Custom running boards - 1954 Ford F600 Car Hauler Build part 80

Added: 2026-05-04

[00:00:00]Hey guys, welcome back to Home Built.

[00:00:02]This week we are back on the Franken Holler and we are going to start the running boards.

[00:00:29]All right, guys. Welcome back. And uh if you're following along last week, I got the fuel filler uh flap and uh reflectors and stuff on the rear guards all sorted. Um if you missed it, I'll put a link up above so you can catch up to that. And uh like always, do those things, like and comment on those videos. It really does help out that crazy algorithm.

[00:00:51]Moving forward on the truck, as I've mentioned previously, I want this to cosmetically look the way I want it to look. And uh a big part of that is basically looking like a a big F100 rather than just looking like uh the F600, the sort of the the big commercial truck that it originally was. I want it to be a bit of a uh uh yeah, a bit of a hot rod style thing. And that means running boards all the way from the front guards to the rear guards. But that creates challenges in how I fit them, how I make them. Um, I also want to box in the back, which also means luggage boxes. And there's there's a bunch of things to consider when doing this. And, uh, one big part of it is making them strong enough. I need to be able to get up and you need to be able to stand on them. Now, as you can see here, I've got the original F600 truck running board running right here. Now, on, as I mentioned, the F600, the bigger truck, uh, it only had a running board for the cab because the back was commercial truck, sort of something a bit like what this is sort of looking like at the moment. Uh whereas the F100's had uh the running boards actually came back further because the rear guard started about here and uh they sort of tucked in behind. Now I want to continue mine all the way along which means uh after looking at them I don't think I'm going to use these at all. Uh I was considering using them cutting them using uh you know this half at the back and that half at the front.

[00:02:17]I've got another plan for that. But first things first is I need to work out how I'm going to mount them. And uh that means somehow bolting them to the chassis rails of the truck. So my plan is I need uh some supports underneath the treads of the running boards. And I'm also going to have some sort of uh structure underneath the top of these running boards. And that basically is going to be the uh uh one of the boling points. I'm going to have bolting points through the middle as they are here, but also uh a lip over the top uh bolting onto something. That's something I am currently looking at using this, which is a uh 25 mil by 25 mil, 3 mil thick angle iron. I want to support that all the way along the side of the truck.

[00:03:02]Something like this. Now, this is also going to be able to support my uh boxes and things like that. This is sort of the first bit that really needs to come in here. And I need to get this mounted all the way along the side of the truck.

[00:03:16]Now, I already have these uh this is the hydraulic pump. I have the box for this on this side. On the other side, I have a box for the batteries. It's already extremely overkill mounted to the chassis. So, I am going to make this dual purpose and run my supports, at least two of my supports off of the sides of uh this hydraulic ram mount.

[00:03:41]So, they are going to help hold up this piece. So, that's the first thing I need to do is to get a a long length all the way along from guard to guard. So, let's get stuck in and uh I'll catch you up once we uh get uh a couple of bits and pieces tacked into place. So, like I mentioned last week, there's been a lot of thought put into how I go about tackling this. And I realized that this bar here is the basis of the whole side of the truck. So once I can get this in place, I can build everything else out from this. So it starts by me mocking it up and trying to get it roughly in place with some scrap pieces of wood. And once it's roughly sitting where I want it to in space, I can start mocking up the mounts. So those of you who have been following for a while now know that WorldClass have been a huge supporter of this channel for quite a while. And uh they've just actually released some brand new machines. This is a combination uh MIG, stick, TIG, pulse machine. So, this does pulse, MIG, um pulse stick, pulse TIG. This is my first time unboxing it. It's looks like a pretty good kit for uh starting out cuz it comes with your uh regulator, your all your hoses, set of gloves, a helmet, um some some pliers. Pretty decent looking kit to uh be honest. So, I'm going to switch over now and uh I think I need to give this a go on welding up my rainboards. So, I quickly switch everything over to this MIG. Uh putting in a roll of 0.9 mil mild steel MIG wire and uh a big thanks to Worldclass and keep an eye out for the giveaway of this machine coming up. So, let's get back over to it now and see if we can start tacking in the framework for these running boards. So, with this frame bar mocked up in place, I can clamp on uh a couple of mounts onto the side of the hydraulic ram, which is going to do double duty, also holding on the running boards. All right, so we have our inner frame ready to go to start building my running boards from. Now, it actually does sit uh off of the ground about 50 mil lower at the front than it does at the rear, but the guards are 50 mil higher. You can see the bottom of the guard. Uh ignore that piece that's missing because I'll fill that in later when I get the uh running boards on.

