I gave up trying to make that Rube Goldberg affair and went with using a length of steel TIG filler rod and bent the ends so it could not fall out.
The original setup relies too much on nothing but imagination to stay in place. I think that the reproduction rubber is not the same as the original rubber.

1952 5-window - return to "as built" condition | 1950 3100 with a 235 and a T-5 transmission