Upholstery Nails

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Original Smith
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First Name: Larry
Last Name: Smith
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 13 Touring, 13 Roadster, 17 Coupelet, 25 Roadster P/U
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Upholstery Nails

Post by Original Smith » Tue Jan 31, 2023 5:37 pm

This post is only for dye hard T guys. I've been searching for years for original 9/16" upholstery nails, and have not been successful. They only used these on the end of the binding on early cars possibly until they started using hidem welt. I was using 7/16 until recently. The rest of them are 3/8".
I sort of scored recently by finding some 1/2" upholstery nails, and they really make a noticeable difference. They are copper plated, so I just painted them black. Here is the ebay number for 100. 321412578543. For those who are not following me I'm talking about open car tops.


speedytinc
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Re: Upholstery Nails

Post by speedytinc » Wed Feb 01, 2023 8:31 am

Your post spurred me to look @ my recent 14 roadster top install. The kit came from classtic & has 4 - 9/16 upholstery nails @ the ends of the trim strips. I bet Mike will sell you a few loose. He has been exceedingly helpful providing extra hardware for my most recent job on my 27 RPU.


Scott Rosenthal
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Re: Upholstery Nails

Post by Scott Rosenthal » Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:42 am

I assume the .56 jobs from Hillman are not what you're looking for? Not describing crown height...what are your dimsional specifics other than diameter?


Erik Johnson
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Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2019 10:25 pm
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Location: Minneapolis, MN

Re: Upholstery Nails

Post by Erik Johnson » Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:51 am

You can get 5/8" upholstery nails with a profile this comparable to originals from Witmer Coach Shop.

Refer to this fairly recent thread where I posted examples:

viewtopic.php?t=32994


Topic author
Original Smith
Posts: 3284
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:43 am
First Name: Larry
Last Name: Smith
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 13 Touring, 13 Roadster, 17 Coupelet, 25 Roadster P/U
Location: Lomita, California
MTFCA Number: 121
MTFCA Life Member: YES
MTFCI Number: 16310

Re: Upholstery Nails

Post by Original Smith » Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:50 am

The 5/8" are too big! Wouldn't it be nice if someone could design a tool to roll over the edge on those, to make it a 9/16"? As I mentioned above, when I removed the 7/16" I previously had used, the difference in appearance of the new 1/2" was a definitely an improvement, plus they are available on ebay from only one place.


Erik Johnson
Posts: 850
Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2019 10:25 pm
First Name: Erik
Last Name: Johnson
Location: Minneapolis, MN

Re: Upholstery Nails

Post by Erik Johnson » Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:28 pm

5/8" look fine to my eyes.

Compare the photos I posted in the other thread of the 1917 Rip Van Winkle touring and my dad's 1917 touring with the 5/8" nails at the end of the binding, June and July cars respectively, both originally sold in Minnesota and, I presume, both assembled in Minneapolis.

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