Help me save this Takayama

Hey all, today my boss gifted me his Donald Takayama (Model T?) with the caveat that it needs to be repaired. It has a large and ugly patch-type repair on the deck that has started to delaminate around the edges. What all needs to be done to get this thing back in the water. Can it be as simple as adding resin to the areas that are peeling? Or do I need to tear deeper into this. How much water intrusion can a blank handle? I’m new to working on boards, but am very mechanically minded and would like to learn how to do this work myself. Thanks for your help. 







Step one: clean the wax off the board.  

Then you can examine the problem, take pics, etc.  

What explanation did he give for that large white deck patch?

Wax is (mostly) scraped in the closeups. The second picture is the worst of what I’m seeing. He told me the story awhile ago, but I’m pretty sure the original repair was also for a delam. 

Use a rag and some paint thinner, or just a rag and a little sunshine on a hot day, with a little thinner on the final cleanup.  Thats step one for me, always, when doing any repair work on the deck.  Scraping alone doesn’t really get the board clean.  Pictures reveal a lot more when the board is clean, if you’re posting pictures to ask questions.

If there is water intrusion it has to be completely dried out.  Based on the limited information and the pics of the dirty board, I would say sand the whole thing, reglass over the deck patch with a larger piece of glass so you have some overlap, and then re-coat the whole board, or at least the whole deck, with a finish coat of resin.

When I asked about the deck patch I thought you might know who did it and what materials did they use, etc.  It doesn’t look like standard clear resin and fiberglass, there’s a reason its so white.

BTW, if the existing patch is dry and well bonded, you could salvage the aesthetics somewhat with a fabric inlay over the patch, and under your new glass.  A little extra work but might be worth it.  Search the archives for ideas and specifics.

Unless the board has been in the water recently, you will find that it is pretty dry inside. Poly foam only absorbs so much water. IOW, very little. It is one of the main reasons it became the eventual replacement for wood. It resists water absorption.

The pic of the bottom is hard to decipher due to the lighting.  Bright sunlight + shadow. While the rails don’t show evidence of buckling, does the bottom have any repair/damage at the same point where the deck patch is?

If I was going to tackle this job, I would get all the wax off, first. As suggested previously. Then, remove all that bogus glass and resin that someone misguidedly applied. Clean any loose glass at the rails, and start over. It is my opinion that a proper repair would be to redo that whole area. You could probably sand around the edges of the mess and then peel the whole thing off. You would then need to fill any voids and cracks, then apply a couple of layers of new glass. Maybe, double 6 oz or even triple 4 oz. I also agree that a fabric inlay would be a good way to hide the ugly, after it’s all fixed right.

Second option would be to find a local repair expert and pay them to do the job right.