MY 1968 GT RESTORATION

[CobraJoe]

I hand stapled all the fender rubbers  on the splash shields and the core support got them installed on the car.  We should be getting the fenders back next week on so we can align the hood and cowl for the stripes:

[mustang6984]

I've often wondered, what sort of gun is used to staple those rubbers and such to the metal supports. An air gun of so sort?

[CobraJoe]

They used, and still do today, metal stitchers:



"Metal stitching is a lesser known but highly beneficial approach to material assembly. Metal stitching is the same process as paper stitching (also known as stapling) but it uses equipment and wire sufficiently strong to penetrate metal and other materials. The difference between stitching and stapling is that stitching uses wire from a coil and stapling uses preformed staples. The net result of either process is a staple.

Wire stitchers feed accurately measured lengths of wire directly from a coil into the stitching head mechanism which forms the wire lengths into the shape of a staple. The stitcher drives the stitches through the material at great speed. Legs of the stitches penetrate the material and are clinched as the stitch crowns are forced securely against the top surface of the assembly. There is no requirement to prepare the material in any way or create perforations. Speeds of up to five staples per second are possible and one spool of wire can produce hundreds of thousands of staples without the need to reload. The wire feeding mechanism is able to pull wire of varying lengths so that any length of staple can be generated.

In addition to their speed, wire stitchers provide a huge flexibility advantage. Given that materials can come in many odd or unwieldy shapes and sizes, the machines in traditional joining techniques often won't work because it's difficult to fit the materials into the machines. When that happens, manufacturers are faced with less than ideal options: they can come up with entirely new processes or put cost and effort into customizing their existing machines. Stitching offers an advantage because users can quickly customize and fixture the work holding area. One example of customization is a West Coast industrial garage door manufacturer that needed to place a staple to affix privacy slats inside a chain link fence. This manufacturer had a modified stapling system installed to allow "round" staples to be made so the staples could encapsulate the mesh of the fence and still secure the plastic slate. This method dramatically reduced the installation time of the slats allowing the manufacturer to produce fence rolls at a much greater rate. Stitching can greatly reduce the labor and material cost for many fastening and joining applications by significantly reducing material and substrate prep time. Metal stitchers can join a wide range of materials including aluminum, copper, brass, plastics, cold rolled steel, hot rolled steel, fabrics, leather, rubber, galvanized steel, carpet, wood and many more materials. No other method of material joining can as quickly and easily fasten so many materials in such a flexible and efficient manner."

[mustang6984]

Thanx. Kind of takes the ability of the home based car builder out of the loop for doing that procedure doesn't it?

[gasman826]

I chased stitch (staple) machines for several years.  I only found one for sale.  It was in an online auction.  I was bidding on it and all the sudden it disappeared.  Internet...go figure!

[CobraJoe]

I first take a cut off wheel and cut the original staple in two pieces and then remove it with pliers. I then use a 1/16" drill to enlarge the original holes. Next I fit the rubber to the metal piece and trim to match the original contour, once that's done, I clamp the rubber to the metal and drill the rubber from the metal side using the original holes. Then I push the staple through both pieces, place it on an anvil or metal block and tap  the two legs over with a hammer.

[thomasso]

You did it right Joe.  Making new holes is just not right. I think I remember using welding rod instead of the very stiff staples.

[CobraJoe]

Got the trunk painted and cleared today, another baby step, but still a step closer:

[mustang6984]

I first take a cut off wheel and cut the original staple in two pieces and then remove it with pliers. I then use a 1/16" drill to enlarge the original holes. Next I fit the rubber to the metal piece and trim to match the original contour, once that's done, I clamp the rubber to the metal and drill the rubber from the metal side using the original holes. Then I push the staple through both pieces, place it on an anvil or metal block and tap  the two legs over with a hammer.

Thanks for the idea. Appreciate it.

[CobraJoe]

Got a chance to break the tires off of the steel wheels and mount them on the new rims:

[CobraJoe]

Everything ready to go; hopefully Monday the trunk & fenders will get hung so we can then get the hood mounted and aligned so we can layout the stripes.

[mustang6984]

Wheels are gonna make that car! Good choice. 

[CobraJoe]

I got my original factory back window cleaned up, the gasket installed and a rope to pull it in yesterday, and brought it over to the body shop today.

[CobraJoe]

When I got there, they were mounting the rear deck lid:

[CobraJoe]

After we got the new clips installed, we did the glass: