VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 Running Board Adhesive

Has anyone had experience glueing the rubber mats onto the running boards with 3M #10 Neoprene contact adhesive? I&I used to carry it but when 3M switched from pints to quarts they switched to another brand contact adhesive. I have more confidence in 3M products and once I put the mats down I want them to stay there! Any advice would be appreciated.

Buy the quart of 3M #10, i mean really how much more can it be than the old pint size price??? $10--15 increase. Besides always good to have that product around.

Jim McConville way back in the day to me he spent a lot of time with 3M tech guys finding the right adhesive .

4 pints in a quart so i guess that would be the increase.

mike

Hi there,
is the 3M #10 the same as standard contact adhesive or is it something special for running board rubber?
I have to glue mine on in the near future and only want to do it once and forever!
Peter

Too repeat myself.......Jim McConville told me back in 1974 ? when i was ordering the runningboard mats from him, that he had spent a lot of time with the 3m tech people trying to find the RIGHT GLUE to bond the rubber too the metal backing plates.
That glue was their " TEN BOND" 3M ID ; CS-0406-2183-4 .

They make a lot of adhesives and in their opinion this one worked the best.
mike

thanks Mike for the details.

Are we talking about bonding to bare metal or painted metal?

My running boards are painted black in preparation for the rubber, no backing boards, just the running board itself, and I fear that adhesive, if of the wrong type, would dissolve the paint over time and release the rubber?

Peter

My 1936 mats were glued to a sheet metal backing that was connected to the running board base. The sheet metal was not painted on the bonding surface. I used a product from the department store labeled as shoe-goo, in tubes, it allowed plenty of working time as it was not a contact cement It has been very tough and waterproof going on 6 years.

Glue your running board mats to the freshly bead blasted surface of the running board. The mats will bond better. Do not glue the mats to a painted surface. Also, use a commercial grade adhesive for attaching vinyl tops on cars.

You might note that typical rubber cement will cause the rubber mats to grow in length and width after a minute or so. Be sure that the edges are lined up before you stick the mats down.

my painted running boards are in acrylic.
the contact adhesive is turps soluble so I will give it a go and see what happens.
Contact to rubber to paint.
I feel adventurous......
if you never go you will never find out, what's around the corner...
pushing the boundaries of discovery is fun if you have the time, and that's what I have plenty off..
Peter

I have flat self fabricated running boards on my 39 sedan, and i bonded the flat running boards mats from I&I onto them with contact cement 25 years ago. They are still in place and tight. I have the boards completely painted in Acrylic Lacquer. From memeory i think i lightly scuffed the underside of the rubber mat , and then cleaned them down with a solvent prior to applying the cement to both surfaces.

My running boards are flat and so are the mats , so are your boards ribbed or flat , and the mats need to be bonded to a cut sheet first and then fitted to your boards.

G'day jack,
my boards are ribbed, ala I&I style.
the car running board is painted metal in acrylic .
I intend to try to bond them straight to the painted metal.
the paint is very sound and if I pre-clean the rubber, after scuffing, with acetone, I feel that I will get a perfect bond using industrial strength contact adhesive.
I have some similar rubber for a test run
Only doing it will tell the storey and I'm ready to take the next step........
Peter

As long as the solvent in the adhesive does not soften the paint you will be good to go. But trapping the solvent between rubber mat and metal board can exacerbate the solvents power.

hi Chipper,
that very thought had occurred to me way back.
I am going to do a test piece on painted metal to see what happens.....
Peter

Good idea. On your test panel I would also wrap it in plastic wrap to keep the solvent in contact for a longer time so you can be confident that you will not have a solvent problem surface later.

Hi Chipper,
I did some testing today and here are the results:-
look at this data:-


The matt expanded a bit and the graphics show it all.

I did the test on glueing rubber to painted metal and the result was very disappointing.
The rubber pulled of easily and took some of the paint with it.
The painted surface was enamel, but the thinners used in the spraying are the same as acrylic so I thought the test was OK.
That was all I could find in my shed at the time of testing........OK

I even wrapped up the test item in glad-wrap (plastic clear film) and it was easily pulled off after a period of 3 hours setting.(the rubber matting).

I then did the same test onto unpainted steel sheet and the results were amazing.
there was absolutely no way that I was going to just pull the rubber off the bare steel. No way.
It stuck like S..t to a blanket and was proof of common contact adhesive and bare metal are like kissing cousins! the bond was complete.

So there you have it, rubber to bare metal is conclusive that it works.
Rubber to painted metal is a waste of time, dont go down that path.

I am now going to remove the paint form my running boards at the matt coverage area an glue to the bare steel...
Peter

That has been the experience by many others. The solvent in the adhesive softens the paint or primer and the mat does not stick. Only bare steel for the mat to stick down.

Based on the above test, the following is probably worth repeating:

Keep the mat soft. Once it cracks and allows moisture to the metal the problem starts all over again.
Tony

Hi Tony,
how does one "keep the matt soft"?
Peter

Peter
An old trick withe vinyl tops was to wipe them with johnsons baby oil after washing. I dont know if it will work with your rubber mat though.
Tony

Anyone know where to purchase the 3M TEN BOND contact adhesive? I see it on the 3M site (for Canada Mining industry), but can't find anyone who sells it. I'm also getting ready to glue my mats to bare metal.

PROBABLY BETTER TO TELEPHONE i & i REPRODUCTIONS IN CALIF AND ORDER THE GLUE THEY USE TO APPLY TO THE MATS.

MIKE

Hi there,
They, at I&I, say to use 3M glue #10 ? that's what Wendy told me.
Over here most shops dont stock 3M products, just Sellys and maybe a couple more,Sikkens etc, but no 3M stuff in Ozz.

I am now ready to do the deed and today spent a most unpleasant 2 hours, grinding off the old paint on the running boards.......

I will use Sellys industrial strength general purpose contact adhesive, I did a test on a piece of bare steel and it stuck really well.

In the beginning there was a black running board on an old chev, now the fun begins...............

click

Peter

Peter,

I used a construction adhesive which they use to bond just about anything together. Looks like black silicone but different.

hi there Pat,
today I took the plunge and concentrated on installing the matt's no matter what. We can only talk about all this for so long, today was the DAY..........
CLICK IT

Peter