Futures to Probox conversion... paging Larry to the white courtesy phone...

General Discussion
1

or anybody else who cares to comment, i’m all ears…

my favorite board is a Rickland 6’2" PUPE thruster with futures. i would much rather have it

be Probox for a bunch of reasons. bottom line is that i just plain like the Probox system better.

i am completely sold on the Probox and cannot see any reason to install any other fin system

on boards that i make.

can i just do it like this, looks like it turned out really well. or is there a better way?

also, i’d like to add a “fin patch” to cover the area where the fins are installed. i’m thinking:

  1. cover the Future boxes/slot with blue tape

  2. do the patch right over the future boxes and tape

  3. hotcoat

  4. SLOWLY route the holes for the Proboxes

  5. install the Proboxes like normal

whadayathink?

2

Arnt the futures allready glass patched?

I would just do it like the “this” button shows

3
Quote:

can i just do it like this, looks like it turned out really well. or is there a better way?

whadayathink?

The lokbox to probox conversion was my board. I will leave it to Probox Larry or someone else who knows better than I the best way to do the install with the Futures. But what I will say is that the two Probox boxes that were routed and dropped into the Lokbox boxes are solid as a rock and the whole installation worked out great.

It’s like having a new board with the quad option and it rides better than before.

Also, my board has a patch on the tail that covers the tail from in front of the front boxes to the tail, which I believe was laminated on after the boxes were installed.

4
Quote:

or anybody else who cares to comment, i’m all ears…

my favorite board is a Rickland 6’2" PUPE thruster with futures. i would much rather have it

be Probox for a bunch of reasons. bottom line is that i just plain like the Probox system better.

i am completely sold on the Probox and cannot see any reason to install any other fin system

on boards that i make.

can i just do it like this, looks like it turned out really well. or is there a better way?

also, i’d like to add a “fin patch” to cover the area where the fins are installed. i’m thinking:

  1. cover the Future boxes/slot with blue tape

  2. do the patch right over the future boxes and tape

  3. hotcoat

  4. SLOWLY route the holes for the Proboxes

  5. install the Proboxes like normal

whadayathink?

Hi Chris, Thanks for the kind words. Is this pic something like the board that you are referring to?

Retro fitting to like the pic below the same board.

Mahalo, Larry


5

Guess this is a good time to post a Futures Fin modification to fit ProBox I did a while ago…

This is for the plastic Futures fins only. Takes about 5 minutes.

Today I grabbed an old Futures fin I have laying around that came with with Futures install jig to show the steps in the conversion to fit a Probox. Never mind the paint and beat up look :slight_smile:

First, mark off the area below the foil and outside the tab’s ribs as shown.

~Brian

6

Next cut along the lines with a hacksaw. The plastic is really soft so it cuts like butter.

~Brian

7

Make sure to leave some plastic along the bottom of the fin foil when you cut with a hacksaw.

~Brian

8

Use a utility knife to remove the excess plastic around the bottom of the fin foil, square everything up, and deburr the cuts. The soft plastic is easier than whittling wood…

~Brian

9

The Futures Fin base tab is about 11/16" deep. The Probox Fin Base tab is 1/2".

So we have to chop off about 3/16" off the bottom of the Futures Fin

~Brian

10

Now the special trick:

To make the Futures base has a good and strong compression fit with a ProBox insert, LIGHTY sand the top area of the fin base.

Futures boxes are straight walled and the fins are molded with a draft (V) to make a compression fit.

Proboxes are made for straight sided fin tabs.

You don’t have the advantage of the Probox tab’s V notch to clamp the fin into the box when the screws are tightened but if you sand the Future tab correctly you will get a good compression fit with the ProBox insert. The set screws will dig into the soft plastic and hold very securely.

So use a sanding block with 80 grit to knock down the “V” to a flat. Be careful not to hit the fin foil when sanding.

~Brian

11

Keep checking the compression fit with the ProBox insert until it is snug and the bottom of the fin is touching the top of the insert.

*Use a 0 degree ProBox insert. Futures Fins already have the cant molded in.

~Brian

12

Now install the fin into a board and make sure it sits flush with the board.

If the fin is sticking up, there is still some “V” in the tab base that is keeping it from seating properly. The install compression of the Probox system is squeezing plastic at the top of the tab instead of pulling the fin down into the box.

Take it out and LIGHTLY sand the top of the tab again until the fin sits flush with the board like this:

~Brian

13

thanks for all the responses guys.

Kensurf: i think that Futures are supposed to have patches around them. this board

was a team guy’s board and i’m not so sure that it has them. regardless, i’d like

to add a full patch similar to the one that Larry shows.

Feralseppo: glad to hear it worked out for you. that’s exactly what i am hoping for. i’ts

good to know that leaving the little bits of Lokbox in your board was not a problem 'cuz

i’m hoping to do the same.

Probox-Larry: that’s what i want to do… but i’m just interested in keeping it a thruster.

Greenlight: thanks for the info… i may have to do that with the couple sets of fins that

i will no longer have use for after this conversion.

one of the things that got me thinking to do this conversion is that the center fin of my

favorite set of Futures fins did this. this isn’t my fin but the same thing happened to me.

as i was trying to figure out how to fix it, none of my options really appealed to me and

i thought, why don’t i just convert it to Probox and be done with it? using only one fin

system is much simpler, and i can trade fins from board to board, etc.

14

Not to change your mind about the probox swap

but

Ive repared the front of future fins with superglue and fiberglass to build it up then reshape it

It seems some fins for future boxs dont mate up with that screw or they blow out easy

with a glass over box its probly better to have the fin let go upon impact that the box blow out

what a mess that would be

15

time to resurrect this thread.

i’m going to order the resin tomorrow and hopefully do the install next week.

i recently bought my brother a used JC 6’4" with glass ons that i’m going to convert to probox as well.

this board is payback for a board of his that i borrowed and snapped.

16

I dont think you’ll find the glass on -> ProBox conversion difficult at all.  Grind off, fair out, patch, hot coat/fill coat, drop boxes in, deflash boxes, finish sand, done!  Did it to my potato chip recently and very happy with the results.  Sounds like you are a good brother replacing that board, kudos.

17

never did the Futures to Probox conversion.

the board in question developed a horrible twist so much so that it wasn't worth it to put any $ into the board...

i did the glass-on to Probox conversion and it went just like you said. real easy. i posted up the whole process

a while back... i got the idea to use the angle grinder with the cutoff wheel to cut the old fins off from a really old

Kokua post and it worked great... i've loved using my angle grinder ever since my 4x4 days anyways. any chance

i get to use it, i'm happy.