Hi all! I am new here, I am from S. California and was given this Longboard surfboard to me and dont know much about it. So thats why I am here for your expertise if any… So far all I have is general info on this 10 foot long and 22.5 inches wide, Surfboard by Challenger. Check out the pictures and let me know if there is a model name for this board and maybe a year it was made?. The back of the board is labled with “N.B. 13” thats all I have… I was planing to “recondition” it to ride it again. By recondition I mean take it in a shop have them sand it down to the bone, fix any and all dings to match the current color of the board, and re-glass it with resin so that it may look like new. Let me know what you all think? Thanks in advance to everyone and anyone who may help me figure this out!
It looks pretty trashed. I think at best you might buy a little resin and find a piece of foam and fix it yourself. If you take it to a surf shop I would bet the repairs are gonna cost more than the boards worth. Take ur dough and buy a newer board partner.
It’s a mid to late sixties challenger longboard probably built in San Diego when the bahnes owned it( before bobby Thomas )cool find. It’s not a museum piece or a piece of junk.i would get it watertight and ride it and hang it! The bahne brothers went on to start fins unlimited, bahne surf boards,and Cadillac wheels. ( FYI)
Surfboards by challenger- Bobby Thomas
There are guys on here that knew him well im sure and maybe they will chime in.
That thing is in no way trashed. Still has many waves to be ridden. Get it water tight and wax it up. Not sure its the best restoration candidate but if thats what you wanna do, I can say I’ve seen people start with A LOT worse.
Thanks K.c. and WideAWAKE! That is the sort of info I needed. It is still a solid board, all the dings or dents is from the top layer of resin. I had took it to San Diego off PCH at a local known board shop and they offered me $800 to sell it or trade in for a new one or two. Since they wanted it I knew I had something pretty cool! Do any of you know a good shop that will fix it and use a new hot coat over here in S. California, I live in Riverside area so I am right in the middle of San Diego, Orange County, Long Beach and L.A. Thanks aging guys!
Challenger was a well respected Board in it’s day. Some very good shapers worked for Challenger. Jim Phillips worked for the Challenger East Label. At one time they were under the same brand then split. Bill Caster also put in time at Challenger.
I think the new challeger boards are owned by someone that just imports them from China without any conection to the orginal Challenger in any way.
As others have said it is worth fixing up and riding again
Well, I guess now to find a good place that can fix it for me out here by Riverside. Let me know if you guys know of any shops around, thanks! Not sure by when I’ll get it fixed, but I will for sure post the after pics! Thanks for everyone’s help!
Wideawake- how are you! I was just exagerating it…what I meant to say is: don’t go and blow his wad on it - as it’s pretty well beat up. If he wants a restoration project, he would be better off finding a nicer board to make it worth it.
It’s California not Cali. You earn instant KOOK status when you say Cali. Got it…live it.
Send a pm to PeteC. Pete rebuilds power planners. Pete’s son has a ding repair shop somewhere in Fullerton or Anaheim. PeteC is an honest man. If his son cannot take care of you Pete will guide you to the right shop…and…read the Share the stoke thread…I would be Stoked to own that board!!!
My son is too expensive. He gets the big $$ from SUP kooks who live in the gated communities around here and don’t care about the price. They’re such targets that he got his real estate license and he’s going after them with that too. Take it to Perry at Terry Senate’s in San Clemente, not a restoration but everything will be watertight and a good price. Or, get some karma by donating to one of the museums. It’s more rewarding to look it there than in the rafters of your garage. This board isn’t a regular rider, and you certainly don’t want to take it out in the crowd at San-O either. Another option is to sell it for the $800 and talk to Senate about a custom handshaped LB which will be perfectly matched to you. Consider how much real use you’re going to get from it and decide. It was your good fortune to find something like this.
Thanks everyone! I have been emailing shops around my area to get a quote. I will look into Terry Senate’s and see what they can help me out with as well, thanks for that PETEC.
I will look for PeteC as well and hope to hear good news… Thanks STINGRAY. Also thanks for the advice!
As far as I know the board has never been modified nor fixed before. Its all original, Thats why I would like someone with experiance to work on the board bc it also carries sentimental value other than its a one of a kind board. So I wont sell it, Id rather use it till its dying day then hang it up for show next to my BAR at home.
AGAIN… Thanks to all! I wasnt expecting this much input from anyone, LOL.
this is one of the very early Challengers that Tinker started shaping with Bill Bahne and Frank McCleary, I have that template in my shaping room, Tinker gave it to Michele Junod and Michele got it to me several years ago. Just a few days ago while driving home, checking the surf at Terramar, there was a cab over camper with 2 boards leaning aganst the rear wheel streetside and the outside board looked to have a Challenger logo, I pulled onto the side street and walked back for a looksee, sure enough a Challenger, nearly show room condition, T-band, clear volan, glassed on 32 oz. woven roving fin, the same as in the above photo. The rocker was so modern for a '64-'65 board, unmistakenly a Tinker shape. The owner said it surfs the wave for you, like it can read his thoughts
I will be getting it resored SammyA. I just got an email from Terry Senate and he said “That board looks cool You will need to bring it in to for to see the damage up close,but looking at the pic it looks like it is not in too bad of shape.” So I have high hopes to getting it back to like new and riding it.
