Old Cromwell Inc manager Elisabeth Williamson said Breen Construction, which is working on Wishart's Smithy, could not source the old nails as they were no longer commercially produced.
Mrs Williamson said the specific nails were needed to use with old tin, which was being used to clad a toilet facility, as well as the roof of Wishart's Smithy and the walls of the old Globe Hotel.
"We are hoping people will look into their garages or sheds and find some old lead-head nails to donate to us. Any would be most appreciated as I think they are going to be quite hard to find," she said.
Mrs Williamson believed the lead-head nails could be ordered and handmade in dozens, although it was "horribly expensive".
Preparation work for the restoration of buildings in Old Cromwell Town began about three weeks ago.
The Central Otago District Council also started work on a toilet facility, to be located within the precinct beside a jetty into Lake Dunstan.
Mrs Williamson said concrete had been poured to form a foundation for the amenity block, and bricklayers were due to start this week.
Breen contractors are this week digging holes for steel stabilisation poles to be placed around Wishart's Smithy, which will pull the building's ageing walls into alignment.
Old Cromwell Inc is in the process of applying for resource consent to undertake further restoration work in the precinct following the completion of Wishart's Smithy, which Mrs Williamson hoped would be within the next six months.
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust category 2 building, which was a blacksmith's shop, will be stabilised and roofed and have its stonework repaired.
Its interior will replicate the old workshop.
Its restoration is part of the next stage of Old Cromwell Town's development, for which almost $1.2 million was granted to Old Cromwell Inc by various charitable organisations earlier this year.
