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Thanks Pat. I finished chipping off the big chunks of Bondo from the passenger side running board this afternoon. Good news is no rust thru areas; just a little surface rust. I think I will experiment with the Dip-It and filling the small holes with an epoxy. Fallback position is to mig weld the holes closed. This is probably the better solution, it will just take more grinding to smooth the welds. I think I will abandon the rubber matting, as I don't have some smoothie running boards, plus using the spray on rubber will more closely match the original. I appreciate your advice.

David
Here are a few pics of my running boards during the rubber removal stage. These are from my 1940-120, however it is an early one titled as a 39. They are in the process of getting ready for a trip to Hunley's facility. I will need some major rework before that happens, I discover a few rusted through areas after having the first one blasted.

On that note if anybody has a real junk running board that can be cut up rather than reforming the ridges let me know.

One picture shows some of the original coating and the other shows the labor intense removal in process.

Fred D

Still trying to attach the pictures

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Eureka

More pictures hopefully in the future. As they go through the process. I think it will be awhile since some of the mounting brackets will need to be formed as well.

Thanks - Looks like mine, except that a previous owner had removed the rubber and filled the valleys with Bondo, then put a very incorrect rubber cover over the boards. It apparently didn't take the glue very well, as there is only small remnants of the rubber left. I'll post some photos of my boards later.

Took the passenger side running board off this afternoon, and spent a few dusty hours with a wire wheel. I took some of the Quiksteel epoxy, the kind that you cut a chunk off and knead it until it's mixed. I made up some small batches and pressed them into the old vulcanizing holes, and smoothed them off on the top. After drying for a hour or so, I sanded them down in a 6x10 inch area and sprayed the board with the DipIt spray. So far, it looks good. Not like a brand new running board, but much better than a bondo mess and the pattern is correct. I should finish it up in a few days and will post photos.

Love that Quiksteel. Please do post the photos when you can.
Pat

Finally got the right hand board were I'm ok with it. It's not perfect or show quality, but it looks much better than painted bondo! I ended up using POR 15 Epoxy Putty. A bit easier to use than the QuikSteel and I have plenty left over to do the other board as well as the steering wheel. The Dip-it stuff goes on looking like Rhino Deck, very rough, but smooths out to a thin smooth coat that shows most of the defects that I couldn't get out. Having said that, it looks great from about five feet away, and should I ever win the lottery, it comes off with a chemical stripper without harming the old boards. It took two cans of spray Dip-it and one tube of POR 15. About $12 for the spray and $33 for the large box of epoxy.

You can see the old rubber and the nasty bondo in one of the before photos.
The after shots show the board and the repair materials.

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The running boards look pretty good but if that is the spray rubber, I'll be curious how it holds up with foot traffic. The can looks like the same spray stuff I used on a couple of things and was not that impressed with how well it stuck after a few weeks. If yours wears well then probably my prep was not sufficient so here's hoping.

I'll let you know. thanks

two more questions.

First, is there a rubber gasket between the running board and the body? I've seen that on some similar vintage Chevy's.

Two, I need to order some new stainless steel running board trim. Does anyone have a spare set sitting on a shelf for a 39 120? Don't mind ordering one from the various vendors, but I thought I would check the club members first.

Thanks.