Back to the Future: Vintage Skateboard Restoration

In this Instructable I will show you how I turned an old and broken Nash skateboard into a ride fit for Marty McFly.

To start off the project I first inspected the damage done to the skateboard. The board had been sitting in my garage for years, because of this it had gotten dirty and dinged up. Before i could clean it, i took off the trucks, wheels, and the nose guard. While taking the board apart, i made sure to keep the bolts and nuts in a safe place. In this case I used an old file where I keep my rare earth magnets.

After giving the board a light sanding, I began to fix the damage. To fill in the large hole, i used some fast setting cement as I had some lying around. However, wood putty would be a great alternative. While the cement was still a bit soft, I used some rasps and files to shape it and blend it into the board. After it completely dried, I sanded it down flush with the rest of the deck.

After giving the board another sanding down to a medium grit, I gave the board two coats of primer to prepare it for paint.

To start the paint job, I gave the board three coats of pink paint. I then laid out tape for the green stripes and yellow spots. To paint these parts I used a sponge to dab the paint on. This took several coats but created a nice texture to contrast the flat, pink base coat. I then laid tape to paint the magenta and yellow stripes that overlay the green zig-zag. After this dried I used a scrap of polystyrene foam to dry brush some white highlights into the remaining pink parts. I then hand painted the Hover board and Mattel logos. After painting I realized that I spelled "Mattel" with only one "t" but it was too late by the time I realized it.

Painting the bottom was basically the same process as the top. I started by painting a pink base coat then the green and yellow stripes. That was then followed by painting the magenta stripes on top. Then to finish off the bottom, the white was dry brushed onto the pink using a piece of polystyrene foam.

To finish off the deck, I gave each side two coats of polyurethane clear coat. This will seal the paint and protect it from scratches.

After the clear coats were completely dry I sewed the trucks back onto the board. I then put new bearings into the wheels and attached them to the trucks. To finish it off I screwed on the nose guard and admired my work.