[00:06:09]From there down to the ground is 50 mm higher than from this end from down to the ground.

[00:06:15]So, this whole rail is gradually sloping uphill, but when I have a car on the back, this will sit about 50 mm lower.

[00:06:27]So, that will sit nice and level. And I had to make a toss up. Um, it runs reasonably level with the chassis rails and it's working on where the running boards are going to line up with the guards. So, it was all a compromise to get that angle correct. And uh I think that is where we're going to keep it. At the moment, it's only held on by these two braces off of here. I need to make another bolting frame um off of those two holes there and join under here. And then another two underneath the door. So, let's start doing that. And a quick coat of paint on these brackets now so that I don't have to pull them off and paint them later.

[00:07:09]All right. So, I got the center two mounts basically in place. Now, I need to work on my rearmost mount. I'm using one of the bolt holes that I used to uh bolt on my center frame that holds my ram and stuff like that. I had a real pain of a time trying to feed the bolt in from the back because it's inside a boxed frame rail. I've got tiny little bit of access in there. Uh I've made my piece to go on the front. So, what I decided to do, hopefully to make things easier, is I've got my two bolts and I've actually welded them together, welded a brace on them. Um, basically I just stuck them into my the holes and welded them welded a brace between between them. Now, I'm going to feed this in from the back. Then hopefully when I put it through, it will hold them still so I can just uh screw nuts onto the front and it should be much easier to get it in and out. So, let's try that.

[00:08:04]It was so much easier feeding these two bolts through and getting them in place uh than previously. I should have done this the last time I was struggling. And now you can see why my prepainted parts are good. I do have to clean off some of the paint to join them on, but at least the back of these are painted and I won't have to pull them off again. I can just spray them in place.

[00:08:26]With the rear end tacked up, it is time to start tackling the two front mounts.

[00:08:30]And uh it's difficult to film under here, but you get the idea. It's lots of backwards and forwards on my back and uh rolling around, but I can eventually get it all tacked up and in place.

[00:08:43]All right, let's show you where we are currently. So, uh as I showed you before, we've got the two braces coming off of the mount for the uh hydraulic ram. Uh this one I wasn't happy with the angle, so I've actually cut this and this is actually disconnected at the moment. But, uh, we've got these two mounts. And then I've got my rear mount.

[00:09:01]Um, I'm quite happy with the location of all of that and the angle of this arm.

[00:09:06]And then I've got one mount I've already put in under here. So, you can see there's one there. And I'm about to put a second one in over here. But what I'm not happy with is the line of how this brace is here. Now, what I don't like is is how this drops down and there's a gap there. So, what I'm thinking is I'm going to actually cut this frame here.

[00:09:29]It will all make sense when I get there.

[00:09:30]But, for the time being, I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to cut it probably here at the back of the cab.

[00:09:36]And then I can tilt it all up and weld it back together again. And uh and it'll all sort of match into the design that I am picturing in my head.

[00:09:48]So, I cut this brace in half and I actually cut a couple of the uh tacked on supports just so that I can get the angle all nice and neat and tidy. And now tack in the front corner. And that is a much better angle. And then I have to realign the rear slightly as well to get it all to line up in the middle. All right, that is looking much better. So, we do have a slope and it comes down slightly and then it kicks back up again for over here. But I can uh mitigate that with how I build my running boards.

[00:10:22]So now what I need to do is I need to build um some L-shaped brackets to come out that will actually be the back and the base of the running boards or the supports for that. So hopefully my vision is starting to come together now.

[00:10:36]You can see that there are the uprightes to the running boards that I'm putting in here and they are about 100 mil long.

[00:10:43]Once I cut these out, I make sure they're all nice and even and tack them in place.

[00:10:54]And then using the straight edge, I line them up and uh I get them exactly the same, nice and uh perfect with the level so that they are all perfectly aligned.

