Surfing Waves

Hey guys and gals,

Just acquired this Sportflite board. It’s a fiberglass 8’ 3” model… probably from the 60’s. These were built buy someone for Sears… we’re these the models that had the Sportflite finish over another finish?

First post on his site so bare with me… thx in advance

Top shot

What an unusual board. Don't think I have ever seen one before. Is that a balsa wood board?

It’s all fiberglass… someone in So Cal made these for Sears during the 60’s surf craze… it’s going on a display rack… just looking for more info

A lot of cleaning and restoration needed before display, it's an odd beast!

I used dawn dish soap for the first main clean.. it was really bad before.. I was able to buff the blue side but the exposed fiberglass side it didn’t make a dent.. any ideas on cleaning that ? Since it’s old I’d rather try and keep it as is… although the fact that there could be another board underneath this makes me wonder who made it…

It may be that the discoloration is due to deterioration of the blank which is under the fiberglass so can't be cleaned away. But if the discoloration is on the surface you might be able to sand it off. You might try a test sanding of just a little area and see if it comes off

Ya and I was thinking of doing that too and if there is no manufacture “identity” underneath then either sand it for a tribute refinish or I’m good at vinyl wrapping so I could have a ton of fun with that without changing history … it’s a wall hanger board only…I saved this from the land fill (not joking) so just saving it was cool enough

Start with a blow dryer, bet ya most of that is old wax

I was thinking the same thing or maybe a mild setting on a heat gun… I did try buffing it out

Since this is a hanger I got carried away with some vinyl

What exactly is this vinyl that you talk about?

3M, Vvivid etc make adhesive vinyl… wrapping cars is a huge thing to use it on… it’s not permanent and leaves no adhesive behind and doesn’t change history… it’s a wall hanger so I thought I’d give it a face lift without changing what it is….

Your fun with vinyl gave a great result to a nondescript board , well worthy of hanging

Thanks!! It was fun. Going for that 80’s look. I need another board now