Foil Track Box - Futures Finboxes Not included.

Foil Track Box is a simple solution for making one of your surfboards into a track mount foil board. Remember to Add your Futures 10.75 Strongboxes in your choice of colours to your order!

So you want to install a foil track box into your existing board?

Here is a run down of the procedures to help you out.  Let us know if you have any additional questions.

• This box will fit most 90mm bolt patterns. That is now the standard box width in the industry.  Current year Slingshot, Ride Engine, Naish, Lift, Cloud IX, Liquid Force will fit correctly.

 Here are some basic instructions for install. If you do not have experience working with fiberglass I would pay an experienced glasser or repair facility to install it for you.

 Figure out where you want your box.  Most foils ride with the mast directly beneath the rear foot. This chart will give common placements to the CENTER of the box.

1. Measure Twice... or Maybe three times. 
   
   

   Board Length	Distance from tail of board to center of box
   5'0" to 5'9"	8" – 12"
   5'10" to 6'6"	10"- 15"
   6'7" to 7'4"	16"-20"
   7'5"; to 8'6"	18" -22";
   8'7" to 9'6"	23" to 28"

    
2. Sand back any paint or existing hotcoat over the area to be glassed on the base and deck. Roughly a patch 18"x36" (larger for SUP boards)
3. Mark your centerline on the board.
4. Mark the centerline on your box insert
5. Match the center-lines and outline the box with a pencil
6. IMPORTANT: if your board has a stringer you will want to leave it intact. You will have to cut your box down the center and remove foam to account for the stringer thickness if this is the case. Common stringer widths are 1/4"-3/16" on hand shaped surfboards and as large as 3/4" for pop outs.
7. Use a router with a 1 /12 inch (38-40mm) long straight rod with flush trim bearing" to cut the hole.  Pro tip; cut a 1/4" depth first to create a more accurate and smooth cut for the deep cut. You can then use the bearing guide along that ridge to complete your full depth cut. When setting the depth, make sure you have made additional space for a few layers of glass to go uner the box Tip; If you do not own a router you can always use a circular saw or Dremel and hand saw with extreme caution. If you go this route, be sure your cuts are square to the deck and that you do not cut through the stringer.
8. Place your box into the cavity you have cut.
9. Double check the box is sitting almost  flush with the bottom of the board about 1-2mm under to allow new glass and still have finboxes protruding enough to sand off tape! 
10. Pick which colour you need in Futures 10.75 Strongbox and glue in with epoxy and milled fibres
11. Mask the box openings so that they do not fill with overflow epoxy.
12. laminate internally  of the cavity with a few layers of 6oz eglass or 6oz carbon if worried about strength this will give you a good solid base for the box to sit on and help spread the load.
13. Mix surfboard grade epoxy with Cabosil or Milled fibre  to a toothpaste consistency. Safety tip; do not use west system or epoxies not meant for surfboard production, they have a high exotherm and will burn foam or start your project on fire.  We really like Surfset flex Epoxy for this job as it has the lowest temp reaction so less chance of melting .
14. With the bottom of board  side up and level, Coat the sides of the cavity with thickened epoxy using an epoxy squeegee. Do the same with the box sides. Be careful not to coat the bottom of the box or taped deck area with too much epoxy as it will want to float above it.
15. Carefully drop the box into the hole. Clean any excess resin off with a squeegee or chip brush
16. Pay attention to make sure the box is flush with the base glass of the board.
17. Let it cure for 24hours (depending on resin, room temp, and humidity). 
18. Remove the tape and inspect the install.  The bottom of the board should be flush with the box
19. Sand the areas that are to be glassed. Mask off the box holes as well as the perimeter of the glassing area (at least board width x36")
20. prep your glass. You need at least 3 layers of 6 oz glass or carbon to go over the top of the box.  Yes, deck and base or you will drive your box through the deck and break your board.  We reccomend to make the following cuts in an oval shape...
1. 16x10" glass
2. 23x12" carbon
3. 24x13" glass
4. 36"+ x board width glass
   
   
21. Lay layers 1-3 out on the base, set the forth nearby.
22. Mix the epoxy and stir for at least 90 seconds. 
23. Spread the epoxy across the glass with slight pressure to help penetrate all three layers. Too much pressure will make micro bubbles.
24. After all three are saturated, put the fourth layer on and saturate that. Do not use too much resin or it will "float" the glass and make it thicker than need be.
25. Wait for the epoxy to "kick". When it is no longer "sticky" to the touch, you can take a razor to trim along the tape lines and pull the tape back
26. Wait 24 hours and then sand each with 80 grit until rough. Any shiny spots will result in chipping.  Orbital or polish sanders work best.
27. Mask off the area 2" wider than the glass edge on base.
28. Pour on and paint the resin on the area using a 3" chip brush. Pro tip; smash the brush into the sticky side of masking tape to remove any loose hairs that could stick in the epoxy.
29. finish with a light stroke in a tip to tail motion to smooth any ridges.
30. Wait for the epoxy to "kick". When it is no longer "sticky" to the touch, pull the tape back.
31. Sand starting with 120 grit and up through grits to whatever finish is necessary to match.  Sanded finish boards go to 600 grit. 400 grit is fine if you want to paint over it.
32. finished! let it cure for 7 days for max strength and then surf it!!

FOIL BOX ONLY   ADD THE FUTURES 10.75 STRONG BOXES TO YOUR ORDER!!!