Hi all,

Looking for advice.

I bought a foil a few weeks ago but I have been unable to disassemble it; the wing is just stuck in the mast. Anyway, that is not the reason why I'm posting this. I'm going on a kite/camping trip this week-end with the family and I was thinking about mounting the foil on the board and fix the board to the roof rack upside down just like any surf board. As the car will be full of camping gear and I can't disasemble it, there won't be enough room in the car.

I believe the mast and foil should be strong enough to resit the air pressure as it is designed to support heavy weight under water. However, I have never seen anyone doing this before. Has anyone here tried? Are there any safety risks or regulation (in WA) related to this?

Thanks.

theres a guy here that sticks his foil fish on top of his mini like that. looks absolutely retarded but seems to work fine.

im not sure id drive too fast with it, since it is literally a wing designed to generate lift. if its upside down it'd be lifting into the roof of the car, but i dont think id trust it with speed

the bigger issue is the seized mast. Fix it right now before its completely locked in there.

Don't drive under the Montague bridge

Thanks everyone!

jamesperth said..
Be careful with those stuck threads. Lots of reports about stripped bolts and masts needing to be cut down on the forums ( including me). Lots of penetrating oil, heat and patience required.

Hmm. Yeah, it is really a pain. Any additional/more detailed advice or technique would be welcome.

You should post a picture of the foil so we know what we're talking about. I managed to free up some locked bolts with boiling water.

loftsofwind said..
Pin it through the maccas drive thru for an easy disassemble.

haha... I'll give it a try!

Just wrap the foil part in basic card board and duct tape so its not creating any lift while you're driving.

lynxmo0 said...
Thanks everyone!

jamesperth said..
Be careful with those stuck threads. Lots of reports about stripped bolts and masts needing to be cut down on the forums ( including me). Lots of penetrating oil, heat and patience required.

Hmm. Yeah, it is really a pain. Any additional/more detailed advice or technique would be welcome.

Drilling is one option but to be honest it's your last resort. Once you drill your are committed to that course of action and it's too late to turn back.

I found good info on other forums and YouTube but basically soak the area in penetrating oil like wd40 for 24 hours. Boiling Also sounds good. Heat can help as the metals will expand at differnt rates - you can buy cheap butane gas camping torches from Bunnings. So use heat and your penetrating oil together. Also tapping the head of the bolt with a punch can work to break the salt / corrosion bond (hit vertically with a punch down in the direction of the shaft, not across ). One option is the weld a nut on top of the bolt and undo it with a spanner. Be careful which size Allen key you use because metric and imperial are very similar in some sizes. Try and avoid stripping the head if it's not too late.

if it's too late then try and drill the head off only, and if you can gets the wings or fuse off leaving the remnants of the bolt sitting proud you can try and use vice grips on the remaining stub to get it out. Worst case is to cut the mast and retap.

Gorgo said...
I would be careful with applying heat with a torch or welding stuff. If you're talking about bolts through the board then any excessive heat is going to melt the board.

Yeah don't melt or burn anything. I'm was envisioning the mast / fuselage join or the wings which is where mine locked up. Just the aluminium bits

Don't burn yourself either, nor spray wd40 into the flame.