Rogillio Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I am rebuilding the running boards on my '26 DB Coupe. The ones on the car are rotten. They are made out of plywood and covered with rubber and trimmed with aluminum. I am using solid hickory from hickory trees from my property that I had milled into lumber and kiln dried. These were old growth trees....there were two of them and they came down with a week of each other a few years ago. They were HUGE trees and had just gotten too big and we have really wet spring and they blew over. Being hickory and being so big, the wood is hard as a rock!! I had to get a carbide tipped planer knives as they would dull the HSS ones after planing only a couple of boards. Anyway, they will make good, solid running boards. So my question is, what did the original running boards look like? Were they plywood covered with rubber and trimmed with aluminum? I'd kinda like to leave the hickory uncovered.....just coat then with a few coats of polyurethane. They are supposed to be running BOARDS, right?! I've ordered DB logo'd kick plates from Myers. I don't see the need for the aluminum trim....or the rubber....but maybe it would look better covered with rubber? IDK. My planer died (again) and is in the shop so not sure when I will be able to finish them and post pictures. Opinions welcome..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryP65 Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I had asked the same question on another post. I was told they are metal. I like the idea of stain/natural wood but not sure how the two materials will go unless the paint is brown or cream.Just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Zetnick Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 My '29 DA had oak runningboards when I first got it back in '71. I got DB step plates w/ rubber inserts for it in the 70s along with runningboard trim. I know now that is not original (the original should be metal), but I'm replacing them w/ rift cut oak again as that's the way I've always known this car....I'll be using the step plates and trim again too.....the trim makes a nice crisp edge for the wood and the wood looks nice w/ the refinished wood spokes....I don't think the car needs to be brown or cream to match the wood either...my car is blue / black.....and think of all the colors of trucks w/ wooden beds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogillio Posted August 11, 2015 Author Share Posted August 11, 2015 I made this from the same hickory wood that I am using to make the running boards. It has a real pretty grain. Sometimes I will stain a wood with the same color to help the sap wood blend in and get a more uniform color...But the grain on this hickory is so tight it will not take stain....also, I never could find a stain color called hickory.I will try the wood and see if I like it. I can always add the rubber and trim if I don't like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC5 Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 I'm pretty sure yours would have been steel orginnally and that somewhere along the line someone fabricated the plywood versions. Romar sells repro steel running boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogillio Posted August 11, 2015 Author Share Posted August 11, 2015 You are probably right but I kinda like the idea of the running boards actually being boards. :-). I'm not sure reproduction steel is 'more original' than wood covered with rubber and trim anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Greenlaw Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 I will be really interested to see what you come up with......sounds different Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogillio Posted August 12, 2015 Author Share Posted August 12, 2015 Work in progress.....the boards are 12 5/8th in the front and 10 something at the rear. Glueing up are 2 running boards sharing the clamps (if that makes sense). I put 5 biscuits between the glued boards to strengthen the joint. The boards, being hickory, are heavy. At least twice as heavy as pine and 50% heavier than oak. I planed down to about 11/16th.....will take it down a little more to take the glue seam out.The plan is to use SS carriage bolts to mount the boards. I thought about using steel bolts and countersinking them but decided to use SS and not countersink. My wife suggested rubber strips. Then she went out and got in my other DB Coupe and stepped right on the kick plate. Since the new kick plates have rubber in the center she thinks that will be enough. I'll see what it looks like and then decide. I'm not hard over on anything,....we'll see how it looks and go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylormade Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 "I'm not sure reproduction steel is 'more original' than wood covered with rubber and trim anyway." Not arguing with your choice to go with wood, but since the running boards were originally metal, that option would, indeed, be more original than hickory. I've seen many wood running board conversions and even thought about doing it on my 32 DL since I'm better with wood than metal, but finally decided to go with metal since the underside ribs are so prominent. Are you planning to trim the edges with metal or leave them all wood with just the step plate? Based on your previous woodworking posts, they should look fantastic. Why not tackle a woody wagon next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogillio Posted August 12, 2015 Author Share Posted August 12, 2015 "I'm not sure reproduction steel is 'more original' than wood covered with rubber and trim anyway." Not arguing with your choice to go with wood, but since the running boards were originally