Ye Olde P40 Shop Photos

[Garandy]

Peter, I know I'm not JMoore so I hope I am not stepping on anyone’s toes with this answer. I will venture a guess that you are referring to the nine (that I can see) "Cleco" fasteners that are installed in the tail in the last picture. Clecos are a temporary way to hold pieces of sheet metal (and other things) together. They come in a number of sizes and are generally installed and removed with a special tool that looks like a funny pair of pliers. This link is pretty basic but the pictures in it show what I'm talking about more quickly and concisely than I could type it up to explain it: Cleco pins - how to use ? - MIG Welding Forum