Hey hows it going, I recently got into longboards and i have been looking for one for a long time. Just the other day, I was at a garage sale and the guy had 2 boards for sale, a 10foot “keoki” longboard, and a shorter board that was in way better condition than the longboard. I asked how much it was and he said i can have them for 25 bucks. I had to buy them no matter how damaged the board was, Recently i was at the surfshop and they said that this board was rare and that I should restore the board. I have pictures of the damage, can you guys tell me how hard of a job this might be? Maybe how much it will cost… and how much the board was worth in the prime of its life.
But maybe you could strip the glass and clean up the blank to original colour and reglass, or gloss pigments over the exsisting job, youve gotta fix the dings though?
I’m pretty sure that board you have there is a Keoki pop out from the early sixties. Most of the pop outs were sold at department stores sporting good section for less than regular off the rack and custom boards of the period. Looks like you have your work cut out for you…I would’nt know where to start.
It’s a tough go to strip an old longboard and make a reasonable shortboard, b/c the stripped oldie will have little rocker, adn after removing damaged foam the result isn’t by any means a “close tolerance” blank. You can use the thickness to add rocker, but even then the rocker will be minimal. Maybe a fish design will work better…
To strip, lay it on its edge and use a circular saw, set to minimum cut depth. Run it all the way around the rail and then pry off the top and bottom glass halves. Note that the dust from the saw will be sharp-edged shards of resin/glass, and will give you an itch so bad you’ll want to skin yourself. Long sleeves would be a good idea; to the cut somewheres windy so the dust blows away from you immediately. Wash that long sleeved shirt separately.
After stripping the glass, buzz off the damaged/sunburned foam with your planer and see what you have left. Don’t be surprised if your decision at this point is to chuck the whole mess into the shitcan. If you still think you have something useable, then shape and glass as normal.
You may find that the old foam is harder and heavier than what Clark now sells, and has a larger/coarser cell structure.
Don’t cut it up and make it into a short board!! Old 60’s boards are worth there weight in gold. Yeah it looks like shit right now, but It’s not that bad. If you want to restore it…restore it. If you want to make it into a perfect wall hanger…make it into a wall hanger. But don’t chop it up into a fish! If you want a fish, go buy a new blank and shape a fish.
If you want to sell the board PM me. Or better yet I’ll trade you for a fish blank of your choice. That board can be made perfect, without that much work.
I would sell or trade this board, i would feel bad hacking it up with such little experience and possibly ruining the board. And i have no skills or any idea how to fix that damn fin hole thing.
Gotta agree with ya’, res, don’t cut it up. Worth a go as a wall hanger or a rider, even if it is a popout. I have an early 60’s Velzy popout, practically mint, and back when I got it almost 20 years ago I had delusions of converting it to a shortboard. Glad I didn’t, as it was my first board and today just reminds me of a bygone era. My only regret is putting a leash plug in the thing. Just kills me to see it with that black circle in the tail.
Their were about 860 boards made with the Keoki logo.All were pop outs in the 9’6"range.Some had T-bands.Your board came with a wood fin. Most pop outs in good shape sell for $150 to $400.The last one I had was a California Custom By Dextra. I traded to Promotion Wetsuits for a new suit. Gordon
I’m gonna have to go and disagree with alot you…STRIP the sucker, take out the planer, make a good rocker, clean up the outline, and glass it a little heavier if you want it last a lil while…I had an oid 80’s hotline thruster that I stripped down put in rocker then put it in the vaccum bag with some epoxy, it was 6’4 and 3’', now it’s 5’9" and 2 and 2 1/2 thick. If you want to shape a shortboard board and don’t want to go and buy a new blank…then do this, if someone on the forum wants to buy it and restore I would say do that and then go and buy a new blank, it would work out better for you that way as far as using a nice new blank
I worked in a factory that made popouts back in the late 60’s.As far as stripping it down to a blank you may be out of luck.These blanks were blown in a mold lined with fiberglass matt and the foam quality was really poor insulation grade stuff …full of holes and pour lines.The stringers usually are just for looks and are routed in to a groove or just veneer that they layed on the surface. RB
yeah, I spent some really frustrating time many years back working on an old popout that had the fiberglass matt/cheap foam blank mess underneath. If you dig down anywhere and see something that looks like fiberglass matt (fibers running in all directions, not just north/south v. east/west), forget it as far as reshaping! can’t work with that stuff…
To repair the fin area. Cut back the glass around fin opening,back past any delam. Mix up some pour foam.And pour into old opening.After foam has hardened sand even with board.Glass two layers of 6oz.glass covering tail of board. Find or make an old style D fin. Or order on from One World Fins. Glass fin on to board with three layers of 6oz. on each side of fin. Use fin rope at base of fin.Fin does not need to be routered into board. Hot coat and sand. Gordon
Like everybody has said, it’s a Keoki popout. Not especially rare, not a great board, but it’s a good beater and worth fixing if not restoring. You will have more trouble making the replacement fin than you will glassing it in - see Bert Burger’s fin-making articles for that. You can terrify everybody else in the lineup with one of those, it’s like driving around in a beat up ex-cop-car or old and dented pickup - they KNOW you don’t care about what you hit. .
Cutting off the glass ( matt ) and reshaping it…not worth the effort. You can get a blank from Charlie Bunger or somebody for less ( considering the time and effort you’ll put in) that will have some half-decent quality foam and some rocker, which is more than a popout blank has.
