I'm becoming "That Guy"

[iowegian]

I was going to re-mat the running boards on my '66, but the left one is quite rusty (while the right one is as solid as can be).
According to paper work that I got with the car, the left one was replaced by the VW dealer in Heidelberg Germany in 1969 for reasons unknown.
So I ordered a new left from Wolfsburg West and it arrived today. Amazingly the 4 little bolts that fasten the board to the rocker cracked loose easily and I could remove them with my fingers (the car lived the majority of its life in Colorado).
The bolts and nuts that fasten the ends of the board to the fenders, were another story however. The nuts turned a bit and really got stubborn. Soaked 'em with PB Blaster without much luck. I kept on-----hoping the bolts would give up and snap and I'd replace them with new hardware that came with the board. I toiled on using a 1/2" drive socket and a 17" breaker bar.
Nope-----these little bastards would NOT break. At long last the nuts found the end of the bolts and came off.
So now I am cleaning up the originals because these little KAMAX rascals
proved that they have the right stuff.
I have often chuckled at folks that seek out and/or sell old KAMAX fasteners.
It looks like they knew something all along.
Yup------I guess in my old age I am becoming "That Guy".

[Rome]

I can understand your "guyness" and am glad that you are paying attention to such seemingly unimportant details. When I took apart various engines years ago and the nuts/bolts/engine tin screws were not seized, I'd spend a few minutes on each one to clean it on the brass wire wheel brush bench grinder; and chase the threads. Any gnarled edges or wrench flats I'd file down so that I could reuse "original German" fasteners instead of blingy new ones. About 10 yrs ago I bought a plastic bowl half full of greasy fasteners at a swap meet for maybe $5. After degreasing and the above efforts, I ended up with 5 or 6 yogurt-sized containers of sorted German fasteners.

I can provide 2 suggestions:
1. When you attach the running board back onto the car, push the RB down so that the bottom outer horizontal edge is at the same level as the bottom curve of the F & R fenders. I see so many Beetles on which the RB is a half inch higher than that curve, which creates a visual disruption in the "continuity" of the lines. This is a press photo from a '67 but still applies to your '66.

2. Install the bolts at the fenders so that the bolt heads point to the wheels. This gets the bolt threads under the RB so that the water thrown up by the tires is not caught by the bolt threads. Apply anti-seize to the threads for long-term corrosion resistance. Many years ago I fitted black rubber grommets or large O-rings over the bolt thread in the space between the RB and the fender.

[iowegian]

Thanks for the tips, Rome.
The board I removed had the bolts oriented as you suggest, and had grommets between the running board and the fenders (new grommets are included by Wolfsburg West).
That is a good looking '67 with an especially fine accessory on the front hood.