The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Rubber mats for COE Steps

I have not been able to find any rubber mats for my 52 chevy COE. Are these available or do I need to find another method for the restoration?

Check www.oldchevytrucks.com, & www.classiccoe.com, & you'll find them. I've purchased them from both places.

For the fender and steps - 6 pieces - Jim Carter

COE floor mats - Jim Carter

For the steps - 4 pieces - Classic COE better price than JC

Is weatherstrip cement the proper way to attach the reproduction fender and step mats?

That is what I plan to use (black - not yellow).

My paint supply recommended 3M Urethane window weld to glue my pads on. I havent done it yet so I cant say howe it will work. What else has anyone been using?

As long as you guys are on the subject,how about a soure for rubber front fender step pads for a 46 COE. Spanky said there different fro 47-54 ones. My original ones were painted yellow. Was this original? Also mine were bolted on. Help!

The step pads and fender pads on my 54/55 GMC COE are attached to metal plates that are bolted on.

I going to have to think about that 3M moisture-curing urethane adhesive. It looks to be very strong. If I had confidence in the quality of the rubber pads, I'd go for it. However, if the rubber deteriorates, I'd like to be able to easily remove the rubber (3M makes a paint-safe remover for their weatherstrip cement/adhesive).

The pads on mine were originaly bolted on I`m assuming thats original. The new replacments are glue ons. So I expect to mask of and rough up the Imron paint on the fenders and glue them down. At least thats the plan for the fender mounted pad. For the step pads I cut new pad mounts out of flat 12 guage steel painted them with Imron. The plan is to bolt them down, mask off the area and then glue the pads to the plate. All sounds good in theory. I`ll know more in about a week when I start gluing.
In the meantime if anyone has and suggestions by all means speak up.

So I glued them down. Used the 3M urethaneadhesive and they havent come loose. The stuff wasnt friendly to work with at first because I over applied it. The next step tread looks better and the fender tread looks fine also.

I have removed the old rubber from the metal plates on my 54/55 GMC COE and will attach the new rubber to those plates, and then bolt the plates (three pieces on each side) back into place.

My step plates were in pretty sad shape and The fender ones were badly rusted so I made new lower ones and did the glued the replacement directly the fender. Not "correct" but as long as it holds up over time. What other adhesives has anyone been using beside the 3M urethane stuff I did mine with?

Where did you find the new fender rubber? (1955 GMC COE)

Jim Carter has it listed.

I had purchased a set of the COE step pads from JC last summer. While the pads are exact in size and look there are many issues from the molding process. Maybe the molds are getting old and tired that are used for these steps.

Here is a link to some photos I had taken of the step pads:

COE Step Pad Photos

That's one of the best-preserved interiors I've ever seen. One question - why are your gauge panels black? On my 54 Deluxe COE (and 54 Deluxe panel), both of which had the two-tone brown interior, the dash is beige and the gauge panels are brown.

My 54/55 GMC COE dash looks like vwlfan's, including the knobs.

vwlfan's dash

Here is a GMC illustration with different style knobs.

Sam (GMCpanel) do you have a photo of your dash (I think I saw it posted somewhere, but I do not remember where).

Thanks,

The choke cable on my COE does not have the original knob. None of the available choke cables (with correct knob) on the market were long enough in length to be used for a COE application. I did buy the correct choke knob but I have not yet attempted to remove the third party knob and update it with the correct knob.

The gauge panels in my COE are the original panels and are unrestored. So at least the non-deluxe trucks had black gauge panels. I bought an extra set of 54/55 gauge panels for a spare and they are black also:
1954/1955 GMC Spare Gauge Panels

You might enjoy some of these photos which are from my 53 GMC Fire Truck. The interior is one of the cleanest original and unrestored interiors I have seen.
1953 GMC Unrestored Interior

This is a photo of the area under the gas tank at the time I removed the tank. I know this area looks repainted but this is the original non-faded paint.

1953 GMC Paint Under Gas Tank

Bob

Bob,

Where did you get your signal-stat front-signal lamps?

Nice looking COE.

Tim,
I was able to find both a front and rear set of NOS Signal Stat turn signals by watching eBay. It took me about 18 months to find nice NOS sets. While waiting to find a nice NOS set I had been gathering up nice sets of pre 50s signals (Signal Stat, Dietze, Guide, Arrow Safety, etc.) and then restoring them to be either used or sold. I now do this as a winter project each year.

I sent you a PM also. - Bob

vwlfan, it looks like a dimmer switch on the passenger side under the heater. Just what it that for?

Thanks for the photos. Nice.

That is a dimmer switch which was mounted in the passenger side floor which allows the passenger in the fire truck to operate the siren. - Bob

Interesting. Your headlight knobs looks like the correct style, but it's black instead of ivory. My panel had the ivory knob, but UV radiation completely destroyed it. The wiper knob is also different from Chevy, but it also rarely survives in the sun. IMHO, the Chevy headlight and wiper knobs look better, just paint them to match. Same with the throttle and choke knobs. The parking brake, window crank, turn signal, radio and heater knobs are all the same as Chevy, but in ivory instead of black.

With the two-tone seats, I'm pretty sure your truck has the DeLuxe interior. Does it have the driver-side armrest and passenger-side interior visor?

I've just looked up some pics of my COE, it has the black gauge panels, too. My 1-ton panel, which also has the two-tone brown interior, has dark brown gauge panels. WTF? That makes absolutely no sense.

There is no driver side armrest or passenger side visor on my COE.

Now I'm really scratching my head.

Im reviving this thread because my urethane adhered step pads are un-adhering. The adhesive sticks to the metal underneath just fine but doesnt stick well to the pad itself.

