Evening! Tonight I decided to install the door opening weatherstrip I bought several years ago (1951 3104, page 1-7 of Shop Manual). I have read they are notoriously difficult to pull through the metal channel that is spot-welded to the frame. One poster years ago recommended cutting a short section of weatherstrip (I cut 1 inch), and sliding it through the channel to make sure the channel is clear of crimping and old weatherstrip remnant, after you've cleaned it out. Great idea.
Mine were so clear that I thought, this will be a piece of cake. A few minutes later I tried silicone spray (I think this will not damage the Taiwanese rubber??). Then I decided to try the old standby, a liquid soap / water solution. Then I decided to try an alternate method that ultimately worked. I pushed one "lip" of the weatherstrip into one side of the channel and used a paint-can opener (from a hardware or paint store), to push the other lip into the other side of the channel. I don't know if it was any faster, but I'm pretty sure it was much less frustrating. The worst "pinch point" was where the front pillar (hinge pillar) meets the dashboard. There ain't a lot of room to fit that rubber strip. Tomorrow I'm going to use a razor blade to trim part of the rubber so it fits better along that roughly 6" section. It won't show, because that part of the strip would ordinarily fit (verrrry tightly) into the crevice formed where the dash and pillar meet.
Hope this helps somebody.
