installing running board rubber

2manyprojects

1938 country club is now ready to attach rubber to the running boards. what brand and type adhesive have you guys used that works well and any tips when applying ? thank you paul

54coupe

Rough up the back side of the rubber with 80 grit sandpaper. Glue down using contact cement. I like the solvent based stuff (not water base). The contact cement I used, I bought from McMaster Carr You need LOTS of clamps

Old Fogey UK

Contact cement is OK on flat areas but high rubber content superglue is better on tightly curved contours.

bob ward

Plan the process thoroughly before you start, get all your clamps and clamping boards sorted.
Do a full dress rehearsal of your clamping set up.
In addition to roughing up the back with 80 grit sandpaper wipe down it with plenty of acetone to get rid of residual release agent.
I like Sikaflex 227 for the adhesive, its a urethane which means it sticks like exretia to a blanket. Its a slow cure and has more than enough working time, leave the job clamped for 24 hours.
This is a 35 running board having the mat glued on.

2manyprojects

they have a white and a black sikaflex 227,how many tubes did you use?

bob ward

I think about 3/4 of a tube per side. Be sure to mask off places where you don't want excess adhesive to get.

supercub

3M 4200 black is removable. If you coat both sides and let set up until tacky, you can press together by hand and it will stay. Defender or West Marine.

Old Fogey UK

bob ward said:

Plan the process thoroughly before you start, get all your clamps and clamping boards sorted.
Do a full dress rehearsal of your clamping set up.
In addition to roughing up the back with 80 grit sandpaper wipe down it with plenty of acetone to get rid of residual release agent.
I like Sikaflex 227 for the adhesive, its a urethane which means it sticks like exretia to a blanket. Its a slow cure and has more than enough working time, leave the job clamped for 24 hours.
This is a 35 running board having the mat glued on.

Bob - how did you hold down the outside edge that curves downward ?
You can't clamp that area and my mats lifted there.
 The only way I could do it was to apply high rubber content Loctite a couple of inches at a time on the curved areas and hold it down with my fingers until it set.
It took hours but it worked !

bob ward

I'd decided that trying to glue the 34/5 running board rubber in one set up was going to be dodgy so I went for a 2 step process. 
Step one is what you see in the photo above, the area under the plywood is being glued, the edge has no sikaflex under it.
First photo below shows the loose rubber edge after the board and clamps have been removed. Because the bulk of the rubber was now glued it was possible to fold the edge down without fear of things sliding around.
Second photo is the clamping set up for the edge.
Third photo is the finished running board.

Old Fogey UK

Weren't the original 34 and 35 running board mats on metal frames that bolted to the running boards ?
Not an option for a restorer but it explains how installation was done quickly on the assembly line.

bob ward

Yes, the originals were rubber on metal made elsewhere which was layed on top of the running board proper. The attaching method is a little hard to explain but it involved lots of slots in the running board and little metal wedges rather than bolts. Some of the slots can be seen in the running board repair photo below. Having 2 sheets of steel one on top of the other created a water trap with the inevitable result.

Old Fogey UK

Yes, and that's why everyone has to patch the running boards !

JACK356

Nice job. At home always the originals of 34 and in beautiful condition