Does anyone have a better adhesive product recommendation?
Thank you
John Drabik
1949 2 ton GMC COE

John,
Like you I could not find an adhesive that worked well with the repro pads I got from JC. The pads are just too "oily", almost like they have a light silicone covering.

Since I only use my truck for shows and limited pleasure driving I used industrial hook and loop to attach the pads. I take the pads off when I am intransit and then simply attach them to the hook and loop on the steps when I get where I am going. - Bob

many modern rubber products are silicone, holds up better than older carbon rubber formulations .... to glue it you might try Goop or E6000, which is used in arts and crafts work for glass and other hard to glue things

Bill

Ayup, they have that silicony, slimy feel to them. Maybe try some black RTV silicon (bluegoo) and see if it adheres.
Failing that, I will try a plastic adhesion assister that comes in a spray bomb made by SEM. And than try to find something else.
Too bad the adhesive issue keeps these pads from being a good product.

John & Bob,

Thanks for posting this information.

I did a lot of searching yesterday for an adhesive that will work between silicone rubber and various other materials (such as unpainted or primed metal/steel). There are some medical adhesives but they are expensive and they are quite specific regarding the type of silicone "rubber" and the type of other surface.

It would be nice to hear from someone who has successfully attached these "rubber" pads to the metal base plates, rather than relying on speculation on what might work. However, speculation and trial-and-error might be the only way of finding a solution (and hoping that the rubber pads do not get destroyed during the experimentation).

This morning, I sent a query to Jim Carter. I'll post his response.

I took one of mine off last nite. Cleaned the snotted old adhesive with methyl ethyl ketone and let it dry. Also cleaned the steel pad. Then applied the SEM plastic adhesive assistant and let it dry.
I found some E6000 that RED58 mentioned and applied it with a stiff brush. Spread relatively easy with out clotting up. Then pplied the pad to the steel and weighted it down.
This morning it seems stuck. But the test will be if its still stuck on in a year.
So if nothing else maybe the answer is a deep cleaning of the pad to remove the silicony stuff.

Please feel free to offer up any insight you may have.
Thanks John

PS. I also inquired at JC but havent heard back as yet.

not sure the "silicony stuff" is really removable, but note that when a tire shop patches a tire or tube, they buff it with a wire brush before applying the glue, seems sensible that roughing up the surface will help a lot

Bill

I recieved a polite reply about what adhesive to use for the COE step pads from JC today.
They know its an issue but have no idea of what adhesive to use and if I/we find a solution they would like to know about it.

My last attempt to glue them down was with the E6000 Goop stuff.
I`ll say it will work okay in cooler weather but in the heat and sunshine they start to slip off the steel backing pad. So its back to the drawing board so to speak.
I will try next, a fresh body shop supplier recommendation, a 3M trim adhesive as soon as I find the time.
In the meantime if anyone has any thoughts on this please done be bashful and speak up.

That's the stuff I use. I'd clean everything with med. alcohol (Also dries the surface and removes any oils),ruff up the surfaces with a little emery cloth,clean it again,let it dry,apply the "giraffe snot" and let it stand for a minute or two and stick it together. I figure if it'll keep the chrome spears on the sides of a Camaro at 140 mph,it'll probably keep just about anything stuck. I know this won't be popular with the "Originality Cops,but if it was mine,I'd also pop-rivet each corner down,just to eliminate the possible "loose edge,which,as we know,will soon become a "That's weird-it was there when I left home..."
Speed

Speed,

Have you used that adhesive on the COE pads from JC's?

This is a revolting predicament. Those are relatively expensive pads and JC is the only one that sells them.

For the heckuvit I tried some black silicon RTV by Permatex this morning. It didnt want to stick well to the pads either.

So I just finished applying the pads with 3M`s 08609 window weld. Its a urethane adhesive used when installing replacment auto window shields in place. I`ll have a better idea of its success tomorrow morning.
And in the meantime Im going to drill a few small holes and nut and bolt them down so I dont loose them as per TCledermans suggestion. If the adhesive works then I`ll remove them and fill the hole with more window weld.

John,
On my COE I tried 3M Window Weld and it holds, sort of. After several months one of the driver's side steps started to separate from the metal base. I used some more of the Window Weld, but I don't think it is the final solution.

Someone should just start over and mold these with a different material so we can bond these to our step plates. You would think Steele Rubber or someone like that could come up with a solution. There is a small shop that makes reproduction rubber for Diamond T as well as Federal trucks. I don't think you would want to use these pads as a basis for molds, given the flaws that they have, as mentioned earlier in this thread. Does someone have NOS or excellent steps to use for a mold?

Kent

John Holden,here in North Carolina, used NOS fender, & step pads, that I had loaned him, for his molds, when he was reproducing them. Greg Friesen from the yahoo old COE trucks webpage, makes them for Jim Carter. Unfortunately John passed away a few years ago, & I talked to his widow about purchasing the molds he had. She said she would call me back about them. She hasn't yet.

How about using the panel bonding glue that 3M offers?

So far the 3M Window Weld (08609) seems to be the better of the adhesives for this specific purpose. It is less than ideal but has worked the best of the four types of stuff Ive tried.

Clean the pads, rough them up. Clean them again and again. I used (methyl ethyl ketone) from Lowes hardware as the cleaner.
Tape of the edges where the pad meets the paint. This helps you position the pads and makes cleanup easier. The warmer the temp the easier it is to spread. Press the pads in place evenly. A few chunks of flat steel maybe 60 lbs worth placed over the pad keeps it flat and down and in about an hour they have set for the most part.

The real test will be if they are still stuck tight in a year or so.

The step covers on the fender shoulders are a different material and any good adhesive like the Goop E 6000 will work well there. Dont use the window weld stuff there as its to "thick" and will look warty in the sunlight. Dont ask me how I know that.

Maybe JC can have a fresh batch cast up with a different type of material?