Wondering if it's possible to convert the mast track of a big old bic sailboard that uses one of those push in / pull out "U" shaped pins to a modern mast track?

Yes and no.
If it is an old white plastic board - no.
If it is one of the multicoloured BiC board of about 1988-early 90's you may be in luck.

If an old white polyethylene board, if the existing track has enough thickness you can maybe route out the centre a little and epoxy in a modern mast track. Removing the entire track and glassing in a new one won't work as it wont bond to the plastic board skin

You could always plastiweld or epoxy an alloy or SS tube with a nut welded in to each push in tube. that way you could use a new mast base. I have had a mate do this to a few of his old boards and it has worked. the old board were designed so that the two positions of the base (front hole and back holes) were good for high and low winds.

I will try to get a couple of pics as soon as I can get to his place again.

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gregob said..

Wondering if it's possible to convert the mast track of a big old bic sailboard that uses one of those push in / pull out "U" shaped pins to a modern mast track?

post up a photo and i can give you a solution greggo or gobbo or call ian on 0755313199 thursday to monday, but i will still need a photo.

Just to clarify. I am not a handy man in any sense of the word. Any and all advice will need to be expressed in terms a 3 year old could comprehend.

For example, Mark, you are obviously a very knowledgeable and skilled handyman. You are probably a builder or rocket prefabricating engineer based on the terms you just throw about like ceramic tiles at a space shuttle convention.

For example

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Mark _australia said..

route out the centre a little and epoxy in a modern mast track.

What the...?!!?! I'm in I.T Mark - if you ever saw me at bunnings I'm the guy standing in line behind 50 women waiting for the guy with the tool belt!

OK then. That looks to be the one with the aluminium centre track so do not take a router to it!!!
By router I mean a spinny thing that carves out trenches in things like wood and windsurf boards, not a thing that makes your internet talk to a few computers at the same time

Best option is to glue in a few nuts with epoxy.

You will need to buy the right nuts and get an engineering shop or very handyman mate to weld them into the end of stainless pipe about 10mm dia. and 40mm long.
Then glue those little pipes into the track with epoxy mixed with a filler (about $40 of materials all up, but the welding part could cost if you have to get somebody to do it for you)

the old school way to do this was to fit the pin to a more modern uni joint. it's not as easy as it sounds though. sometimes it's easier to find the old uni and just change the cup to a more modern one.

i'd give some of the shops like greenleader a call. sometimes they have boxes full of old stuff from their youthfull days.

the pins did come in different sizes so be carefull you get the right one and try a retro fit. sometimes you can find other brands that are close enough.

or try this
http://www.sailski.com/windsurfer-parts.htm

or try this
www.isthmussailboards.com/products.asp?dept=33

also hydrodynamix may be able to help is you let them know the dimensions of the pin the tyronsea gear may work.
www.hydrodynamix.com/#!tyronsea

your other alternative is to get a new brass pin machined to suit.

ok, I see in the photo you have the existing extension and uni.

try and adapt the uni to a more modern cup fitting or extension. all of the parts should be able to be pulled apart and then reassembled to the bottom of a new extension.

Ahh yes I didn't see the extension and uni either. I assumed everything was missing.
Greg what bit is broken / what are you trying to achieve? you may well just be able to get 2 bits at the shop and screw them together

It's hard to see but if you already have an aluminum track then you should be able to use a standard mast base witha bigger nut.

I did this on a old f2 I had. Just made a bigger chunkier nut to replace the standard smaller one that comes with the mast base. Or you can weld a bigger washer on the stock nut.

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Waiting4wind said..

Or you can weld a bigger washer on the stock nut.

Might have to try this on an old board hifly 500CS my mate has.

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Waiting4wind said..

Or you can weld a bigger washer on the stock nut.

this method works, I did it, but you need to put a spacer (in my case a piece of wood with a hole drilled..) between the UJ and the board, as the thread on the UJ will be too long otherwise.