metal, that option would, indeed, be more original than hickory. I've seen many wood running board conversions and even thought about doing it on my 32 DL since I'm better with wood than metal, but finally decided to go with metal since the underside ribs are so prominent. Are you planning to trim the edges with metal or leave them all wood with just the step plate? Based on your previous woodworking posts, they should look fantastic. Why not tackle a woody wagon next? I don't know if I will edge the boards or not. This is a design-on-the-fly plan. I will make the boards and put them on and decide if I like them like that or if they need the trim to kind of 'frame' the boards....the trim is not in perfect condition so the trim just might look worse. When I wrote that about metal vs wood I was thinking of the boards covered with rubber and trimmed....so that the only way one would know if they were metal or rubber would be to lay down on the ground to look at the underside. Since they are running BOARDS, presumable at some point in history they actually were boards not metal. Does anyone know what year they went to steel running boards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC5 Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 I think I read somewhere that the change to steel was made during 1924. My '25 came with steel (in very bad shape) but I plan to use oak. I made temporary ones out of 3/4" thick pine I had laying around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.White Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 Yet again you have impressed with your wood working skills! Regarding leaving the surface as wood? I had a similar dilemma with another car a few years ago. I was looking for some seasoned Ash and went to our local timber merchants and saw mill. When I told the old guy behind the counter what I was looking for he scratched his head for a bit then beckoned me towards an out building. Inside was a huge pile of timber which looked as if it had been there for years. Eventually, the old fella pulled out a plank of wood that looked truly terrible. At first I was dubious but once it had been through the planer the transformation was quite amazing! The grain was so beautiful that I was reluctant to use it for running boards let alone cover it up but after taking advice from a motoring historian friend I made new running boards and covered them in metal, as it would have been originally. I often wonder what it would have looked like had I left the wood exposed. Perhaps if I do another one, I might leave it as wood. It certainly adds a bit of class. Ray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogillio Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 Still a work in progress but an idea what the will look like. I still need to strip the support brackets and paint them. I got 16 SS carriage bolts, nuts and washers....$23. Cha-ching Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogillio Posted August 15, 2015 Author Share Posted August 15, 2015 A little more progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahartley Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Between the water pump/distributor dilemma and working with the wood HOW do you keep your hands clean between projects?....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogillio Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 Between the water pump/distributor dilemma and working with the wood HOW do you keep your hands clean between projects?....... LOL. Actually a good question. After I finished the water pump I was gonna start on the hickory....but I knew all the grease on my hands would come off onto the wood. So I put the radiator on. We have a pool and I go soak clean as needed....I actually keep a bar of soap and fingernail brush by the pool. 18,000 gallon pool and a little soap in the water doesn't hurt anything. :-). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogillio Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 Not bolted on yet but pretty much done. I like the wood. I coated it with outdoor spar polyurethane with UV protection. If after I paint the car I decide it didn't fit color wise I can always cover in rubber and trim with aluminum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylormade Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Just my two cents, but the heartwood? (the dark areas - I'm not a wood expert) distracts from the look. The overall effect is too much for my admittedly conservative tastes. Feel free to toss a grenade in my direction at any time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogillio Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 (edited) No grenades from me. That's the reason I posted it.....to get the opinions of you fine professional vintage DB car guys! I love wood and love wood grain.....and and all of it. It will be months before she is road ready.....I'd like to finish the car including paint and see how it look. You may be right....the contrast from the forrest green and black might be too much.I the thing is, it is easy to add the rubber and trim but would be a pain to reverse. My wife suggested maybe put strips of rubber so you don't slip getting in or out of the car. I told her that is what the kick plate is for. This is also the woman who recently told me, "I noticed the Doobie Brothers logo on the radiator of your blue car is crooked."I finished mounting the running boards. Here are the final pictures of them. Edited August 16, 2015 by Rogillio (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryP65 Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Doobie Brothers! LMAO! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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