While Fastenal is a national company, there are many regional fastener supply houses that can probably find about any screw, nut, washer, etc. one may need. There used to be a big warehouse in Indianapolis that I bought all my fasteners from when I was running my machine shop. Place was called Service Supply. Man, they had everything.

While the screws I have gotten from Fastenal are stainless, they aren't polished, so they should paint well to match the doors, trim, etc. The headliner screws are painted black like the originals were, and the paint seems to adhere well. Will try to locate some Meadow Green paint to shoot the door panel screws in in the next week or so. Seems I read recently that you can get it in rattle cans from one or two places.

 

I think reproduction parts could be an exact match of original but the aftermarket companies who buy the parts do want to invest too much money in the correct tooling.
They want to make the parts affordable,sell a lot and make a profit.

 

Someone mentioned Fastenal recently on FTE (might have been you) so I looked them up and there's a store about 5 miles away in the next town. Wish I had know about them when I started the project. At this point, working on the bed, I'm almost finished buying fasteners. Maybe next project.

 

Wouldn't the screws that hold the door panel be unpainted from the factory?

 

They weren't unpainted on the '48-50 models, and probably were painted on the '51-2. On my F-2, which has the original paint on the inside of the doors, all the screws and washers are painted body color, in this case, Meadow Green. In later years, they started using polished fasteners, usually chromed.

The 1948 through 1950 cabs were pretty drab. Sorry about the pun.

 

I think all the door screws in 54 were not painted. Many of the screws in my doors are not painted. But I either lost the door panel screws or they were so rusty I threw them out.

Can any 53 to 56 owners confirm or deny this?

 

If I remember correctly abe, and this was a long time ago, my father had a '55 F-100, and the door fasteners were plated and shiny.

By the mid 1950s, people wanted flashier cars, and even pickups, so my gut feeling is that your fasteners should be polished.

 

you can also find nice chrome ones from guitar builders supply sites. they use them for pickguards, neck mounting, etc on electric guitars and are still high quality.