[00:11:06]Now, as the front half tapers up, what I'm doing is uh to get my alignment right, you can see I've clamped the level to the rear end. And then these front uh supports, I'm actually lining up with the level so that I have a nice straight even height all the way along for the base of these. Hopefully that makes sense.

[00:11:30]And now it's time for the horizontals.

[00:11:32]So, there are uh five horizontals to go with all of the five uprightes.

[00:11:38]And again, I'm trying to make sure they are all at the exact same angle. So, as I tack a couple of them on, I line everything up with the levels and make sure they're all perfectly level and even with each other. And I really take my time cuz it's really important.

[00:11:54]Okay, so now I've got the basic framework ready to go. This is the uh basic shape of the running boards. Now, these are the supports. Now, they still have a lot of leverage on them. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to start making up some triangulation supports that are going to go from the back of these horizontals diagonally up to the cross brace on an angle like this. That will give it a lot of support. Um, on the the ones that uh are on either end, I'm going to put extra ones above. So, basically, there's going to be these parallel arms that are going to come out, and that's going to give it a lot more torsional strength than it currently has. And then, fingers crossed, I have a really good, strong platform that will hold my running boards that once I bolt them in, it will keep them from twisting sideways. It will make it nice and solid. And then we've got a uh a running board that we can stand on, that we can do whatever we like, and it's going to be perfectly fine.

[00:13:02]So now I'm pretty happy with the basic structure at this stage. So it's time to go through and securely weld in all of these individual legs.

[00:13:29]And with the framework all welded in solid, it's time to actually start making it structurally sound so that you can actually be able to stand on it. So, I'm adding in some diagonal braces to the knee joint, if you want to call it that, uh, at the, uh, bottom corners here of the horizontal. That's really going to add a lot of strength to this system. So, you should hopefully be able to stand on them.

[00:13:57]Okay, so you can see here I've got my level sitting on my supports for the running boards, and they're all the way along. There's five of them on this side. And you can see actually on this front one to support it, I've actually done lower and upper triangulation so that uh it will help with the torsional strength. So when I stand on the outer edge, it will actually be able to support me. And uh this middle one, I haven't done it, but then these two here have lots of triangulation already with this uh triangular brace here. So, they're actually really really strong.

[00:14:38]The N1 I have not done it because in this cavity here is where I'm going to have my storage boxes. So, basically from here back to here, it's not going to be huge, but there's going to be storage boxes all the way up. I'm going to have a cover over this. So the pump will be inside that storage box area, but there'll be a a separate box.

[00:15:01]All that is still to come.

[00:15:04]Next thing up is uh let's start trying to play around and see what we can do about um a design for some running boards. So my design for the running boards themselves is reasonably basic.

[00:15:17]Uh, I'm going to add some detail to the ends. And there will be some detail on the top that I'll get into later. But to start with, there is just a lot of measuring. All right. So, we've got our framework and now I have to start folding up the actual running boards themselves. And that brings me to the material that I'm going to use cuz the original running boards were steel and uh relatively heavy and they don't need to be on this. I can paint them whatever color I want. So, in that case, I am going to actually make them out of this stuff, which is 1 and 12 mil thick aluminum uh plate. This is going to be plenty strong for the running boards.

[00:15:56]And when I paint it all in, it'll blend in and look uh patina matching the rest of the truck. And I can make it a little bit lighter. And here I'm cutting off a strip of my aluminium. and I'm going to fold it over to try and make a bit of a softer edge guide that I can use for these running boards. All right. So, I've had a play around and uh I basically made up a little cheetah bar.

[00:16:21]So, I cut out a strip. I folded it to 90° in the brake. And what this has done is obviously this uh inside edge is quite sharp. The outside edge is rounded. And basically what this is for is this is now a softer edge. So now I'll stick this in and then stick my pieces underneath and fold it and I'll get a slightly softer curve. And that's the sort of curve that I'm getting out of this. So I'm quite happy uh with that. I'll kick this around as my sort of uh softening edge. So with that working, it's time to start trying to fold up my first piece of running board to try and get it to all fit. and it has to be absolutely perfect, which is slightly daunting.

[00:17:10]So, first thing is I start trying to mock up a little bit of a test shape.

