Wise brothers of the surfboard-building-for-a-long-time community, I need your help.
I recently purchased an old Con CC Rider with a heavy V-bottom and I would say it dates from 1967. The board has no fin but a rather intriguing fin-system (I thought I had seen them all but you learn everyday…) The “fin-box” looks like it’s been glassed directly into the routed cavity in the blank and it looks like this (sorry for the quick sketch):
Also, here’s a photo of the fin-box but I’m afraid it’s not very clear:
Here’s the board:
Maybe one of you remembers this specific system (it must not have lasted very long, IMHO.) Any info would be welcome and (let’s dream) if ever a fin is available somewhere, I’d be more than glad not to have to make one myself…
Of course I can’t be entirely sure without looking at the board in person, but that “fin system” looks very much like it is in fact a non-fin-system.
I say that in the sense that its not a bought item, but rather the box is molded with glass and resin with the fin base shape jammed straight into the routed slot.
Its been done, and its very do-able…
Release wax on the fin base is essential, and the locking-in wedge has to be added after removal of the fin base mold.
BTW, its a nice board…in that outline photo it appears to be in sensationally good condition.
Thanks Josh. Actually, it’s in incredible shape for its age. I bought it because I started surfing in 1966 and was drooling for those hyper-revolutionary boards the next year… So many (good) memories… Except for a few minor dings (and the lacking original fin, which must have been one of those giant hyper-flexy orca-fin-looking things), there is just some foam stain on the bottom:
Those deep V bottoms were around for a very short time. Your Con is probably from mid to late 1968. The box itself isn’t exactly a “system” type, as the fins were not meant to be interchangeable. I’ll take a wild guess that it’s a hold-over from the old Morey skegworks. A few shapers used a similar compression fit fin as far back as the mid 60s. Yater is one that comes to mind.
Anyway, you scored a pretty rare board in mighty good condition. I like the double foam stringer. Nice touch.
I love the pinstripe on the bottom. Thats a “fantastic plastic machine” you have there!
The fin would actually be very easy to replace. Use some putty to fill the slanting wedge in the back of the box, make it vertical.
Build up the sides of the box a little with tape so the fit isnt impossibly tight to pull your newly molded base out of. Grease up the box with mold release wax.
Mix resin with milled fibre, put rovings and glass in the slot, and dunk a freshly foiled fin in there.
Line up the fin as if you were tacking a glass-on. On curing you will need to pull the fin out. This is difficult and requires care. Remove the putty and build up the back of the new fin base to the reverse slant.
The original fin may have had a rubber bushing added which allowed the fin to be pressed back into the slot. The rubber would squish, allowing the front of the base to locate in the notch.
Looks like that could be a ‘‘make your own box’’. Basically you route a slot in the board after glass, make the fin, then use the fin to ‘‘mold’’ the inside of the box. Wet out a bunch of cloth, lay it over the slot, and push the (release-applied) fin into the slot. After cure, remove fin and grind ‘‘box’’ flush. Jam fit surprisingly secure if done correctly.
The amazing Jim Phillips showed me this one back in the day…
Thanks Josh, Sammy and Mike for your input. I will use your advice when making a new fin for it, when i have time to… In case this means anything to anyone, here’s the serial number:
If I had to engineer a fin that was easily removable, I would be thinking of shaping a fin, then drilling a hole, then cutting it, then Tapping the bottom peice… Just an idea for you.
Whilst drawing the pic, I figured you would have to make the hole in the top pice bigger.
Then i remembered this pic I found somewhere, it might give your more inspiration.
Not so rare a system, it is the Wonder Bolt box. The plug for making it was 2 part, with the joining angle the same as the rear of the box, after curing, remove bolt holding the 2 parts as one, pull out rear portion, tap part with nipple to the rear and then remove it. The fin used a stainless counter sunk headless bolt with a series of 3/32 holes drilled around it so a small pin could be inserted and used to turn the bolt until snugged up tight.
Mike was right, I had the jigs for these to rebuilt destroyed ones in old restorations, I have a Weber that I am rebuilding for Hank Byzak now.
