Running Board Rubber Mats

[Guest pontiac6]

Hi everyone,

I feel it is my duty and obligation to post the following message:

My name is Pat Rowden. I am the original owner operator of Precision Rubber. We reproduced over 500 sets of running board mats during the seven years I owned the business. I had customers worldwide with many obtaining first place honors at regional, national and international vintage auto competitions.

I sold the business six years ago to semi-retire and pursue other interests. Sadly Richard Loesch, the person I sold the business, through extremely poor business practices was forced to declare bankruptcy. Richard asked for and received payment in advance for a number of sets of running board mats that he did not reproduce.

I made arrangements with Richard’s landlord to have all boards that people wished to have boards returned, shipped back to them. The remainder of the boards were recovered by Kris Arneson, and then returned to their owners by Kris. Sadly, they however lost their original deposit when Richard declared bankruptcy.

When Richard Loesch declared bankruptcy Jon Engle decided to make running board mats without the necessary equipment, with a total lack of funds, and no business experience. Unfortunately Jon also took money up front for services he did not provide, and ultimately went out of business.

Luckily Gordon an avid vintage car buff friend of mine was asked by Jon’s former landlord to clean up his property for sale. Gordon took it upon himself to have all the boards returned to their grateful owners. Again all these individuals lost their deposits.

Kris Arneson is an avid antique car buff with over 30 years of experience in doing complete frame up restorations of vintage vehicles. He was looking for a business with a shorter time frame in the vintage restoration field, and as a result purchased the tools and equipment that I had designed and built from the receiver.

A couple of months ago he contacted me and asked if I would be prepared to help him reestablish customer confidence in the business. I agreed, and as a starting point I have built a website: www.runningboardrubber.com to showcase his business.

Kris’s 30 years experience as a licensed welder, auto body mechanic, painter, machinist and vintage auto restoration specialist I believe will prove to be invaluable in the running board mat business. His vast experience as a machinist I believe will also become a valuable asset for many as they look for that elusive metal part that is no longer available.

In closing I wish to thank those of you who were my valued customers over the seven years I owned business, and I also wish to express my deepest sympathy for those who suffered as a result of Jon and Richard’s actions.

If you wish additional information or clarification I can be reached by email at: rowden@telus.net or phone at: (403) 335-8644.

Yours truly, Pat Rowden.

[keiser31]

Pat.....Very nice. How many others have retired from their businesses and still help out by trying to build and promote someone's business?

[Guest pontiac6]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. To answer your question probably not many, however I hated to see the business that I had built up disappear.

I have a question for you however. I notice you have a 1931 Dodge Brothers coupe. Do you have the original floor and running board mats for it. Several years ago I reproduced 1929 Plymouth running board mats, and a floor mat for the same car. I was told that the running board and floor mat pattern was the same for all 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1932 Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler cars. This being an extremely fine pattern of 6 grooves to a 1/4" width followed by a 1/4" groove. The mat also had a smooth boarder around it. Is this the pattern you have, if not what is it?

Kris has a chap wanting running board mats and a floor mat for a 1930 Chrysler, but he does not have any of the original pattern for Kris to copy.

Thank you in advance for any information you can provide us with.

Pat

[keiser31]

Pat, That is the way I have always seen it and heard it should be with the pattern for those years. Here is my running board material. This is an n.o.s. board with the rubber and trim. I believe the old floor mat in my Dodge coupe was the very same pattern with the border. Remembering of course that if you leave a margin that the four cylinder cars (Plymouth) have a narrower cowl.

[keiser31]

Here are a couple of closer shots....

[Guest pontiac6]

Thank you for the pictures. Yes this is the exact pattern as I remembered it.

Pat

[Guest pontiac6]

Does anyone know the tread pattern for a 1938 Rolls Royce Phantom limo? If so would you please let me know as Kris has a customer in the UK that requires running board mats for this car. My email address is: rowden@telus.net

Pat

[Guest pontiac6]

Does anyone have a picture of a 1949-59 C-Cab Studebaker 4 spd. floor mat. If so could you please forward it to me. It would be greatly appreciated. My email address is: rowden@telus.net

[Mika Jaakkola]

Hi Pat, where could I get running board rubber for my 1938 Dodge truck? (with 136" wb) ???

[Mika Jaakkola]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mika Jaakkola</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hi Pat, where could I get running board rubber for my 1938 Dodge truck? (with 136" wb) ??? </div></div>

Okay, after a little research, that felt like a stupid question

[Guest pontiac6]

Hi Mika,

I was going to suggest you go to Kris's website; www.runningboardrubber.com but I see you likely already did.

The equipment that I built and perfected allows Kris to reproduce any running board mat pattern provided he has at least a portion of the mat to look at.