[00:17:16]And as I said, it's a very basic shape that I'm going for with these running boards. The design will come. There's going to be some designs in the ends, but the big thing is getting them all perfectly even. And that will make uh a lot more difference with these, particularly because there is three pieces that I have to join together. And every fold has to be exactly in line with the next one. And when they don't follow the exact same shape, that's where it starts getting difficult. And you really have to take your time to get them perfect.

[00:17:49]So, I'm pretty confident with my measurements, and it's time to suck it up and actually start folding some material and see how it turns out.

[00:18:01]All right, here is the initial mockup.

[00:18:03]And it's going to sit slightly further forward up to about here. But this is the first section I've done. Now, what I'm going to do is I um I thought I would wait instead of just working on measurements. I can line this up, mark on the back at the exact right height, and then that will be the location of the fold to fold over the top. And uh some of the fasteners will be into the top, some will be through the face uh when I actually get to it. There will be more detail going into this, but uh for now, let's uh continue on and see if we can mark it out and make all of the bits for the entire length.

[00:18:44]So, just making sure everything lines up exactly where I want it and then I can put the last fold in.

[00:18:51]All right, first piece is mocked up.

[00:18:52]Now, it does look quite plain at the moment, but uh once I put the boxes in the side and there's there's things that I'm doing to uh liven this all up, but for the time being, we have the first piece of running board. Now, I need to do another piece at the front. So, that's what I'm going to do next. But this piece is a little bit more challenging because um for starters, the uh this tapers back in this way. So, so there is a different length on that one.

[00:19:19]And this is also gets taller at the front. So, that's a little bit more of a challenge to get it to line up perfectly with this so that when we weld them together, you will see just one big straight uh running board.

[00:19:32]So, to get my measurements, you can see I'm using a couple of straight edges here and trying to line everything up perfectly so that I can get my accurate measurements. And uh it's a definitely case of measure twice, cut once.

[00:19:47]So, I mark all my pieces out onto my piece of sheet.

[00:19:52]and uh cutting it with the nibblers. Uh aluminium has a habit of galling things up, so I'm using uh some WD40 to help lubricate it along the way. And I start folding up my piece. And soon realized that I actually messed up and didn't measure enough times before I cut. So, I had to start again and uh cut another piece. I forgot to factor in the 100 mm upright. But the second time around seems to work. Now I'm adding some cleos into the uh back piece so that it stays where I want it and we can start mocking up the front. Next piece is made up, but obviously at the moment a the top is um slightly too high uh and it's also too long. But that all needs to be trimmed down. But I need to trim it so that it'll match around the front wheel arch.

[00:20:44]So, uh, that is going to take a little bit of finessing cuz I don't want to trim it too far back here, but the taper is correct.

[00:20:53]I'm going to, uh, do some measuring and I might, uh, make up a bit of a cardboard template of the, uh, the the front part of the guard so that I can work out where I need to trim. And, uh, yeah, let's have a bit of a play and I'll come back to you. So, I've started getting uh a little piece of my folded angle and I sit that in the back corner so that I have a reference point. And then using my cardboard, I start cutting out a profile of the guard. Then I can copy that onto the running board and trim it out with the angle grinder.

[00:21:26]And with the front edge of this piece sorted, I need to make sure that the rear edge of this section runs perfectly in line with that middle section of running board. And that is where I mentioned before that it's vitally important because of the taper of the front piece. The length from the face of the running board to the back of the running board needs to be exactly the same as the uh the rear one. So they line up perfectly. So when I get around to welding them, the world is completely seamless and uh you never know that they were actually made in two pieces. Or at least that is the plan.

[00:22:09]All right, so we have the beginnings of my running board. So they're just uh mocked up there, but the the join is really good. Um, we have a a tight fit around here, although I think I am going to add an end to this running board to sort of uh cap it all in and round it all off. Uh, that will be something I'll tackle uh later, but for the time being, these two angles join up nicely. Even though this one goes back sort of on an angle like this, this one goes back an angle like that, but they they line up nicely that it will weld up to a a very nice invisible seam. Um, all the thicknesses are all good. So, I'm very happy with how that's turning out. So, now I've got the last little bit. I've got to do a another section on the rear that uh will fill in that last little piece. So, let's do that. And also, as a note, these aren't bolted down or anything, but at the moment, I can stand on them. They they uh they take my weight.

