When I did these tasks on Sparky, ‘46 Chevy 1/2 ton, I don’t recall there was any evidence of there having been anything in the area shown in your first photo with the arrows.
The task with removing the rubber shown in your 3rd photo was a real patience test. It was bad enough removing the old, hardened rubber and remnants and that was the “easy part. Replacing the rubber with new proved even more of a “kind word match”. A tip on how overcame that is included below. Here’s what I did and found worked, others may have different tips and experiences.
Removal of old rubber: I used a screw driver, awl and sheet metal pliers with a blunt flat front. The pliers have about a 1/2” wide nose. Pliers were a Harbor Freight special. The channel was opened just enough with the awl, then screw driver to allow the pliers to grasp the sheet metal edge. I worked slowly and carefully to only open the channel only wide enough to scrape out the brittle rubber as I moved along the channel length. The channel was crimped closed after installing the new rubber. Easy does it with the tool use to avoid creating more work in replacing and crimping the new rubber. Should mention too that wearing gloves is recommended. That sheet metal edge is very sharp. Don’t ask how I know.
Installing new rubber: After learning the hard way, I bit the bullet and bought the high priced Steel Rubber kit. Believe me, it was worth the cost. It’s still a bit of a battle to install, but not nearly so as the first attempts. They recommend, and I agree, using a soapy water solution to help guide the rubber into the channel. Then when done crimp the sheet metal using the same pliers referenced above to secure the rubber and trim the ends as needed.
Hope this helps.
Last edited by 46Sparky; 03/21/2021 2:40 AM.
