1935 Running Board Covers

[jfcrash]

Getting ready to cement new running board covers onto new running boards.....Have read previous posts on the subject and purshased the DAP orig contact cement and ready to give it a try.

In dry fitting them, they fit like a glove....from the front lip and side to side and lay flat all the way back. Both covers however, fall short of reaching the back edge of the runnig board by 1/2" . The 1/2" short fall is consistant along the entire back edge.

Holding them up to the car, most of the short fall will be under the floor but is visable as it nears the center pillar box.

Is this typical ??? Any work arounds or cautions ??

Thanks,
Jim

[DavidG]

If they are tight side-to-side at the center pillar (and over their entire length), you might consider filling the shortfall with sheet rubber of the same thickness and filling in the resulting joint with black liquid rubber (which you can smooth off with lacquer thinner). I must admit, however, that this condition is not one that I've encountered when recovering boards; usually some trimming is required on the inside edge.

[Henryat1140]

This is hearsay, but might help in your situation. A few years ago I had a discussion with a restoration shop about running board covers. They also had a shortfall on the inner side.

What they did to overcome it was to stretch the covers for at least overnight before installing them. I _think_ they used weights hanging from the cover to stretch it out. How exactly I can't remember, but the idea was the covers they had were definitely too short, and they solved the problem by pre-stretching them before cementing.

A second tip I've seen repeated here is to insert a sheet of butcher paper between the board and the cover after applying the contact cement and having it set up. The idea was to tack down the cover, then slide the butcher paper out a few inches, then tack the newly exposed area.

Again I've never done a set just passing along overheard tips.

[jfcrash]

Thank each of you for comments.....I think I will try Henry's idea of a soft stretch with the running boards sitting out in the sun for a while and see if they stay stretched once the weight is removed.

I do recall reading that if you stretch them while pressing them to the contact cement, they have a tendency to shrink back....

If need be , Dave's input is also a good idea.

Thanks again,
Jim

[DavidG]

Way back when long before the V-8 Shop boards and the later "shoebox" type of covers were developed, a long-gone supplier in Rosemead, California offered a cover for '32 boards that did not take into account shrinkage when they selected the rubber compound they used.

The challenge to the user was to overcome the molecular memory of the rubber and based on that experience, I guarantee you that cannot be accomplished in a single day even in direct sunlight or in the presence of an artificial heat source. The trick is to stretch the rubber beyond where you want it to end up as it will retreat when the pressure is released, but each time less than the last. A week's worth of treatment may be required to achieve the desired fit.

This same treatment will work on shrunken NOS fan belts as well.

[TomO]

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Why not just send them back to the vendor as they do not fit. If the vendor cannot provide covers that fit, send your boards to Hunley Aucuff to have new covers vulcanized on your boards. IMHO they look more like the original than any of the covers sold today.

http://hunleyacuffrunningboards.com/

[DavidG]

There is the minor matter of time versus money. Some have more of one than the other and with the right covers done with care, owner-covered boards defy distinction from NOS, IMHO.