[00:23:11]That is what I wanted. They're perfectly strong enough to be running boards, which is exactly uh what we need. So, uh let's make that last little piece. And now for the final push. Taking my measurements. And then I start laying on my straight edges again so that I can get um the inner and outer measurements exact. Transfer it onto my big sheet of aluminium and cut it out with the nibblers. Now, uh this is small enough that I can actually do two separate halves. And that's what I'm doing here.

[00:23:49]Then again, making a cardboard template of the rear guard. Now, uh same as what I did on the front. Making sure everything lines up perfectly. And then I can transfer it onto the running board itself. Trim it out and uh make sure it lines up beautifully.

[00:24:09]And then it's a matter of aligning the ends again, uh, ensuring that they are the exact same length and width and, uh, all the measurements meet up so that when I w it up, it can be seamless.

[00:24:28]And that is where I realized I messed up again. And uh yeah, I actually had to remake this piece because one of the measurements was about 5 mil out. The horizontal stretch was just a little bit bigger than what it needed to be. And there was no easy way to fix it. And I basically had to scrap the entire piece and do it for a second time. But uh if it's worth doing, it's worth doing twice.

[00:25:01]And now I can just clamp them together to see if they all line up the way I hope they would. All right, that is a good start. Now, it does look quite plain at the moment. There is more to come. Uh, so you can't judge it just by this. As I said, it is that's very just sort of boxy and plain. That doesn't really match the aesthetic that I'm going for. But there will be more to come. Particularly when I fill in at the back. There's going to be some shape there that I'm going to put into that.

[00:25:29]And uh yeah, we we'll we've got some more to go into this, but that gives you a rough idea of what we're looking at at the moment. But I think uh might be time to take the truck out and have a look what they look like out in the open.

[00:26:18]All right, that is starting to look like my vision now. It's hard to picture it at the moment because it's all shiny aluminium. It doesn't really match the vision. Um there's going to be some shape I'm going to put into the uh the boxes underneath to sort of soften it a bit cuz at the moment it's a little bit too square and I I can see that and it's not exactly what I'm going for. There is more detail to come. So, uh we are only just scratching the surface at the moment, but I am very happy with the structure at the moment. I can stand on it. It is actually doing what it needs to do. But I'm definitely out of time this week. So I think that means it's time for fun facts with Mrs. Jeff.

[00:27:09]Hey guys, first I want to apologize for mixing up the Cleveland and Windsor engines and the Falcons. Who knew Wikipedia Jeff could be wrong?

[00:27:19]In 1970, Ford Australia released the GTHO phase 1.5. Still based on the XW Falcon. Its main difference is it swapped the 351 5.8 L Windsor V8 for the higher compression Cleveland version.

[00:27:34]Just 110 of these phase 1.5s were made before Ford officially released the GT Ho Phase 2. still with the 351 Cleveland but now with an angrier cam and the 600 Holly was replaced with the 750 and a whole raft of other handling upgrades were added. The Ford works team fielded two of the new Falcon GTHO phase 2s winning the 1970 Bath 500 with a one two with Ellen Moffett who took home the win for the first time. A total of 287 GTHO phase 2 were built.

[00:28:08]>> Okay. Well, um we made a fair bit of progress this week on getting these running boards in. They're they're there. They um like you might have gathered. Uh I'm not loving the look of it as it is, but um I think once I add the ends and I said there's some details and things I think they'll uh they'll definitely look a lot better. Uh so uh hopefully you join me next week for that.

[00:28:33]>> And it is the royal we myself working hard. Yeah. Uh, as always, if you haven't subscribed, please do so. Let Jeff know what you think. He likes reading your comments.

[00:28:43]And of course, Patreon if you want to help him out. See the videos daily. No ads. And just support him in his journey into car >> craziness.

[00:28:52]>> Madness. Thanks, guys.

[00:28:54]>> All right, guys. See you.

[00:28:56]>> Main difference is it swapped the 351 5.8 L.

[00:29:02]Just 110 of these phase 1.5s were Yeah.

[00:29:08]Yes.

[00:29:09]>> Yeah. Smashed him. Still with the 351 Cleveland, but now with an angrier cam.

[00:29:17]>> And the 600 Holly was replaced with a 700 version.

[00:29:20]>> 750.

[00:29:22]>> And the 500 Holly was >> 600 >> cam. And the 500 Holly was >> 600. My card is moldy.