Edit by Moderator: I stripped this post and the responses to keep the Project Journal clean and on subject. This post was referencing installation of the locking bead in the rear window, using a special installation tool
Installing my rear window was a struggle. I did not have that special tool and did it with a simple plastic pry tool. Took me about 4 hours.
Last edited by Phak1; 11/01/20251:14 AM.
~ John in Utah 1946 1/2Ton w/4-speed manual transmission w/1960 235 engine Here We Go Follow in his DITY Bay
- If you think about it, it has been one year ago today!
My palm was really sore using that flat ended special tool. It worked though, and I can imagine it would have taken me a lot longer without it. My wife was "helping" and it might have taken me less time without her.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
The locking strip feeds through the little eye so that as the tool opens the channel the locking strip is fed into place.
Given the advice from this forum I purchased a tool with a large handle (https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/3vEAAOSwxodgd0JX/s-l1600.webp) and once I got the technic down was able to get my locking strip/window installed in less than 15 minutes. One of learning curve things was removing the extra options for the "eye" piece so that they were not in the way of the tool working as intended.
That box wrench trick is pretty cool. The rounded edges of the wrench probably work better than the straight edges that my tool or WICruiser's have. And doesn't everyone have a small set of combination wrenches? I'm not a glove kind of guy, but that probably would have saved my palm.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
I bought the chrome locking bead for my truck. I wonder if the wrench trick would nick up the chrome?
Phil Moderator, The Engine Shop, Interiors and Project Journals
1952 Chevrolet 3100, Three on the Tree, 4:11 torque tube Updated to: ‘59 235 w/hydraulic lifters, 12v w/alternator, HEI, PCV and Power front Disc Brakes Project Journals Stovebolt Gallery Forum
I wonder if the wrench trick would nick up the chrome?
No worse than the edges of the flat steel tool I used. Added picture from my Journal thread that UtahYork was referencing.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
After installing a few hundred feet of that stuff over the past 50-something years, I'm about to share a little trick that makes it go a LOT smoother. A trick an old body man taught me back in the early 1970's is so intuitive I'm amazed it's not in general use. A water soluble "personal lubricant" (K-Y Jelly, etc.) makes that lock strip slide in slicker than owl snot- - - -and it won't damage paint like Vaseline or brake fluid can! Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
I also used a bit of personal lubricant to install the horn button onto my bus steering wheel. The old rubber cup had kinda hardened up, so the lube made it slide right into the metal ring.
I also used the personal lubricant on my back window. The flat tool I bought had sharp edges that would damage the chrome strip. I had to round out the tool hole with a die grinder and chainsaw file to get it to not damage the chrome strip. I got the idea from the electricians at work they used stuff called poly water when pulling cable though conduit.
The electricians I've worked around called that wire pulling lube "snot". The only drawback to using it is that it's usually only sold in 2-gallon tubs! It's definitely slippery! Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
