Over the past several months I have been collecting running boards so I can
put together a set for my deluxe 50. All of them had severe (more than
severe) rust through and were basically almost trash. I discovered that
Chevy Duty has the channels along the bottom (all three that connect to the
trucks brackets as well as the long one that supports the running board
itself) and Jim Carters has a nice long narrow patch panel for the top that
is 7" x 22". Basically everything you need to put together some nicer
running boards. Thing is, its expensive to buy all these parts, so I just
collected a bunch of bad running boards and combined them into one set.
Its pretty hard to weld the top patch panels in straight due to the hills
and valleys. You have to butt weld the panels in so measuring is pretty
critical, then once they are welded from underneath (after all the braces
are removed) you then have to weld from the top as well which makes for a
lot of grinding in those hills and valleys. Patience is pretty important. I
am not completely finished yet with the grinding. I will use a Dremel Tool
for the final grind and then get out the primer/surfacer and sand everything
down so its not possible to tell that it was patched (in theory). I spent
today sandblasting them. Besides the fact that I needed a set for my truck,
I wanted to do this to see if I could do it without spending a lot of money.
New or even used running boards are pretty expensive and good ones in the
salvage yard are very very rare. You can get really crappy ones in the
salvage yard pretty cheap tho. I got a set and the guy asked me why I wanted
them and then shook his head and charged me $1.00 a piece for them. It took
3 sets to make one good set, but the price was right and I got some good
welding practice out of it. Just thot I'd share.
Deve Krehbiel
Hesston, Kansas
1950 3100 * 1949 3600 * 1948 4400 * 50 3100
www.speedprint.com/Deves50/index.html
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