I'm needing to replace the rubber step surface on my 40 Ford's running boards. I chipped off all of the old, brittle rubber and have cleaned the steel down to bare metal. My question is this, do I need to glue on the new rubber covers before I paint the running boards, or is it better to paint the whole thing and then glue on the rubber cover? Will there be adhesion issues if the rubber is glued to paint? What type of glue do you guys use? Thanks for the help, as always.
I used 3-m spray can contact adhesive over primer. Bob Drakes instructions say to just glue the edges so as not to get wrinkles due to temperature changes. Didn't seem right to me but I followed instructions for once and it seems to work ok. Only problem I had was where the boards meet the fenders it wants to pucker up. Instructions say to put spacer washers in to give it some room so you dont squeeze the rubber so much.
Paint it first, glue the rubber with contact cement. The glue used for formica counter tops. Trust me. It wont move, hell you will never get it off.
Yes, spray it first with a good chromate metal primer, THEN use some type of contact adhesive to glue down the rubber tread surface.
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