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Thanks, Mal.

I definitely want to use something that doesn’t need painting so that it’s durable. We’ll definitely experiment a bit before applying anything to the running boards. My hope is that we can find a product that will follow the contours of the boards without needing the sanding and painting.

I know there are a lot of brands now and some have more texture than others. If we don’t find something that works, I’ll likely default back to the rubber matting from Restoration Specialties and we’ll just have to find a good way to trim out the edges.

Just my two cents worth - you're spending all of the time, effort, and energy to make it look nice, while not a perfect nut and bolt restoration. Why not just bite the bullet and get the rubber mats? It will look right, and it will look factory, and should provide 80+ years of service...

I know it's always easier to spend someone else's money, but I am afraid you might not be happy with the bedliner over the long term.

To answer Ken P's question....fair question.

First, it's not as simple as just buying mats. No one makes mats for my car. Steele Rubber and Metro Molded Parts sell mats for 120s, but not the 138.

Next, the company that says they can do the boards is in British Columbia, Canada and the cost would be around $4.5k plus shipping each way. The way they operate is that you send the boards to them. They then do all work needed, including sheet metal, body work, rubber etc.., then ship the boards back ready to install on the car. So, in the end, I would be looking at around $6k. Plus, it would be several months turn around time. The company is Running Board Rubber Company

I did some research about them via other forums. It seems the company was started long ago by a gentleman who, by all accounts, did great work and most everyone was very happy. Then, he retired and sold the company. At that point all reviews become very poor and the company was pretty well run into the ground. Again, this is just what I've deduced from my research. It sounds like the original owner then, worked to find someone else to buy the company and help restore the name. From what I can tell, under the current ownership, things are pretty good again and most reviews are positive.

If I were to go that route, it is still somewhat unknown as to how the boards would look.

Regarding the Rhino/Line-X (or other brand), clearly Mal's experience was not what he had hoped. But, I have found accounts from others that report results that they are very happy with. I am still in the research phase for this. We will be doing some test pieces to see if it looks like I will be happy with the results before doing anything with the boards.

In the end, I'm opting to start with the much lower cost option. If I'm not happy with that, then I can always go back with the high dollar approach and not be out that much. But, if I start with the $6k approach and I'm not happy, then what?

Again, very fair question. This is my thought process.

Don, that all makes sense, and thanks for taking the time to answer my question! Always interesting to see the thought process. You make a solid point that I had not considered that if the LineX or similar doesn't work out, you can just pull the boards, get them sandblasted again, and try something different.

Are the running boards the same width but just longer lengths? If different widths then not many options but if the same, is there any way 120 mats could be cut and spliced in such a way as to add a section to increase the lengths? If maybe a section of another 120 mat was added, the visual joint would be minimal but could it be placed somewhere mostly hidden? If that were not possible could the cuts be done in such a way as to place the joint prominently so something could be added or the joint could be covered with something like a small emblem in a chrome or black strip of metal. I know something like the strip or emblem would not be authentic but maybe it could be dressed up and treated in such a way as to elicit a one off custom feature done by a body builder approach.

Since it is long wheelbase, perhaps something like contrasting metal step plate(s) could be placed somewhere between the pieces of a single 120 mat (like under the door openings) and made to look like it was supposed to be there -- again a body builder approach. Any of the treatments should be easier than what Mal went thru with the bedliner and relatively inexpensive. Each could also be easily removed should you eventually decide to go with the high dollar option.

I’ve seen a car with spray urethane plus a lot of sanding that came out well, but the owner said it was difficult. Keep in mind that the spray route results in the surface profile being that of the metal. Some years this as original, in some years the extruded profile had a different pattern than the metal support.

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They are the same width as the front and rear fenders, body, etc…are all the same except for the extra 18 inches in length. I did consider the possibility of buying two sets of mats from Metro Molded Parts, but the reality there are two problems that I see with this approach. First, a noticeable seam is unavoidable. Next, for splicing to work, there would need to be an 18 in section with parallel sides. The boards have a slight curve almost all the way down. I do need to look more closely at that, though. The splice would have to be toward the rear to have any chance and I believe there is still just enough curve that it would make the seam very noticeable. And, going that approach would still be pushing $4k after shipping.

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All good points. In my case the profile of the rubber matches the metal, so I have that going for me. That fact is actually what lead me to start looking into the spray urethane option. What I don’t want to do is sand and paint the urethane after is sprayed as I don’t believe paint will have the durability that I want. I plan to use the boards, not step over them.

All good things to consider. All of these comments are good in that it helps me make sure I’m thinking about it from all angles.

I think the doing some test pieces will be very telling and will likely steer me to the best final decision.

Steele’s do not match the metal but I believe that Metro’s does as I seem to recall someone recently mentioned. If so, then that would be a place to check.

If I decided to go with the rubber matting from Restoration Specialties, this is what it would look like. I think this would work well and look nice, but I’m not sure what to use to trim it out by the front fenders and along the body of the car. Also, If I go this route, I would need to fill in the boards between the sheet metal ridges so that the boards are completely flat so that the rubber can be glued down.

The original has about a 1/2 border. Anyone have any thoughts on what to use for the border?

The following pictures are the rubber from Restoration Specialties and stripped down running board where you can see where that there was a border.