i just took delivery of my bob drake 40 running boards that i ordered in february. long wait right? i could'nt wait to take them out and look them over, but i had some things that had to get done first. well, i set up a folding table to unpack them and i take one out and am quite pleased, and i leave it out so i can look at it while i'm working. i put it away and pull out the other one to look it over while working. i think as the sun was going it set the lighting up to show five bulges evenly spaced around the lower edge. you can feel them no problem an you run your hand over them. has anybody who has bought these noticed this? i switched them around and looked at the first one again, and its not as noticable for some reason, but does have little bumps. i'll try and get some pictures up, but it may prove to be a tuff one to photogragh.
I recently installed a set of those and didn't notice what you describe. A photo may help us. You may need to clean rubber out of the fender bolt holes. I also painted the bottom side bare metal. Luck. John
I have had bubbles in mine but I used a pin and filled them with glue. I had a pair of Henry Acuff boards that did the same thing.
I have a set I bought when they had a sale late last year. I did take them out to check them over. I did not notice any thing like you mention. However I must now unpack them again to be sure! I will let you know!
well I took some so-so pictures that may or may not show what i'm talking about. I think I need to take them at night and use a hand held light to high-lite them. I know what some may be thinking; "if you have to go through all this, then they must not be noticeable" well they are. they become visible as you move around. in one spot there gone while in another they're very apparent. hope you can see them.
I would set them out in the sun for a few days and see if that helps flatten out the bumps. Just a thought as you know how rubber is.
Do you really think that the originals were any better? I doubt that Ford's process of gluing down the rubber was superior to Drake's, although I'm willing to be wrong about that. These were mass produced, low cost cars expected to last a few years. The assembly line (and component assembly) labor was largely immigrants with few marketable skills.
true that, but these are not mass produced in any great number and I've seen plenty that have no issues. have you seen the molds? their very nice, and then there's the cost of these things. not cheap. someone said to leave them in the sun for a day or two, I don't think it will help as they're not delaminating in any way. the problem is five evenly spaced small lumps where the rubber seems thicker.
Why haven't you called Drake's to inquire about a return/exchange? His boards have a (3 year?) guarantee and if the 40's are priced anything like the 34's ($1250 !), you'd expect them to be flawless (even though they're probably better than the circa 1940 boards as mentioned). As tough as the blem on yours is to see, I'd guess they missed that prior to packing/shipping them out.
I didn't call them yet because the package showed up late Friday afternoon. and I didn't notice the blemishes till the sun started going down. I will be calling them Monday.
drakes is a good company to deal with,if there problems i'm sure that they will take care of it,and at the cost of them i would want them near perfect,these are not mass produced---order and wait for production, again bob drake good company....
For the amount of coin they get for those, I'd expect them to be perfect. But I have noticed the quality of Drakes stuff slipping in the last few years. Maybe because more of his stuff isn't being produced locally anymore.
agreed. if you click on my picture, and then click again, you can see a little better the imperfections when it goes full screen.
There's plenty of room....... Not much rear vision but it uses a stock 40 windschield layed back a long way. It is chopped 50% of of stock Here's the motor You can see the floor being made at : www.flamingarage.com Push the lttle Union Jack for English unless you speak Hungarian
I think Drake will stand behind them, That's a lot of coin they get for a pair, they really need to be perfect.
well, I talked with bob drake's people today and I don't know how to feel about this. they admit that they have seen some of what I've complained about but they say that they have three different people who check before the box is sealed and shipped. they are telling me at this point that if I ship them back at my cost, that they'll inspect them and make a decision. but I gotta' pay. I told them if I send them back, it was to get my money back. my suggestion was for them to hand pick a good driver side board and send it. most likely it would be fine, and to send a pre-paid label and then i'll send the blem back in the same box. i'm waiting for a call back.
Mr B, The 'flamin garage' looks good and so does the coupe, but why so far from home, I'd have thought Poland would hold some old school talent? Sorry for interrupting the thread.
Unfortunately, you're getting some of the "real world" BD "customer service". Another common reply to problematic BD parts is: "First time we've heard that problem." Return shipping on your dime is virtually ALWAYS. DD
Got exactly the same as what you describe on my running boards, ...I'm too busy driving the wheels off it to notice or care...... If someone was pretty sad and pointed that out to me I would just ask them if theirs was the same ......... In similar vain, I bought a new trunk lid from BD, waited 6 months for it to ship to the UK, it arrived in a huge crate, cost a fortune to ship, I opened the crate...huge dent right the bottom right hand quarter of the outer skin,...... How did that happen,
man that's rotten. do you think it happened while being shipped? that box did go half way around the world, maybe more! I just go my floors and sills from dennis carpenter and some new cowl sides from bob drake today. I might post a picture of it all sitting on a table just to show what a $2900.00 floor looks like.
This is my 40 Ford floor..... hand made and installed click onto each photo http://www.flamingarage.com/en/1940-0#!prettyPhoto I need to find a good original grill
The Jalopy Journal
