Another beginner/repair thread. I have a Mistral Classic 295 (130l). The nose area has a few dings and two small chips in the outer coating approximately 7x5mm. Underneath is a yellowish brown foam and a few glass fibres. I think I'll add a soft foam nose pad to prevent more damage, but I'd like to seal the area properly before I do so. Can I just dab plain epoxy resin in the chips then fill and sand the dings before some paint? or should I sand the whole area then fill-sand-glass-sand-paint? I'm pretty sure water can get in as it is now.
I don't know how old this board is, but can anyone tell me what its construction/materials is likely to be? Is this PVC sandwich foam I can see or old fashioned foam like in surfboards?
Thanks,
Leon.
Hi Leon,
First port of call:
boardlady.com/
Secondly, get some proper epoxy (not five minute araldite, it goes soft) from a marine chandlery or hardware store. You want the stuff that comes in two tubs or tins.
For small dings, I chop 1cm strips of fibreglass mat (this makes millions of little strands) and mix them in with the epoxy. Dab this into the hole and leave for 48 hours before sanding.
This is what I did tonight to my wave board, it had a 10mm x 4mm ding in the nose.
If the ding goes through the inner layer of fibreglass then it's a lot more involved, you need to do some serious work. See the board lady site for more info.
hth
Hi aero,
I have performed some rhinoplasty (nose jobs) on 3 boards very similar to yours recently.
A Mistral Classic, Flow and Screamer. Like yours, they are all from the era when the noses of the boards were unecessarily long and pointed. (The last 20cm serves no purpose other than to create fear for swimmers and monofilm)
There is enough nose lift that you can lop of your damaged area, and still have as much nose lift as a more recent board. (I'll try and post some pics on this thread)
My 276 mistral classic is now a 255. It rides beautifully and doesn't look out of place among the more modern shorter boards.
My favourite board, a 266 Flow is now a 248
Anyway, you need to get some epoxy laminating resin, so that it doesn't react with the styrene foam. Once it is sealed, you can work with polyester resin (surfboard resin) to finish off with, as it is easier to work with.
Last of all, use car bog (easy to sand and shape) then spray with auto spray paint. yours is white so easy to match.
Good luck
It's good to hear the wise words of experience. I have already devoured the excellent Board Lady site, and I have some FGI epoxy from a boatbuilding project (nearly finished
). I poked around a bit in one of the chips and couldn't find any inner glass or EPS core without gong deeper than I dared, so It's good to know that the board is the standard epoxy sandwich construction. Chopping the nose off completely is an interesting idea, but I'll save that until I have a better reason to do it. I might talk to a fridge mechanic I know about getting an old compressor to use as a vacuum pump for future repairs and water removal.
Thanks for the advice.
I've used polyester resin (laminated through glass) over the top of epoxy many times on decent sized areas and it adheres with no trouble. Gotta make sure that the underlying epoxy coat has been rough sanded first, to provide a surface that will give purchase.
I then get the shape as close to exact as posible and only use a small amount of car bog if required. This is then sealed with multiple coats of car duco.
They have stood the test of time and are a fun project that breaths life into your favourite old boards. I'll post some photos this evening for those that have emailed me.
Aero,
In your email you said you might chop the nose off your board!!!!
(if you thought it looked worth it)
Well, here are the pics you requested:
the first is the Classic in the early stages of operation.
- Epoxy laminated through glass (fed under top sheet of original to ensure overlap for strength and watertightness)
Here's the finished Classic sitting with the 266 Flow and the 260 Screamer.
Here are the same 3 boards after the Flow (now 248) and Screamer (now 250) have been done.
The big board is a 272 Vision (no need to change that one)
On the water, if you drop the sail onto the nose, or have to rotate the sail over the nose to get into waterstart position, you don't feel like it'll puncture the mono film.
Still heaps of nose lift as you can see. (I took less off the 83ltr Screamer as it goes out on the harshest days in the most chop)
They look heaps better on the water than they used to.
Good luck if you decide to become a "Bored Surgeon" too.
That looks like pretty clean work, you even got a good colour match. In the first picture, is that blue/grey material the outer sandwich foam? If so, does it extend all the way to the nose and rails?
Thanks for the photos.
The bluey grey stuff is strong, light and stiff. It does extend all away around the rails from nose to tail.
It might be called Divinicell or something similar.
I make sure the areas I relay have multiple layers of matting to ensure strength from impact. Altering the nose doesn't affect the boards longitudinal stiffness though, so you don't have to worry about that.
If you decide to have a go and muck it up, it can never be a disaster 'cos there is always someone who can finish it off, even if it costs a few bucks.
The damage I have to deal with isn't really serious enough to warrant a nose chop, and I haven't sailed the board enough for the pointy bit to concern me yet. I'll definately keep this idea in mind for the future though.
may aswell waste everyone eleses time seeing your bored
Yes the green flows are ASA. I haven't had problems getting it to adhere, but lots of people at the beached have asked the same question as you. I think its because I overlap the new glass with the existing material. I section it underneath so it adheres to what is under the ASA.
Love to see some pics of your flow if you wanna post them. Or anyone elses for that matter. (I reckon you get good ideas from seeing other peoples modifications)
Hey, a Mistral Vision 130! That's my #1 board! Except I use just 3 footstraps, and mine is a bit more dinged up... Is that a nice board or what??
I always said you were a smart guy, Bondy...
As for the pointy noses, if you're worried about them, why not just stick a tennis ball on there?
Here's what I'm up to:
This is the worst of two small damaged area after I sanded off the top coating. The visible glass seems to be matting rather than woven cloth. Is this normal? Anyway I'll fill the divot and add some light glass, one layer the size of the exposed foam and one a bit larger.
Is there anything else I need to be careful of?
Thanks.
