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MG TD TF 1500 - Nails - Body Panels to Wood

Which type of 1" - 15g (2d) smooth shank nails do you prefer to attach body panels to the wood substructure?

> Bright finish steel (not galvanized)
or
> Stainless steel (316 and 18-8)

++ Bright Finish: No sacrifacial zinc coating on the bright finish nails. No galvanic corrosion between panels and nails but may rust, especially inside the wood.

++ Stainless Steel: Bimetallic (galvanic) corrosion may occur between stainless steel nails and steel panels, although probably minimal because of small ratio of nail to panel. Won't rust inside the wood.
http://www.bssa.org.uk/topics.php?article=95

Suggested suppliers?

Thanks,

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Bright finish. They are going to be painted anyway, same as the sheet metal.
Dave H
Dave Hill

I'm with Dave on this one.
Christopher Couper

I use stainless nails for my tub restorations. I also use stainless SMS for all of the threaded attaching points into the timbers as well

W A Chasser

'Monel metal' boat nails are the go
They are specially designed to stay tight in timber (boats)and have little annular rings around them that retain them in position and the underside of the nailhead has a slight chamfer so they sit fairly flush with the surface--completely corrosion free
Try your local boat shop
William Revit

Purists will hate me for this. I bought my car in a semi restored state. The body frame was new and had been panelled in aluminium by Naylor Brothers but the doors were a kit of parts. I assembled the the wooden frames and stuck the metal work to these with Sikaflex. I knocked over the flange whilst the adhesive was still wet and then immediately placed the door in the opening in the body and wedged it for a perfect fit using pieces of wood against the garage wall. When the Sikaflex had set I then nailed the flanges to the wooden frame. Sikaflex being a modern adhesive sticks to steel and wood really well but always remains flexible. The fit of my doors is excellent and they have a nice rigid feel.

Jan T
J Targosz

Unless you are going for total originality, just get nails of the same diameter and a tad longer if your using the original holes, gives them a little more wood to bite into. I found them with a slightly rounded top. As far as using stainless, my nails were in good shape after 60 years, but I did replace them with new. No one sees them being hidden by the upholstery anyway. My cowl rubber had flat top nails, as are the new ones dyed black. PJ
PJ Jennings

This thread was discussed between 23/10/2018 and 26/10/2018

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