Hi Eric. It's been a while so it's a little hazy, but yes, I
managed to get them in like the original ones but it was a real
pain in the ars. they are very difficult to get thru the
channel and there isn't much of the barb sticking thru. I broke
the points of the barbs on a lot of them when I tried to bend
them over/crimp them. The reproduction clips are not properly
heat treated and they break off when you bend them over. I had
to cut some of my own with longer barbs from annelid spring
steel that were not as hard as the reproductions. The factory
had specially designed dies to drive them thru the corrugated
channel and bend them over like a staple.
Although not authentic, I would recommend attaching them like
the other guys have suggested, i.e., pop rivets, or flat head
screws. The pop rivets have a large head which will show but
small #4 flathead screws will embed themselves in the fibers
and almost completely disappear. Some have cemented them but
I personally wouldn't use that method.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
