean it well with acetone. I usually prep with 80 grit, but be careful not to weaken the surrounding area any more than it is as you’ll be sanding into that later.
Cut out the bad spots like I said (just the glass, leave all the foam intact) and fill - if you’re clever you can re-place the pieces of glass to mantain some semblance of the original color. Sand it down, fill again if needed. Be careful sanding on rails as they burn through faster. Make sure everything is smooth enough to satisfy your cosmetic desires, then re-glass with your cloth of choice (I prefer one piece of 6 or maybe a 6 and 4 depending how bad the ding was and how weak the area is). Apply sanding coat, sand back to smooth (try not to burn into your cloth, stop if you see weave), prep and apply hotcoat - get it to lay down as smooth as possible and for the love of god - DON’T WORK IT TOO LONG - I stop at about 4 minutes because you want enough time for any ridges and brush lines to lay down smooth - if you do this well, you may not even need to sand it again. Sand as needed, paint it if you want, wet sand up to 1200, polish if you want or whatever
As for the fin plug, try to yank that sucker out as cleanly as possible - both if they’re both damaged - if you pull them out clean enough, you can just bore out any leftover material and re-install the FCS x-2 plugs using their jigs and instructions. Fill and glass that area between the plugs the same as the previous paragraph.
Best of luck
