Restoration - 70's single fin - where to go?

General Discussion
1

I’ve been working on restoring this board for a while and actually took a break b/c I think I have hit a wall and need some advice.

This is a 70’s del cannon about 7’0" gun that my father used to surf back in the day. It was sitting in the basement rotting away with a broken nose and smashed tail just sucking up mold, so I decided to fix her up.

I sanded down to the glass, rebuilt the tail and nose and fixed the dings. I then applied a colored hotcoat that really didn’t come out that great. (see photos)

After these photos were taken, I sanded it down further and it is baby’s butt smooth, but the glass is thin in some spots and the colored hot coat is spotty at best.

Where should I go from here? I’m not sure I want to spray paint it as I like the DC logo and I’ve done a good job with all the dings. Should I put a 4 oz glass coat then color hotcoat again? I want to surf this not hang it.

(I surfed this thing a few times before I took on the job and it is super loose, fun and crazy to surf)


2

I think I’d sand down to the glass again, then add a layer of 4oz tinted glass? maybe olive green…

3

I’m not a restorer but I have a board with similar issues and I have sanded it down and fixed the dings, with a plan to reglass where necessary with 2 oz. cloth… hoping to add as little weight as possible.

Why not tape off the logo and spray the rest of it?

4

The basic problem to this kind of restoration is the color blotches.

I have succesfully taken boards down to the glass, used a hot coat to seal what was there

previously and like you said Keith…follow up with a 2 oz cloth with laminate resin and pigment.

This gives the board a uniform color and greatly minimizes the blotches.

5

Ok so basically this is how to proceed:

glass it with laminate resin with pigment added and 2oz glass (what’s the best place online to shop for supplies?)

Hot coat after that?

I would like to have a gloss finish - gloss coat after the hot coat?

Thanks for the replies and the help.

6

Have a look at the link below and scroll down to the Hot Roc restoration. It may help. I wanted to do a pigment glass job on another restoration, so I did some test lams over the repaired dings. You could still see the dings through pigmented resin and glass.platty.

http://www.davidplattsurfboardrestorations.com.au

7

im looking for a restorer\ding repair professional, in the nyc long island new jersey area...my # is 646 509 3590...i have some old 60s 70s shorts longs and.... 2 90s i want ding free 1 i want to install a single cnter box on a future systems box...it hums..its crooked...anyone interested call me... i want color coordination  on the restorations with out addding to much weight...thx. glenn.

8

 

http://www.fiberglasssupply.com

 

They have glass in all different weights. Starting at around 1.5 oz.

 

PS: You have a classic board, built by a truly classic guy. What type of fin box does it have? Looks like an early FU? Still have the original fin?

9

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[quote="$1"] what's the best place online to shop for supplies?

[/quote]

 

http://www.fiberglasssupply.com

 

They have glass in all different weights. Starting at around 1.5 oz.

 

PS: You have a classic board, built by a truly classic guy. What type of fin box does it have? Looks like an early FU? Still have the original fin?

[/quote]

I believe FU still has some of the colored lexan fins for that early box.    It's worth a call, or e-mail.   Del was one of the regular crew at Windansea, during the 1950's through the 1960's.    As you said, a classic guy!   A true waterman.

10

Hi David Platt, I had a look at your site and I sigh at those pesky brown water stains that plague good old shapes. I had some excellent results on SMALL water stains by drilling a series of small holes with a Dremel and injecting a few drops of oprdinary house bleach into the holes.

 It took the brown colour out of the top layer of foam and it returned to almost white. I didnt try it on logos or sprayed colours.

Over a hand sized area, it took about a day to do.

 The foam has stayed white since then.