ANTIQUE AUTO RUNNINGBOARDS

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The Vintage Running Board Specialists

 We are located at:

179 Millrise Dr. S.W.
Calgary, Alberta
T2Y-2G4





 
 

Home (Running Board Mats)




 We reproduce and or repair all vintage (antique) auto and truck running board rubber mats (matting).






These include: La Salle, Nash, Dodge, De Soto, Plymouth, Chrysler , Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Packard, Oldsmobile, and Studebaker.  As well as many less well known antique vehicles like: Hudson, Hupmobile, Terraplane, Lincoln, Essex, Stanley Steamer, Star, Durant, Reo, Graham Paige, Duesenburg, and Fargo.


At this time I would recommend that you visit The Business History of the website to see the evolution of the business from it's inception in 1996 to the present day.



The most unique floor mat we reproduced was a 1903 Marr floor mat.  Reproducing this rubber mat posed several unique problems.  It had an inverted pattern, meaning that the white canoe pattern was cut into a black mat surface.  In order to clean the white canoes the rubber mat had to made with a white mat trapped under the black mat.  It required making a die cutter to cut the canoes out of the black rubber mat one canoe at a time.  A laser cutter was required to cut out the Marr logo and the letters 1903 as well.  Then the whole assembly had to be very carefully put together. 
 
The most complex pattern we ever put together was a 1928 La Salle rubber floor mat.  It consisted of hundreds of  pieces that I milled, and we carefully assembled it one piece at a time.  


Both of these mats can be seen on our Specialty Rubber Parts page.

The finest running board rubber matting material we ever reproduced was for 1929 to 1931 Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler running boards. The design is 5 grooves cut into the top of  1/4 " wide tread bars with an 3/16" valley between tread bars.  This mat tested the very limits of the capability of our milling machine.  The machine had to be 100% accurate, and my measuring skill and patience was tested to the limit.  One error meant the mat had to be discarded and a new one milled in it's place.  To see pictures of the extremely fine pattern go to our:   page.  

One of the most elegant running boards we have installed running board rubber matting material on was the 1940 Studebaker.   The mat consisted of several patterns and the Studebaker logo.  It required the use of the milling machine, hot knife, and a laser cutter, as well as a great deal of time consuming hand work to assemble the various pieces.  To see it go to the Vintage Running Boards page. 

To see a partial list of mats we have reproduced over the years go to the: Mat Reproduction List page.




 
 


Note:

All of the pictures displayed on our website are of running board mats that we have reproduced or samples of original mat material sent to us by our customers.  

 


Our Unique Reproduction Method
 


When I started this running board mat business I quickly realized that there were literally hundreds of mat (matting) patterns, therefore I decided that it was impractical to use the mold and extrusion methods to reproduce running board mats.  Therefore we designed and built a milling machine that had the capability of  reproducing all running-board matting patterns, as long as we had a pattern to look at. 


W
e have reproduced and or repaired over 500 sets of  running boards with customers world-wide using this equipment.  We never had a running board mat (matting) pattern that we were not able to reproduce or repair.

We use the highest quality neoprene rubber mat material used in the conveyor belt industry to build our running board mats. The cement we use to install our rubber mats is a two part epoxy that is used in the conveyor belt industry to install rubber mat material onto the large rollers that pull the conveyor belts.  Therefore we guarantee our rubber mats will never come loose under the most severe environmental conditions. As a final step our hand-crafted rubber mats are sprayed twice with a heavy duty industrial coating that is used inside chemical tanks to protect the tanks from corrosion. The result is a finished surface that looks like rubber, feels like rubber and wears like caste iron. Therefore our running board mats maintain their new look indefinitely.

We never try to compete in price with thin light weight mass produced running board rubber mats, which are built using the mold and extruded methods.  These rubber mats are never coated to protect the finish from wear and the sun's rays.  As a final note the single component cement sent along to install their rubber mats often allows the rubber mats to come loose in hot weather.


As a born perfectionist I tend to be my worst critic.  Second best will not do.  
 
    Below is a picture of a 1936 Cadillac 60 series conv. coupe running board that is ready for packing.
 

1936 Cadillac 60 Series  Conv. Coupe
1936 Cadillac 60 Series Conv. Coupe
 
 


To see pictures of our rubber mat reproduction process go to our:
Running Board Mat Reproduction  page.


To view pictures of original runningboards before their  repair or reproduction go to the Mats Before Reproduction page. 

 

Visit the 
Vintage Running Boards
 page of  our website
to view a few vintage (antique) running board rubber covers we had reproduced or repaired. 



To see pictures of street rod, hot rod, muscle car running board rubber mat (matting material) patterns go to our: Street Rod Running Boards page.


 Visit our Specialty Rubber Parts page to view pictures of rubber floor mats and custom designed street rod (hot rod)  mats.
 

To find vintage (antique) auto restoration shops go to our: Vintage Auto Restoration page.


To locate antique (vintage)  auto and truck clubs visit our
Antique Auto Clubs
page.


Visit our
Auto & Truck Parts  page to locate suppliers of those difficult to find restoration parts. 



Please visit our
Shipping Instructions
page for shipping information.

 
A visit to: The Little Red Wagon  page just might make your day.


If you are in need of running board aluminum metal trim here is an excellent sourc
e
:

www.runningboardmetaltrim.com





 

Whats New!!!

I have just designed and built a new state of the art milling machine to reproduce running board rubber mats.  It has all the features of my original machine, but I have added a much larger working surface, and a variable speed reversible motor with infinite speed settings.  The machine is designed to be extemely accurate and maintain it's accuracy with very little maintenance.  This new machine will make it possible to not only do the work faster, but turn out a better quality product as well.
.  
 
 


The reproduction of running board rubber mat patterns requires an array of tools and equipment.  Below are shown the milling machine and three of the specialty tools that are required to turn out superior quality running board rubber mats. 

 
Detail Sander,  Dremel Drill,  Mill Cutters,  Hot Knife
Detail Sander, Dremel Drill, Mill Cutters, Hot Knife
 
 


Our reproduction facility is now located in Calgary, Alberta

To contact us by phone call: (403) 201-6979 and ask for Sherban or leave a message between
9 A.M.  and 9 P.M. MDT.

The mailing and shipping address is:

The Vintage Running Board Specialists
179 Millrise Dr. S.W.
Calgary, Alberta
T2Y-2G4


E-mail: info@vintagerunningboards.com

 



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