Two piece splash aprons

[Russell Reay]

My 1930 (body style ???) has two piece splash aprons in pretty decent shape. Searching the archives I read that the nose piece was spot welded to the fender, and the main section was attached to the running board so that the RB/ apron was all one assembly. In my case there is no evidence that the nose piece was ever spot welded to the fender. There are a series of holes on the flanges to accommodate bolting it to the fender and the main apron . I am disinclined to start spot welding for fear that everything will not line up properly. In that vein, where do I use fender welt? There are three segments--nose to main apron, nose to fender, and fender to running board. When I disassembled a year ago, there was welt in all three locations, but I am not confident that was correct. Thoughts please. My running board was pop-riveted to the bottom of the main apron. That suggests to me that one or both of those pieces is a repro. It appears that the correct assembly process is to slide the apron between the frame and body, then attach the running board with the back flange setting down into the trough at the bottom of the apron. Comments please.

 

[Adam-had'em]

It sounds like The fender was disassembled for rust clean up or has been replaced with the 31 fender, if your fenders are side mount then they are likely original side mount fenders for the 31 and the splash apron was bolted up to them. Final possibility may be they are completely unoriginal, in which case you buy them in separate pieces( The front splash panel and fender). I have seen an original 1930 split apron with original running board and you are correct. the runningboards are part of the splash aprons but the forward tip of the splash apron is spot welded to the fender permanently.
In which case, The only welt that should be there “factory” Is between the frame rail and the fender and perhaps the fender and the running board, Mine has never been restored and there is some kind of material between certain parts but it appears to be a canvas of some kind, I can check and re-post? I know for sure there is no material between the fender and the spot welded splash panel. Are the hole drills between the fender and the splash apron consistently spaced? If they appear to be more random then it’s likely spot welds drilled out

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

My 1930 (body style ???) has two piece splash aprons in pretty decent shape. Searching the archives I read that the nose piece was spot welded to the fender, and the main section was attached to the running board so that the RB/ apron was all one assembly. In my case there is no evidence that the nose piece was ever spot welded to the fender. There are a series of holes on the flanges to accommodate bolting it to the fender and the main apron . I am disinclined to start spot welding for fear that everything will not line up properly. In that vein, where do I use fender welt? There are three segments--nose to main apron, nose to fender, and fender to running board. When I disassembled a year ago, there was welt in all three locations, but I am not confident that was correct. Thoughts please. My running board was pop-riveted to the bottom of the main apron. That suggests to me that one or both of those pieces is a repro. It appears that the correct assembly process is to slide the apron between the frame and body, then attach the running board with the back flange setting down into the trough at the bottom of the apron. Comments please.

Kinda hard to follow all your questions Russell, but I'll give it a shot. Based on what I remember about the vehicle you are building, "what is correct" is kinda out the window and you have some latitude, but let's try to get you close anyway.

Originally, the 1930 Running Board was an integral part of the Body Shield (-a/k/a Splash Apron), ...which on yours as a commercial vehicle (-not a 150-B) should have used the diamond treading. By you suggesting it was 'pop-riveted' onto each other suggests aftermarket.

The original 1930 fender did have the short apron spot welded onto the fender flange, ...and the fender flange is smaller in width than the later style (-post 09/30) that used the 5/16" bolts and had the elongated holes for alignment. The 1930 service replacement aftermarket fenders often utilized a short apron as you are describing and the larger size anti-squeak (welting) was used between the fender and the apron as was used on the post-10/30 style fender, -however between the short apron and the longer apron, that anti-squeak was the smaller diameter as was used on the gas tank.

I hope this all makes sense. If I missed something, either ask here or call me and I'll walk you thru it.

 

[Russell Reay]

Brent--your memory is pretty good. The vehicle as I purchased it was clearly a Heinz 57, and the revelations keep on coming. The principal motivation for repairs that sort of replicate original conditions is that subsequent repairs or investigations will follow the same path. If I just wing it and institute a fix-du-jour, someone will have to endure the discovery process all over again. At my first swap meet of the year I bought a matched set of unrestored, unmolested 1930 fenders which will save me untold hours of frustrating work on my 'originals'. These fenders have the holes for the nose piece with no evidence of spot welds. Attached photos show the parts and holes. Upon closer inspection the flange on the nose which attaches to the fender does have several triangular bosses. These seem much larger than most spot welds. If they are indeed spot welds, why have the bolt holes? The holes appear to be of factory origin, not afterthoughts.