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I am planning on redoing the weatherstrip on my 1954 Cavalier. Are there any suggestions for the best way to mount the hinge pillar strip for the rear doors. I am having trouble seeing how to do this properly without removing the door. Thank you

That is a good question, it is tight.

Do you have new seals? Where did you, or are you going to, get them from?

Probably a future project for my 53 career Cavalier.

I got the seals from Steele Rubber. They appear to fit, I just need to figure a good way to get them on without messing everything up.

It's pretty hard to reinstall those. The originals had a metal core and screwed in place. The replacements are just rubber and have to be cemented. Which is very hard to do with the door in the way. Like trying to nail jello to a wall. These would be easier to install with 3M double sided tape, and far less messy.

Kev, that is a very interesting idea but do you know if it has successfully been done and lasted long term. I was under the impression even with the use of acetone or another solvent rubber could still exude oils for quite some time. If that is fact would that interfere with the tape adhesion.

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Given the comments it makes me wonder what others have done? It almost sounds like removing the doors might be in order to get the seals in correctly, especially if they're being glued in. Keep us posted!

If I remember correctly, I asked Ross about it one time and he said skip them. Unless you running the car through a car wash that is spraying water in sideways under pressure, water isn't going to leak into the car under normal driving and the weather we drive these cars in.

I know Steele does sell some of their generic weatherstripping (like trunk weatherstripping) that are self adhesive. So not sure what they use.

I tend to agree with Kevin, although I've very tempted to replace mine after doing work to the interior to make sure moisture doesn't get in..........."maybe" a future project.

Places that I think can let moisture in are the little bolts that go through the seals that hold the stainless steel trim around the front and back windows. The butyl on my windshield trim was hard and dry. I have the interior trim off my back window so I'm going to pull remove my stainless, polish it, and replace the butyl. Part of my floor pan repair rabbit hole!

Thank you for your thoughts. I think the tape idea sounds worth trying. Between the screws and the door pressure it may hold. Will update when I get done.

UPDATE
I found a metal strip screwed onto the pillar. I glued to pillar weatherstrip to that and was able to then mount the weatherstrip and glue the ends .