The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop running board repair

The running boards on my 50 3100 have some areas that are rusted out pretty bad. Has anyone been able to repair these? Does anyone make patches for them or do most just buy new running boards. I may go with just patching the metal and placing some of the after market step plates over the ugly patch for a decorative touch.

jim carter or chevy duty (i'm sure others should) sell patch panels for running boards . a little mig, grind and finish work could fix them up.
tom

Not to pick hairs with "TYPLE" but the advice I've read from the pro's like Covell say to use TIG instead of MIG on exterior areas like body panels and such. The reasoning being that MIG gives you a "hard" weld that is unforgivng when it comes to hammer and dollying welds smooth. They will crack. TIG is a much "softer" weld and as such much easier to work with.

the only patches available that I have seen are the ribbed "steps" if you will. I think they come in like 1 foot sections and with no contour. I have had this debate with myself too, based on the money going into the patches, the time and effort to cut out the old and weld in the new, and the time spent making them look nice, I would shop for a decently solid set of used ones, but thats just me, good luck with the project

Thanks, I've got plenty of time before I even get to that step so I guess I will keep looking around. Most of the boards I have are solid, just the small spots on each side that were stepped on constantly are worn and rusted through in places. Like I said though, plenty of time to make a decision. Thanks for letting me know there are options.

Just found the patch panels at american classic truck parts. I believe it was 24" long for about 30-40 dollars. I may end up going with that when the time comes. Again, I have plenty of time.

I had the same problem with my ribbed factory boards on my 1950 3600. For the major holes I pulled the boards off and used fiberglass from the bottom side. I bought the actual resin and not the jelly, and I used the matting that looks like cloth. Then I used "dyna-hair" filler on the top side rather than traditional plastic filler to make the final prep. It was a little harder to sand, but it worked like a charm. I have had two years now with no problems.

I forgot to add that on my buddy's 48 3800 he bought patch panels from American Classic that came in sections that you weld in. They worked great, but they were EXTREMELY hard to get to line up. Getting them smoothed and filled with all of the ribs lining up with no waves or ripples was very labor intensive. We also had to sandblast the board to get all of the old rust off so the weld would take good. It looks good now though.

I'm with "three quarter ton" and cannot believe we had the exact same idea. Works great and is not too time consuming!