You will notice that I have asked for information about three mat patterns on this thread. So far nobody has been able to come up with these patterns. Until Kris gets this information he can't reproduce these mats.

If you have any of the existing pattern on your boards Kris can reproduce the mat.

[DavidAU]

Does anyone know the tread pattern for a 1938 Rolls Royce Phantom limo? If so would you please let me know as Kris has a customer in the UK that requires running board mats for this car. My email address is: rowden@telus.net

Pat This may be difficult as Rolls Royce did not manufacture their own bodies at that time. All bodies where made by various coach building companies so depending on who made the body would probably dictate the running board pattern.

Maybe the owner could get a photo or details of a similar one to make the mould from. If he contacted the Rolls Royce Enthusiasts Club in England or The Rolls Royce Owners Club USA, they could probably give him the name of an owner with a similar car built by the same Coach builder.

David

[Guest pontiac6]

Hi David,

Thanks for the info. on the Rolls Royce mats.

Pat

[Guest pontiac6]

Hi everyone,

There still seems to be a bit of confusion about how I reproduced running board mats and why I chose this method.

When I started my running board mat business around 14 years ago I quickly realized that there were hundreds of mat patterns on running boards. At one time companies like Steele, Metro and others sold molded rubber mats but as the market dried up for most running board mats except Ford and Chev. they found it no longer practical to mass produce these mats, and therefore no longer sold them.

I decided that it was impractical to use the molding process to reproduce mats, and therefore designed and built a milling machine and other equipment specifically designed to be able to reproduce any mat as long as I had a pattern to look at. The down side of this process is that it is very labor intensive, and thus expensive as compared to the molding method. The up side is that it allowed me to reproduce over 500 sets of mats for Cadillac, Packard, Studebaker, Hudson, Chrysler, Humpmobile, Marr, Curved Dash Oldsmobile, Stanley Steamer, Nash, just to name some that I did. In the seven years I was in business I never had a mat pattern that I was not able to reproduce using this method.

Although very labor intensive, and thus very expensive it has proven to be the only practical method of reproducing limited market running board mats. Even to this day mass produced Ford running board mats are still available. Mass produced Chev. mats used to be available, but I understand that the chap that was molding them has passed away, and therefore Chev. molded mats have become very difficult to find.

I never tried to compete with molded mats. They could be mass produced and sold for less than I could buy the material.

The quality and durability of the mats that we produced far exceeded any mass produced mat. 50 years from now the mats we reproduced will look as good as they did the day they were installed. The industrial coating that I put on the mats looked like rubber, felt like rubber and wears like cast iron. No molded mat has this coating, and many lose their appearance very quickly when exposed to the sun, and are step on. The mat that that I reproduced allowed the customer to use the running boards as they were designed to use. That is to step on them to get in and out of the vehicle. Mass produced molded mats are designed to look at, but not use.

As many of you know the reputation of Precision Rubber has been seriously tarnished since I sold my business some six years ago.

Kris Areneson has just recently purchased the equipment and tools that I designed from the receiver when Richard Loesch declared bankruptcy. Kris has an unblemished record of restoring vintage vehicles for over 30 years so I was more than willing to help him restore confidence in the business that I had set up some 14 years ago.

As a starting point I have built a website to showcase his business. For those of you who have not had an opportunity to visit his website I would urge you to do so. The address is: www.runningboardrubber.com

I hope this posting gives you a better understanding of why I chose the method of reproduction that I did. To my knowledge the milling machine that I designed and built is still the only one in existence to this day. Could someone else design such a machine. Yes but it is highly unlikely in this fast paced throw away society we live in. Every day you hear of another product mass produced in China that has become a health hazard or quickly stops functioning. Kris and I believe in producing a product that not only looks good but will last for many years even under the most severe conditions.

Pat Rowden (Pontiac6)

[John Loney]

Hello all, I too am looking to have my boards restored. Unfortunately one of the downfalls of owning a '39 Chrysler is that there is no easy, fast or cheap way to get anything done for these cars...running boards are proving to be no exception! I have been in contact with Sherban as well and have been pleased with what he has told me as far as the process and quality I can expect when my boards are done. Having said that, it's going to take the better part of a year (haven't shipped them out yet) and they are not going to be cheap. My question is simply, have any of you had boards restored by Sherban and were you happy with the results...quality, time frame and price? 

 

Thanks,

 

John Loney

'39 Chrysler Imperial 

'72 Ford Galaxie 500

[46 woodie]

Pat, you should be commended for your commitment. I know your primary objective is running board mats, but if you ever do interior floor mats I have a suggestion. The rear "cargo mat" used in '41 thru '48 Ford Station Wagons are non existent. I took me a couple of years to find one and I am always asked where they can be obtained. All the suppliers don't list them anymore so it might be worth looking into.