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11/24/21 I started assembling the vent windows and it was a bit more difficult than I expected. The rubber seals went into the frame fairly easy. The remaining seal for the vent window gets riveted to the frame. I used a 1/4x2 flat bar clamped in my vice to act as an anvil (3/8x2 would have been better, but that is all I have). Armed with rivets and the setting tool I bought with the rubber seals, I attempted to set the rivets and found that the tool was way too short to get a good wack with a hammer. I couldn’t get a good enough swing without hitting my newly painted frame, so I needed a plan “B”. Once again my lathe came to the rescue and I machined the end of a 10” long timber spike to look like the setting tool. That enabled me to use a 3 lb. mallet, striking the spike above the frame to set the rivets. Hindsight is 20-20 and I should have hardened the end I machined, as it was pretty beat up after setting the rivets. Even the setting tool I bought wasn’t hard. It did do it’s job though!

Next was the installation of the felt liner for the front of the roll down window. Its located on the back of the vent window and extends into the door. It has a tacky rubber finish on the outside and the Youtube video I watched, it said to place a small bead of silicone in the bottom of the track to help keep it in place and press it in with your thumbs. My thumbs still hurt from pressing that felt channel in. That tacky rubber coating kept the channel from sliding in easily and in some places it started to shave the coating off the channel. I used a very thin blade putty knife to help massage them in place. What I thought would be a five minute job, turned out to be closer to a half hour per side, and I am only talking about installing the felt liner.

If I had a few spare channels to practice on, I would try skipping the silicone and just spray the outside felt liner track and the u-channel it sits in with WD-40 and then hopefully just press it in. I believe the penetrant would help it slide in and once the WD-40 evaporates, the tacky rubber will adhere to the channel. I don’t really know it that would work, but there must be an easier way.