VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Body nails

Does anyone have a source for the nails used to fasten the sheet metal to the wood sills etc.? Restoration Supply has hardened nails with annular shank and Body/pin stainless steel beading nails also Escutcheon Pins stainless by 3/4" long.
Would stainless be better? What are others using?

Have same issue. I have not seen the correct countersunk head hardened body nails suitable to do the work properly. Closest so far has been spring anchor nails used in upholstery. Still looking.

Bob's Automobilia has 3/4" long ring shanked, 15g SS body nails.

http://bobsautomobilia.com/body-and-roof/stainless-steel-body-nails-3-4-long-.-sn-15/

Restoration Supply has the nails you're looking for in 1 1/4, 1, and 7/8" long.

https://www.restorationstuff.com/ec...514&zenid=6to6ou0mg613sv8p27vp4llf43

Lang's Model T has ring shank nails but the heads are not tapered.
I used them on my '27 Model T.
The are NOT soft and really hold.

https://www.modeltford.com/item/B-NAIL1.aspx

I have ordered The FAS026 and FAS031. The FAS026 does not have the tapered head, and the FAS031 is larger diameter than the original. I will see how they look. Thanks

Most of the nails in my 1929 are 5/8" length. Also need 1/2". The 7/8" ( which I bought some of) are also larger diameter.

The nails in my old sills were 1" long. I'm not looking forward to driving these back in from under the car.

It would be possible to fit the FAS026 into an electric or battery drill, and spin the head under side against a grinder to form the countersink on these nails.

So the nails aren't as advertised? I was going to order the same two types as you. Does the FAS031 have the tapered head? I'm starting to think serrated paneling nails are going to do the trick in new wood. They are hard and the head is not that big. Their diameter is less than original though. I need to order nails very soon as I'm putting my Olds DCR body back on the wood frame work in the next week or so.

Anything useful here?

http://www.restorationspecialties.com/2015Catalog/205.pdf
http://www.restorationspecialties.com/index.html

Look at the pricing. I need to buy in the thousands. Question would be who is manufacturing these body nails?

You might want to check out www.mcmaster.com McMaster-Carr is the Engineers Bible of most any parts you may need!
Rory
1934 Chevrolet Standard DC Sport Roadster For Sale
1933 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1934 Ford 4 Door Sedan rolling frame under construction
1933 Ford 4 Door Phaeton

McMaster carr does not carry the countersunk head screw nails. They have flat and domed but Fisher bodies use the countersunk version. I wonder who if anyone makes these?

I saw the price.......

Several months ago I went looking for those countersunk nails and a few other fasteners that were mixed up in the sawdust and sticks that were laying in the bottom of my doors.

That was literally the only promising lead I came up with for body nails.

Let us know what you find.

Part# 7649 looks good. I think I need to call to Restoration Specialties.

Nails are on order, I will post when I receive.

I am pretty sure the ones from restoration supply are correct but at $24 US per 100 and I need over 300 for the cowl area alone? Probably 1000 plus for the whole car and I have three cars to do. I would really like to find out manufacturer and buy bulk and even offer to others at a more reasonable cost if possible.

The countersunk head nail is called a casing head nail and I cannot find anyone who manufactures short ones anymore. I called RS yesterday and the guy who handles that department was out. I was told that the nails they have are NOS and the pricing is correct. I would only use them where they might show like the door jamb edges but even dome headed nails can be used in the jambs and then ground down to the shape of the corner edge. We have to be creative these days because a lot is not available.

Cabboy, 300 nails in the cowl sounds like an awful lot of them. I’ve never pulled out that many on any car I’ve worked on before. The nails used on the door jamb inside edge metal are not casing nails but a flat headed nail and the spacing is usually no closer on the nail lines than 1.5”. 300 nails would be 450” on nailed area or 36’+ of nail line. Maybe the CN cars are different.

Well I counted and on my car the spacing is closer then you mention. Also I inspected all the holes and they are all countersunk. Also I took all these nails out. They were all countersunk. So far the only ones not countersunk on this car were the floor pan nails. Spacing ranges from 1/2" to 1" all over the thing. Believe it or not there are nearly 300 nails in the cowl and surrounding hinge pillar/windshield steel parts. They have to be countersunk underneath or the heads will rub on the steel covering them. This is the car that is in front of me. Looked at my Cabriolet cowl and same thing. If you use a flat nail and then grind it down what is holding? That just does not make sense to me at all.

What is the diameter of the nails needed? The Restoration Supply listing has length and -8. Is that 8 Ga.?

I don't need many. I would really like to get in on this if you do.

The pillar covers are nailed on right on the corners through the body skin. Another way to say it is they are nailed right on the 90 degree corner. You then grind the nail head down to match the angles of the corner.

If you are worried about a thin headed nail raising the underlying metal up enough to effect the skin over it I would suggest using a pointed punch to dent the metal and wood in slightly to help set the nail head deeper.

If your nail holes are that close it probably has something to do with the car having maple versus the ash. Possibly they didn’t feel the maple held the nails as securely as the ash. There are areas here or there that the nails might be less than the 1.5 but very few. On my Olds the lower edge metal has holes right around 2.5 as an average. My cowl has 11 nail holes along the bottom where it get nailed into the sill.

I appreciate the comments but I will do it right. I will get the right nails if I have to get them made myself. I have several bodies already lined up to do and I cannot make do.
Thanks.

I did find 1”, blue steel .072 casing head finish nails in bulk. $26.47 per 5lb box. 810 nails per pound. Maze Nails makes them, part HT100. Maybe they’d cut them shorter. The .072 sounds pretty good for diameter.