'57 T Bird air cleaner question

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slumlord44

Senior Member
I'm replacing the cork air cleaner to hood seal on my single 4 barrel air cleaner. The wire staples I got from Larrys T Bird parts are a little too narrow. to fit the holes in the aircleaner. If I bend them to fit the front holes they won't go through to the back set of holes. Haven't called Larrys yet. Any suggestions? Re drilling new holes is not an option. Won't look right with an extra set of holes. I hate it when repo parts don't fit. The old ones are too mangled to re use
 
dumb question. What size wire and where do you get it? That was my first thought but all my wire is mild steel not stainless.
 
I would use one of the original staples to get gauge and length measurements. Failing that, use a drill bit to determine what size fits the existing holes.
Your local hardware store or TSC will have lots of small coils of wire for purchase.
 
Don't know why I didn't think of my hardware store. Just didn't think they would have stainless. Will give them a shot.
 
If you've got a handheld staplegun see if any of the available staples are close enough in size.
They're made of flat wire like the ones that came out. They won't be SS but should get a bit of Argent paint anyway, after you fit them in by hand.

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slumlord44 said:
May try that but the orginals are round not flat. Mine were not painted argent.
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I should have looked closer, I do need new bifocals.
Just checked the '57 Bird air cleaners I have. Two have round wire staples. The third one that needs new cork has flat wire staples that look just like generic 1/2 inch staplegun staples.

The round wire staples look very similar in diameter to most paperclips, which could be repurposed if you want to. Not sure what metal paperclips are made from but they don't usually rust.

It's my understanding that '57 T-Bird air cleaner bases, including the cork and staples, were painted Argent at the factory. CTCI only semi-recently decided that leaving the cork unpainted wouldn't count against 'originality points' at their judged events.
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