I am contemplating a restoration on this Greek 10’ longboard I was given. It looks like it was probably stored outside and exposed to the elements for many years. I managed to take out the significant twist with a method Jim Phillips uses that I found in the archives. According to some info I got in an email from Bob Bolen the SS stands for “short stringer” and it was shaped for Little Wave Surf Shop (now Heritage) in Sea Isle City, NJ. There is a nice kick in the tail and it has a glassed on ‘tiger tail fin’, seems like it would be a great noserider.
The board is in ok condition but the strange thing is that the cutlaps are really visible and the lamination is almost exposed as if the hotcoat and gloss coat are almost gone on some parts of the board, never really saw anything like that before. I am not sure if I should give it a complete sanding and then a new finish coat, or maybe a 2 or 4 ounce lamination first. Maybe some color work or paint to cover the brown foam.
The cutlaps are visible because the board was probably glassed with volan cloth. By its nature, the weave in volan remains visible after wet out and razor cuts show prominently. It looks like the bottom lam has damage and is delaminating. Lam on the deck looks fine. If a lam looks nearly “exposed” it may be due to it being on top of the glass rather than where it belongs, underneath. This happened on a board I owned. Glasser forgot the lam and it was placed under the gloss coat creating a visible ‘bump’ in the finish.
Perhaps later in life someone tried to polish or sand the board? Almost looks like it was sanded or polished into the weeve??? Does the weeve disappear if you wipe a little styrene or denatured onto it???
I agree with gene and reverb. Fix the dings and leave it at that. So called restorations that just cover everything up with pigment and weird color jobs look terrible. A multi stringer board like that should be left as original as possible to let its true nature show.
My opinion, just fix the dings with individual patches and spot gloss or regloss at the most, no overall glass cap. Chopped fiber and 2x4oz patches, no Q-cell, no cover up, nothing looks worse. The glass on the laps is lit up because of many years outdoors, there’s a leak under the logo is so it lit up. The board is what it is, it shows its history, make it water tight and enjoy. Covering it up or reglassing will make it a total piece of junk.
…do what Gene said. There s no such thing as a restoration with a surfboard; a surfboard is not a car or like that where you can hide everything or put a new spare part, so not hidden stuff with a surfboard; yes, you can do a pigmented stuff, etc, you only add weight and kill the little flex the board may still have.
Those fibers are prominent due: what Gene say, lixiviation, no proper resin, too much evaporation of the monomere in the lamination, and bear in mind that the materials 45 years ago were not so good like the ones right now.
Hi Guys, just been checking out the David platt restorations link above. Great work and I agree with the minimal approach to these projects. Not much looks worse than an old log that has been completely recoloured, that said there may be a time and a place for it.
Quick question on what he may use to fill the pressure dings before reglassing over.
For pressure dings, I just use regular glass cloth, sand the ding to rough up the surface, then build up a few layers to get it back up to the right level, and sand it flush.
I leave pressure dents alone unless they leak. Filling them puts thick glass next to thinner glass and is a scenario for cracking when heels hit it again. Dents on the bottom and water flow considerations might be an exception.
I would stay focused on getting a water tight board back in the water whlie keeping the athletics unchanged. Any more and you’re just “stepping on” the original work and messing with the weight and strength. Heavy handed plastic surgery never looks right.
Thanks for all the advice guys, I really appreciate it. A water-tight, minimal restoration seems to make the most sense. I definitely don’t want to add any weight to this board, either. Here’s a few more pics I did not load at the beginning of the thread:
Oh yeah, as I mentioned this board had a pretty significant twist in it. I fixed it by using this advice from Jim Phillips I found in the archives:
Thanks Jim!
Your twist is most likely caused by rough storage over the last 45 years, but the way to fix it is, get some 2x2's, cut 2 @ 24", 2 @ 48".
Butt them in pairs of each and drill 1/2" holes @ 2" from the butted end and @ 20", thread 6" carraige bolts with wing nuts through the holes.
Slip them over the nose and tail with the long arms in opposite sides of the board. If it has a glass on fin, remove one 6" bolt, then replace it after getting it around the fin.
Now the arms have to be installed so the the leverage will take out the twist rather than increasing it.
A set of stands or sawhorses will work fine, but the board needs to be placed with support under the stringer, it needs to balance on its center, so as it de-twists it can freely float.
Get a couple of sand bags or several gallon cans filled with whatever and hang them on the long arms, you will need help doing this, if not the board will flip. Check every few days, it will take some time, not 45 years, but still takes time. Increase the weight if needed, works everytime
Myself, I like to fill pressure dings on the rails and bottom even if they don’t leak. I usually don’t figure these to be from heel pressure, but from impact wounds.
I like to eliminate surface dimples and ripples from the rails and bottom surface when I’m repairing a board. I guess I may be a heretic, but to me, ding-dimples on the rails and bottom never look right, and IMO add an unintended aberration to the water flow.
I have never had a problem with them re-appearing or cracking around the edges.
On the deck I don’t care so much, but I look to see if the heel-pressure dings have cracked the glass at the stringer, then I will deal with it accordingly, sometimes just a small strip of glass along the stringer to seal the cracked area, to prevent water from getting in. I also check to see if the glass has separated from the foam at the compressed area, which sometimes happens.
I just tend to do what works for me, obviously other opinions exist.
BTW Rand, that’s a good trick for taking out twist, you didn’t get any pictures of the process did you?
Rand, you wanted to know how old the board is? Best I can figure is late '67 or early ‘68. That was probably one of the last longboard designs out of Greek’s shop before shorter boards took over. I’d venture to guess that a few SS Models went unsold. Everyone was so eager to switch to a shorter board that you couldn’t give away anything over 9’ by the end of '68.
Trendy Hipster shapers with rich Parents,Green Blogs and skin tight jeans are going to great lengths in their attempts at making new boards look like old boards. It’s the hip thing ya know. Toss it in to a vintage rusty VW bus (that has been clearcoated) and you will da dog.
I am selling instant sunburn foam dye for only $65 quart. Some people accused me of relabeling bottles of Kroger iced tea but that was buulshit. I only shop at Publix.
Sammy, pretty sure it was '68, I sent an email to The Greek to try to get some info on the board and I think that was his response. I lost all my old emails a while back in a computer crash. It’s an interesting design, the Short Stringer, the actual wooden stringer is literally ‘short’…it ends about halfway down from the nose.