I've got nails and staples into metal??

[edhd58]

Okay, I'm taking all the doors apart and i'm finding nails and staples holding pices in place and they all look factory installed. The staples are everywhere actually, in the fenders holding the anti-squeak welting in place and in the doors holding the anti-rattler pieces in place. The nails are in the door lacing hilding it in place. Any idea as to how I am supposed to replicate this when I put the window anti-rattlers back in place? I imagine the anti-squeak for the fenders is now self-stick material. Here is a picture of the stapled window anti-rattle piece.

[Gary_Ash]

Those are beefy staples of hardened steel with sharp points. Studebaker International has loose ones left over from production in the 1960s. See www.studebaker-intl.com.

Pull off off the old cat whisker by unbending the staple ends, flatten the dimples, and drill the holes with 1/16th drill. Hold up the new whisker strips and use a sharp point to go through the panel to the whiskers to mark a staple location at each end. Then push two staples through with a dolly on the back side and the prongs over. With the cat whisker now held, drill through for the rest of the holes, and insert the staples.

If you can't get the staples, 1/16th stainless wire can be used.

[edhd58]

Thanks, i wondered how i was gonna shoot staples through the steel. Probably use the same process for the nail, they hold the wind-lace in place until the panels are put in place.

[Guest billybird]

This is factory stuff. I don't usually use the staples but make my own with 1/16 wire as Gary mentioned above. I like this approach because I can cut the wire as long as I wish; feed it through the holes; use needle nose pliers to hold one end while pulling the other end tight and bending it over, cut off excess. The nails you refer to are called drive nails. they are grooved sort of like a screw to bite as you drive them.

[cahartley]

If the panels securely hold the wind-lace could you use contact cement to holds thing in place until then?

I and my upholsterer are particularly fond of the Weldwood brand.

[Bhigdog]

The nails are often carpet tacks. They are just the right length that the tip bottoms out and bends over. They hold well because of that but tear up the paper tack strip when removed..........Bob

[Gary_Ash]

I found the Studebaker International part numbers for the steel staples: 801930, $2.00 for a set of 20.

For the drive nails and tacks, I've usually substituted short sheet metal screws and washers. They are going to be covered up anyway, so why not make your life a little easier. The factories were probably using pneumatic nail guns because it was fast and cheap. Restoration Specialties carries both the old-style cardboard tack strip and the modern (better) plastic strip. You can screw the tack strip to the metal where nails were originally used, then use tacks or screws for the windlace. The tacks are supposed to go through the tack strip, hit the metal behind it, and curl over to hold the windlace in place. It takes the right length tacks and a lot of practice to get this to work right, hence my preference (as an amateur) for going directly to sheet metal screws. I found that a cheap Harbor Freight air-powered drill works well for putting the screws in because it stops immediately when I release the trigger, while an electric one keeps on going long after I wished it had stopped.

[Bhigdog]

The carpet tacks were put in by hand with a tack hammer. One end of the hammer was magnetized and the worker kept a small handful of tacks in his mouth. He would turn each tack to the correct position with his tongue and lips and pick it out with the magnetic end of the hammer and drive it home. I remember carpet tack boxes used to say right on the lid they were sanitized and germ free or some such words. This was before OSHA..........................Bob