Running Board Bracket Alignment

Dirtrack49

Dirtrack49

Senior Member
Hi all,

I am finally getting to the light at the end of the tunnel on my still new to me 30' Town Sedan.

Evidently, the DPO, or "Restorer" did not have everything in alignment when he placed the body on the frame. See pictures attached.

The front driver side running board bracket has about 1/2 inch gap from bracket to running board and is inboard approximately 1 3/8 inch. The rear bracket actually supports the running board, however it is inboard by 5/8 inch. The passenger side is normal.

So where do I go from here? Do I make something up out of wood or metal to take up the gap? Can I disassemble the running boards and try to reshape the brackets?

Can the running boards be removed without removing the splash aprons? They appear to be one unit.

I am not so concerned about what a fix may turn out to look like versus getting the proper support.

Any and all comments and suggestions will be truly appreciated.

Tom L.
 

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The running board bracket in your photo appears to be sprung down hill from inside to outside. Could you place a bottle jack on the outside and bend it back to eliminate the gap in your photos? I've never tried this, so it may just pick you car up rather than bending the bracket, so you may have to chain the frame down so it can't get away.
 
I’ve had to tweak them left and right before. I used a pipe and muscle. Haven’t tried up or down but would bet same results
Of course the board can’t be there
The jack would likely work too. I don’t think the bracket is too rigid to not bend
 
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Btw…
If original 30 one piece board and shield, they are a booger to remove. If repo the board may can be removed without the shield.
Originals are one piece and under body bolts
 
I think his miss alignment is the running board fender are out away from the frame and bracket, maybe just pushing on the outside edge of the running board fender towards the center of the car? would get it back in place.
 
Thanks for the advice.

I will take another look at the running boards today and see if they're one piece. If they are two piece, I would think that there would be some type of fasteners holding the two parts together?

Big hammer, I will take a look. Had not thought of that.

In any case, in order to put the nuts and special bolts in to hold down the running boards, I obviously need to remove them. If they are one piece, are we talking about lifting the body off the frame?

Tom L.
 
In any case, in order to put the nuts and special bolts in to hold down the running boards, I obviously need to remove them. If they are one piece, are we talking about lifting the body off the frame?


Yep
 
It could be a lot of small issues adding up to your dilemma. The car may have been in an accident at some point in time and the brackets are inboard of where they should be. Maybe you can figure a way to measure the distance from the outer hole of the brackets to the chassis rail and compare those measurements on the other side of the car. This will take some time but might tell you if the brackets are bent down and inboard. As mentioned by others, the front of the car to back of the car orientation of the brackets can be remedied with a pipe and some elbow grease. OR ........ you can remove the running board to fender bolts, get everything lined up between the boards and brackets so you can fasten the running boards to the brackets, leave everything loose and see if the fenders can then be re-bolted to the boards (all bolts and nuts tightened a little at a time) without putting stress on or bending anything out of shape. A big mistake many folks make in putting a car together is to bolt one item down tight and then try to bolt everything else to it. In the case of sheet metal, this allows for no flexibility in how the pieces ultimately fall into place with each other. If nothing else, this latter procedure might confirm that the running board brackets are indeed the culprit and will need further attention.

Good luck. Bob Bader
 
Bob-
Agreed, it looks like the outer bolt hole and mounting bracket on board don’t match too well
The bracket may have been forced inward which would account for the downward position
Perhaps a port-a-power forcing the bracket outward from the frame would push the outer tip up and outward? Maybe forcing it upward will achieve the same.
Dunno
 
Well, after much fooling around today, I ended up putting a spacer on the front left running board bracket so that I would have some support there. Mickey Mouse I know, but for now it will have to do.

It looks like I have new one piece running boards/splash aprons on this vehicle. After further inspection, I believe the bracket itself as Bob pointed out, has possibly been pushed inward. I still need to measure the other side to be sure that assumption is correct.

Bobbader and Oldbluoval, I think you are both on to something.

The real problem is, getting the running boards off the car in order to repair or replace the driver side brackets.

The odd thing is that I don't see where the aprons are attached to the frame??? It looks like the aprons are connected to the running boards with rivets. The boards themselves are bolted onto the two fenders and the front nose piece apron, and should be bolted to the two brackets.

I must be missing something here?
 
The apron is/should be attached to the frame on the top side. The top surface if the apron is in the same plane as the frame.
The boards and aprons being joined by rivets is not original. Originals are all one piece made together. Depending on number of rivets it might be easier to drill them out… but sounds like a job on your back unless you have a lift!
 
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