Hello, I’ve been reading the forums for awhile but now I’m going to post. I Just recently acquired a Plastic Fantastic from a friend who wants to see if I can restore it? First off the board is in pretty bad shape, but I think I can turn into something that can be displayed if not ridden. The nose and tail are split bad, the foam is exposed. The tail has some delam about a quarter the way up. The board has multiple dings and rail damage.
What do you all think is the best approach; I was thinks on sanding the whole thing down. Then trying to remove most of the patches, next repairing those and anything else. Then gloss and polish. Also how difficult will it be to match the color? There are three shades and it’s really hard to tell what the original colors were. What kind of cloth should I use? Since it’s about 30 years old I’m guessing the original cloth is 10oz volon, but I’m not sure. Any websites for materials would be helpful. Any product recommendations are also welcome. Is there any product that I can use to fill in where there is no foam? Is that what Q’CELL for? Anyways I’m going to attach some photos, I took lots of them. Tell me what you think I’m open to just about anything. Thanks everyone.
My gawd- the last Vari-set fin in captivity. Which in itself is amazing - the majority of the Plastics I sold way back when were Bahne boxes or glass-ons, and the Vari-set might have been the worst design for a fin system ever, they broke like breadsticks. That’s 'cos it’s one of the black ‘glass-filled’ ones, most of 'em were Lexan, which were too fragile to survive more than one or two healthy bottom turns.
They were a hell of a good board, by the way. Well made, good shapes, good quality overall.
That is a very early one. The serial number ( if it has one, for reasons Kokua and I won’t talk about) would be quite low. There have been some very good posts of late on restoring older boards, which I can’t really add to but will highly recommend. Search the Archives and you can find some first rate step-by-step procedures, with pictures.
…“The serial number ( if it has one, for reasons Kokua and I won’t talk about) would be quite low…” … the ‘team riders’ , however, may not have been ! (reefer to p.69, "Mr. Sunset , the Jeff Hakman Story " , by Phil Jarratt ) …“boggled brains” ? INDEED ! ben
Vari- Fin… mmmm… Never heard of them. Thats cool, so the one on my board is the glass filled one? (which is stonger, right.) I’ve done some serching on the forums and haven’t come up with anything super good yet. I’ll dig deeper and see what I come up with. Gawd, I love old stuff, finding out hte history of something is great. Keep it coming. Also any pointers on where to start? I was thinking of sanding and getting rid of most of the pervious repairs and redoing them myself. Most of them are pretty bad. Any good tips on fixing the Delam? I was thinking on using a couple of siringes and shooting the resin underneath? Anyways thanks everyone.
Rob
P.S. By the way I don’t think it has a Serial Number, but i’ll have to check. I would assume that its by the stringer somewhere?
The logo looks in good shape.On an older board your restoring the logo is everything.So be care full sanding it. What I’ve done after sanding and ding repairs. Is to glass a layer of 4 oz. on the board top and bottom. It helps clean up all the dings heel dents and cracks.Also helps with sanding coat and gloss.It adds a little weight to the board but worth it . Good luck and take your time. Gordon
What you sugested is the approach I sometimes take. I normally grind the areas that need repairing. Do the repairs, then sand the whole board when sanding the repairs. As far as matching the colours. It is pretty hard to match something that is 30 plus years old. You would get a better looking finish if you did complete colour job. Pigment or paint. Match the colours as close as possible. Using the old colour job as a guid remask and paint the seperate colours. Finish with a clear coat and polish. What I’ve said isn’t very detailed. You will need to decide what sort of finish you want. That will to a certain extent determin what material you use to do the repairs. eg Q-cell or solid glass etc. The above link details a restoration using auto acrylic paints. Hope this helps. platty.
Wow, that board turned out fantasic. Couple of questions though. When you paint the board do you get the fiberglass “look”? Meaning do you obtain the depth of pigmented glass? I would think not, unless you painted, then did a glass job over that. Reading the forums it seems that if you go that route you run the risk of the glass over paint delaming? (I’m I wrong on that?)
Also if I paint the board to repair it, how do I save the logo? Do I just paint a new logo? (Following the original lines?) I’m not sure I’d like to paint over logo, I’d hate to cover up the original. But I still love the how that board came out, its just gorgeous. Anyways keep it coming, I’m loving the support. Thanks to all.
I suppose you could tape it off very carefully and then peel away the tape. Now I know NOTHING about what you are dealing with, but maybe a good route to go would to be fix everything, then paint, and then glass with 4 oz? Just my thoughts
“When you paint the board do you get the fiberglass “look”? Meaning do you obtain the depth of pigmented glass?”
Unfortunatly no. That particular board was paint and gloss. The gloss is pretty deep. But you don’t get that glassed look. I have done one with the same paint system then glassed a layer of 4oz over and finished the board as if it were a regular glass job. It did look like a regular glass job. It was going to be a wall hanger. You are right about possible delam problems with glass over paint.
“Also if I paint the board to repair it, how do I save the logo?”
What I do here is. I use clear packaging tape or clear contact. Cover the logo and with a sharp blade carefully cut around the outline of the logo. Remove the excess tape and do the painting. Then remove the contact after the board has been glossed with Top Coat Clear. platty.
Thanks, you have been a grat help. I’m going to have to call the owner and see what his decision his. (wall hanger or surfable) Last I talked with him he wasn’t planning on surfing it just restore it for sentimental value. I’m really leaning towards the paint and 4oz glass over. Thanks again platty, I’ll try and keep everyone posted on how it goes.
Dragging my old tread up. Anyways after some consideration (and talking with the owner) i’m going to paint this board and possibly glass over. What i’m having trouble with is trying to figure out the correct colors to closely match the original colors of the board. You can see the pics of the board up top. Let me know if you need to see any different angles. Thanks everyone!
After looking at the pics of the board I’d say trying to match the color might not work and if you are going to repaint the whole board just go with a like color that’s a littl darker so it’ll cover the old paint. Aloha,Kokua
