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

I am about ready to start nailing the body back to the new wood on my 32. The nails I pulled out were 5/8in long. All I see from some of the restoration places are 1 inch. What do you guys use? Also do you drill pilot holes first?

Thanks Steve

I use stainless steel nails of the correct size, and yes you drill pilot holes first.

I use Bronze ring shank boat nails one inch 14 guage. Independent Nail, Inc., Bridgewater, Mass. 02324. You still need pilot holes.

We use stainless ring shank nails that have been purchased from a San Francisco company (don't have the number or address handy) that we found on the internet. Pilot holes are a plus but not manditory in most locations. If you want the contact info email "oldpush". As he is the one that actually ordered them.

I am so glad you guys say "pilot holes" instead of "pre-drill" like they say on a lot of home improvement shows.

I have never been able to figure out how to pre-drill a hole...maybe pre-drill is when I am just standing there waiting to drill, I guess????...LOL

Gator! I thought that everyone understood what "pre-drill" meant! When you have the drill bit in the chuck and you click the switch on the drill to watch the drill bit turn before you actually drill the hole in an object is "pre-drilling"! Holy Cow anyway! ha ha!

Gator, it is kinda like a hot water heater. Why heat water that is already hot?

I think the difference in pre-drilling a hole and pilot drilling a hole is you pilot drill for a screw in hard wood to make the screw go in smooth and easy without splitting the wood.

Pre-drill is to drill a hole slightly smaller than a nail or brad to guide it smoothly into the two pieces of wood and not split the wood or bend over.

Kin sabbe?, Kemo Sabbe...

I watch a little bit of Home and Garden, and Discovery Channel...wish they had a VCCA channel! on Direct T.V.

A pilot hole is when you drill a hole slightly smaller than the screw or brad so that it will go in easily without splitting the wood.......which is the same thing as Macky Wacky's "Pre-drill". :eek: :eek:

Well it may be for the same purpose but one (Pilot)is for a wood screw and the other (pre drill) is for a nail or brad.

That is what the Guru Rebecca Coles said on her TV show!

JYD, you gotta start paying attention!, surely you ain't that broke! If you are, then quit blowing up Elvira with the gas in your MIG welder, even if it is inert!

Well..I guess that they do things different in your neighborhood because around here a pilot hole is a pilot hole and it doesn't matter if the hole is for a screw, a nail, a brad, or a Chevy Sportlight.

A "pre drilled hole" is when you purchase some type of a kit, like a wood kit for example, and some of the holes in the kit are "pre drilled".......which means that the holes are already drilled at the factory so you don't have to drill them when you put the kit together. Holy Cow anyway!

Rebecca Coles? Never heard of her and I don't think that I want to! ha ha !

I know it's comming...Mr. Macky will straighten out his thoughts in his next post...
Pilots make flying easy, pre-drilling is done at the factory.

RGwiz understands it! :cool2:

Now....if we can just get Macky Wacky to understand it, then we.....well......oh, never mind!

I still like Gator's definition for pre-drlling.

It is like a pre-kiss...LOL

Wouldn't the factory holes be called 'pre-drilled' instead of 'pre-drill'?

RGWIZ, Pilots guide the boat into and out of port, predrill is getting out of bed, and getting into your G.I Chammies before you go to the National Guard Armory for the weekend drill.
Factory pre drillig is what JYD was talking about, putting the bit into the drill motor and pressing the trigger to see if it is turning, and in the right direction.
Gator, go take a nap....

is there anything ya'll don't argue about?? pre or pilot ?? you pre drill so you don't split the wood and a pilot is to guide the nail into the correct position!
half full? nope! it's half empty!!

When you drill a hole in a piece of wood it is a drilled hole! It ain't do pre-drill because the hole is already there. The hole is already done and ya ain't drilling another hole in the same hole...so there is no "pre" about it. Holy Cow anyway! ha ha! :eek: :eek:

Quite true, the thing is what is the hole for, if it is to guide a nail or brad it is a PRE-DRILLED NAIL hole if the hole was drilled to guide a wood screw in hard word, wafer board etc. then it is a PILOT hole ...also a PILOT hole can be drilled in metal with a smaller bit to locate the center of the hole or to make it easy to ream to a larger size with a bit, a taper reamer, or a hole saw, We need a PILOT hole out in the barnyard where we should PILE all this B.S.

Why can't you understand that??????? I guess dawgs only know about holes to bury bones in or to sniff into.

My old dawg had a knot hole in the fence he stuck his nose into to smell what was on the other side of the fence, was that his NOSE KNOT hole, or his SMELLING KNOT hole?? Ha!

All I know it that neither of us would have gotten into this long...drawn out discussion about HOLES, if Gator , would just quit thinking......... and start drinking...

"....if it is to guide a nail or brad it is a PRE-DRILLED NAIL hole if the hole was drilled to guide a wood screw in hard word, wafer board etc. then it is a PILOT hole"

Hey Dudes, I now understand what Macky Wacky is saying! If you drill a hole in a piece of wood to GUIDE a nail into place it is a pre-drilled hole. But....if you drill the same hole in the same piece of wood to GUIDE a wood screw in place then it is a pilot hole! So, therefore, if you are GUIDING two different objects into the same piece of wood, the same hole is either a pilot hole or a pre-drilled hole depending upon what goes in it. :eek: :eek:

Now, if holes are drilled in an object at the factory prior to assembly by the customer later, they are pre-drilled holes since the holes are already there. So, apparently now there are two types of pre-drilled holes. Those holes that are pre-drilled at the factory (which are not guide holes) and those pre-drilled holes that a person drills into a piece of wood that are guide holes. But since the hole was not there prior to putting in the nail the hole has to be drilled which makes it a pre-drilled hole and not just a regular drilled hole. But if the pre-drilled hole was put in by the factory for assembly later by a customer and the hole is not used as a guide hole then it can't be a pre-drilled hole even though the hole was previously drilled and already existing.

And, furthermore, if you pre-drill a hole to guide a nail to where you want it to go, but then change your mind and insert a screw instead into that same hole, then the pre-drilled hole is no longer a pre-drilled hole and it becomes a pilot hole.

Okay Macky Wacky, I got it now. If the hole is used as a guide it is a pre-drilled hole, unless the hole is used as a different type of guide then it is a pilot hole.....unless of course, the hole was drilled previously at the factory then it is a pre-drilled hole that later could possibly be used as a pilot hole instead and then it would no longer be a pre-drilled hole if you put a screw in it instead of a nail. And, if you use the same hole and insert a nail on one end and a screw on the other end, then half of the hole is a pre-drilled hole and the other half of the hole is a pilot hole! Cool! :confused:

Right on Dog...LOL

gee you guys sound like the crew on coddington show on the speed channel .

Now, now.......don't be mean. Ha ha!

"American Hot Rod" (the Coddington show) is not on the speed channel..it is on the Discovery Channel.

Ok guys enough already. Will close this thread. You will need to move to another sandbox.