Nylon "christmas Tree" Type Upholstery Panel Fasteners

[brianrupnow]

Today I finally found a local source for the fasteners which I will use to attach the door panels and kick panels in the roadster pickup. In the picture, they are setting with a Canadian penny (same size as American penny, worth half as much) to give some idea of their size. The top is 5/8" diameter x about 1/32" thick, and the shank is 0.300 diameter x 7/8" total length with the circular "gripping barbs" extending 9/16" below the head. I purchased them at "Carquest Auto Parts" and they are listed as part "#8101359 small head nylon plug Chrysler Ford G.M."
It appears that they require either a 7/32" or 1/4" hole to be drilled thru the 1/8" upholstery panel and the steel door. They are inserted thru the door panel before it has the foam or vinyl glued to it, and I have been told that a peice of aluminum tape over the head helps blend them with the surface of the panel to avoid any bumps showing in the upholstery. I intend to put them approximately 6" apart all around the perimeter of the panels. I don't think you would want to remove the upholstery panel more than once or twice without screwing these things up, but if its done correctly, you shouldn't have to. There is a special upholstery tool to remove them if you really need to, shaped like a wide, flat, very thin pry bar with a slot in it. I have decided to go with these rather than the metal clips, because the metal clips require that the hole in the metal door be offset from the hole in the panel, which would be a major pain to do.