[ERA Chas]

It strains credibility that the cars had precisely and consistently installed studs, one to the other.

We know all the stories, left side of nose different than right, five or more different flair designs, paint colors according to what was on the shelf that day, stripes by eyeball, hood rivets the same way...on and on. These are wonderful handmade creations with everything that implies.

I'd just do an installation that was reasonably close to the configuration and make sure the top/cover was nicely taut with a minimum of wrinkles. That's what I did on my fakey car.