I was thinking about some vinyl siding that needs to be repaired on one of my outbuildings. The section that needs to be repaired is near the ground so, I need to get one of those little tools that allow you to reach under the vinyl and pull down the lower lip to un-hook and re-hook the two vinyl pieces together. This allows you to repair the vinyl w/o having to take it all down from the top. Anyway, the needed tool in the first image gave me an idea of how to get that windshield trim re-installed. Toolmaking.jpg & Toolmaking2.jpg is the final tool. I used a can of silicone spray and sprayed the seal. Then I inserted the tool into the trim as close to my starting point as possible, shown in ToolInserted1 & 2 below. Then it was just a matter of sliding the tool toward the edge while pulling open the seal and forcing the trim into the opening. It took a couple of tries but it worked well along the top. As I moved down to the side I realized that the curve of the glass and trim did not like that 2" wide tool. So, I made a second tool that was about 3/4 of an inch wide also shown below.
I made my own tool using some scrap 22 gauge sheet metal that I have. I made it about 2" wide because the trim was so long I figured the extra width would help and it did. First I bent about 1/4 piece and hammered the flat to create a crisp edge. Then I used a chisel to pry it back out a little. The 2nd tool is also below. Both tools got bent out of shape along their length as I worked but the "hook" in the seal held up the whole time. I am very glad that I taped up the roof. Otherwise, I would have scratched the hell out of my new paint a few times. Be sure to file down any sharp edges on the tool before using it. Alright, what's my next challenge?