You dont really need to weld either, as long as the washer and nut stay together, once its tight it doesn't matter... think super glue haha

But the real problem is why you would want to use such a board in the first place :)

As long as he is willing to get on the water and sail does it really matter what board he has or uses? Go for it and have fun

If I had that board I'd take it out on Sydney Harbour for some light wind cruising with the centreboard down. Would be great fun.

Have you spoken to WindsurfnSnow in Sydney? They often have lots of bits and pieces like you need under the counter...

I sail that kind of boards for fun & freestyle, old style, when the wind does not cooperate (<14 knots say).
My psychatrist linked my existential angst to this very problem, so I had too find a solution.

Solution #1 is simple, involved 2 x 6" Mitre 10 screws. Beaut is, you don't need stainless, as the board is guaranteed to take water much faster than the bolts will rust.





You just screw it the other side into any kind of fitting, it works.
(In this example, I screwed up and screwed... an old part!)

A nicer solution is the following, which involves a mast track bit like yours.




I cut out a 2" plate off an old heavy-duty aluminium hinge.
Cut it to length, and the width of the inside of the track.
A longish hole into which the usual bronze screw part sits. For thickness and avoiding cutting off the uni screw might hit plastic on the other side, I used a couple of layers of neoprene, from old mouse pads - that gives it friction too to keep it nice & snug.

And voila, you can now sail away with modern gear. It's resistant enough for railrides too - the ultimate test.
In my case, I use this to rig a modern Windsurfer One-Design sail, as well as a nice 2011 Dacron sail from Severne - lovely product by the way.

With this 2nd solution, the board will be drier than a pommies' bath mat...

I have a large old bic which looks like that ( its a bic bee bop I think) I converted it to take a chinook 2 bolt base with a classic cup. I wanted to be able to use my rig on this old board as well as my short boards with out messing about too much. The only problem is that it is no longer adjustable, its in a fixed position, and I have used sails from 4.0 to 7.0 on it without aby problems. What I did was, 1. remove the current base and arm that locks it into position on the track. (think I had to break or cut this from the front of the track) 2. unscrew track and remove from board. 3. cut/make 2 slots in the track under the top lip of track (slots will be same distance apart as the bolt holes on the base) 4. cut 2 plates from stainless or a thick ally plate and drill and tap hole to suit the bolts of the new base (chinook) 5. place these plates into the slots you just cut in the track. 6. screw track back into board, bolt on base and go have a sail. I will post a photo when I dry out my phone (it went for a quick swim the other day) I think it only cost about $10 - had to buy the tap to suit an 8mm bolt from the chinook base.

In a post above deejay8204 mentioned the Tyronsea set up as a possible solution and gave a link to E-Bay for the brass connecting pin on the end of the mast base. Hydro Dynamix also have that brass connector, amongst other Tyronsea parts: www.buydomains.com/lander/hydrodynamix.com?domain=hydrodynamix.com&utm_source=hydrodynamix.com&utm_medium=click&utm_campaign=TDFS-OO-BDLander_Invisible&traffic_id=TDFS-OO-BDLander_Invisible&traffic_type=tdfs&redirect=ono-redirect They also have a diagram of the components of the Tyronsea mast base here: www.buydomains.com/lander/hydrodynamix.com?domain=hydrodynamix.com&utm_source=hydrodynamix.com&utm_medium=click&utm_campaign=TDFS-OO-BDLander_Invisible&traffic_id=TDFS-OO-BDLander_Invisible&traffic_type=tdfs&redirect=ono-redirect-technical

You can buy the whole Tyronsea mast base here (I bought one last year):
www.tropicalwatersports.com.au/shop/product_info.php?products_id=847&osCsid=d108ddea894eb4c20961fb075b9b144c

They also sell the mast foot & deckplate:
www.tropicalwatersports.com.au/shop/product_info.php?products_id=928&osCsid=d108ddea894eb4c20961fb075b9b144c

Greg