Duh! I should have recognized that one. As I recall, the bolt was usually at the rear of the fin, which means that box was reversed?
Here’s a scan from a (2 page) Weber ad, shortly after that fin style was introduced. The bolt was threaded into the fin, and the indent mated to the bump in the box.
balsa, Jim Is right on about that fin being called the wonder bolt. I have seen a couple of those boards at Con when I made fins for him in the 70’s. That board looks in pretty good condition. You can make a fin for that easily by using a hex nut and bolt. But the only problem with that is on impact or strong current movement the fin may come out which was the draw back then. The wonder bolt was very similar concept to the Wish Bone fin both had the bump in the front, but the Wish Bone screwed in from the deck. I think I have a Wish Bone fin at the factory. I will look and post a pic.
Nice board you scored.
Con was also one of the main guys that supplied the Santa Monica Life Guards with their boards. Here’s a look at the lifeguard fin I made for Con AKA Control Products, with our circle logo at that time.
Hi Larry, thanks for even more info. I had seen the other system that you describe (the “Wishbone”) on british Bilbo boards back in the early 70s.
“But the only problem with that is on impact or strong current movement the fin may come out which was the draw back then.” This is the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the device, and it most probably explains why the board came without the fin… Apart from that, as already said, it’s in incredible condition for its age. I’m gonna fix up some minor dings (tail corners), trying to patch them a bit better than what was done and that’s about all that needs to be done. I love those “transition” boards, starting with the very last longboards (very thin pinchy rails), then those heavily Veed boards, then the first “mini-guns”… It was great to be 15 at that time. Not to sound too nostalgic, but there was so much creative thinking goig on…
On another note, I’m about to install my very first Probox boxes on a board that I’m shaping for a fellow swaylockian… I will call for help if I run into trouble but I doubt I will as the system seems so simple…
I immediately thought ths was a Wonder Bolt system. Otherwise the notch in the front appeared to require a horizontal pin in the front of the box and the fin material had to be soft enough (polypropylene?) to allow the jam fit method.
but then again, as my brain synapse starts kicking in here, I recall that the Wonder Bolt had the threaded part parallel to the board’s bottom and you took a nail or skinny Philips head screwdriver or hex wrench and tighten the bolt by screwing it outwards until it locked the fin into place. I seem to remember Wonder Bolts were brass and the head had holes in them to allow for the nail or whatever to fit in and turn them. The angle on the back of the fin helped lock it into place. The bolt was in the front, but I don’t recall them having a notch common to front pin boxes. You just dropped the fin in there and reversed screwed it outward to lock it, hence the reason for the angled back. The box is definitely not in backwards, on second thought maybe people had the bolt either way. I think the Wonder Bolt was from Control Products which of course was Con.
I’m pretty sure Wonder Bolts are still advertised somewhere, maybe Longobard Mag had an ad. I seem to recall them on t on the Weber Performer Hatchett fins and the Yater Dork fins. Karl Pope would know all this…and yes, those fin box cavity setups were molded with a bunch of glass being shoved in around the fins once the rout had been made, maybe some guys used roving. The layers always looked greenish afterwards due to all the glass and/or most likely were done with Volan.
…oh crap, he nailed it on the Wonder Bolt…I didn’t look at the whole thread…my apologies! Dink me one wave.
P.S.
Yeah your outline of what the fin looked like is correct except not notch in the front. Very basic and simple. The polypropylenes were pretty soft and eventually got brittle and snapped…esp. the Greenough Stage Three’s and higher aspect ones…although I saw Dorks snap too.
PPS…ya know thinking about it, I wish those poly Dorks and some of the others behemoths were still available. The thick foil and everything worked really good on the classic style longboards of the 60’s. When everything starting going modern, I found the longboards with down rails in the tail and real flat bottoms didn’t allow me to roll into drop knee turns. Maybe that was just me, but it seemed like they wouldn’t do that maneuver…my preference in “classic” longboards was straighter rocker and flatter bottom fronts with rolled soft rail backs. They worked good for small wave Calfornia surfing which was slower and fun from the back and classic trim was 2 ft. back from the nose…
