Hansen Superlight Mini Restoration Questions/Advice, etc.

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I picked up this board the other day which I have since figured out is a Hansen Superlight Mini. Here’s a picture of the board:

     The board is really beat up, aside from the nose and tail glass peeling away from the foam, there is also the pockets of delam here and there, as well as many small dings that look like the board was maybe dropped on small rocks repeatedly.

     But I really like the shape, the foam still looks to be in good shape where it is exposed, and it has the original bolt-through fin, so I’d love to try restoring it A) for my own practice glassing and B) so I can surf it. I know it’s in rough shape, but it was cheaper than a blank so I figured why not.

     So far, given the severity of the damage, I think my plan is to carefully strip the glass, reglass it, and redo the pinlines exactly as they are on this board (I love the green pinlines and the way they accentuate the 3/4 length stringer). My questions are these:

     1. Best way to make the blank white again? I’m guessing that it’s going to be pretty brown and splotchy underneath, so I’m planning on spraying it with white after taping off the stringer and finbox. Any other recommendations? Can you spackle w/ poly like I’ve read people do with EPS/epoxy?

     2. What was the glassing schedule for these boards, if anyone knows? It looks like there may be a volan deck patch in between the two pinline accents on the deck.

     3. I really like that logo, and would like to have it on the board again. Does anyone know where I can get either an original (fat chance) or a decent scan of one that I can print out onto rice paper?

     4. What are the best ways to go about removing the glass? I’ve done searches and come up with lots of ways, but figured if anyone wants to add some more of their deglassing tips here, it would be much appreciated.

 

     I think that’s it, but if anyone has anything else they can think of that might help me out, I’d definitely be grateful.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Chris

[balsa]

Very personal thought: you’re going to run into lots of trouble stripping the glass on this old beater. Most likely, more or less well repaired dings will appear under this black paint (it’s here for a reason…) and you’re going to rip out chunks of resin/foam that will be hard to fix properly. I would also forget about spraying white paint on the foam: who do you think you’ll be fooling? It will only look weird. Oh, and: “It looks like there may be a volan patch in between the two pinline accents on the deck”. Yes, there is. actually the whole board is glassed with volan, as they all were, back then.

 

Sincerely, I wouldn’t attempt such work. Carefully scrape or sand the black paint and see what’s under, yes. (Being careful with the pinlines, here, they are showing under the paint). Fix up all dings, yes. Not much more can be done that won’t definitely alter this board’s personality.

 

Ask for Bill Thrailkill’s advice before doing anything.

[SammyA]

@$1

Very personal thought: you’re going to run into lots of trouble stripping the glass on this old beater. Most likely, more or less well repaired dings will appear under this black paint (it’s here for a reason…) and you’re going to rip out chunks of resin/foam that will be hard to fix properly.

Sincerely, I wouldn’t attempt such work. Carefully scrape or sand the black paint and see what’s under, yes. (Being careful with the pinlines, here, they are showing under the paint). Fix up all dings, yes. Not much more can be done that won’t definitely alter this board’s personality.

 

Agreed. If the OP wants some glassing practice, I suppose the thing could be stripped and re-shaped. No way it can be re-done without major headaches and complicated surgery. Looks far too beat.