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Has anyone installed the curved rear window glass in a Series 23 using the Steele Rubber replacement gasket? This is becoming very frustrating! I've replaced several windshields and rear windows in vintage cars and never had as much trouble except with this car. Every other car my friends and I have installed glass in have required very little effort. In those cases, the flap in the gasket slips directly over the pinch weld in the body then the stainless trim, if any goes on last. In this series Packard, the stainless trim is installed over the pinch weld then the gasket flap has to be pulled over the stainless trim. The stainless trim is thicker and smoother then the pinch weld. Tried it last week with 2 people, one inside holding the glass and the other outside pulling the lubricated nylon string to get the flap over the trim. It kept slipping out so we tried it today with 3 people, same problem, slips off the stainless trim before being fully installed. Comparing the new and old gaskets they are very similar but I'm wondering if Steele adapted a GM style gasket for use on the Packard and if there is enough difference between the gasket going directly over a pinch weld (i.e. GM) versus trying to get the gasket over the thicker stainless trim. If it's the right gasket, it shouldn't be this difficult. I'll probably give it one more try before trying to find a vintage glass guy that will come to my shop. Any suggestions?

May want to check in the service manual. They have procedures in there for glass install/uninstall. Should be on this site.
I was able to get mine out unscathed, but have not decided if it's going back in or not. I don't like the recessed appearance. I'd like a smooth surface/less chance of leaks.
The SS did buckle just tad, but can be ironed out.

But I'd go see a glass guy, since I'm not sure you'll find a new one if it cracks. One knowledgeable person outwits many unknowing/unskilled ones...
You can call Steele also, they're just up the road for me, and see if they will admit anything, or have suggestions. If you have the orig gasket you should be able to conpare/check, but they're usually hard and shrunken. Don't assume.

While I haven't done your particular window setup, I did find that long strips of painters tape spaced around the perimeter of the glass every few inches and the seal helps hold it all together when trying to work it over the pinch weld. The tape is easy to rip away after the whole thing is installed. I used straight liquid dish soap (Dawn etc) to lubricate the pinch weld area and the rubber. This really helps and worked much better than water/soap mixture and stays in place. I had also used some 14ga speaker wire in the seal channel to help pull the seal lip over the pinch weld.

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Here's a picture of the rear glass installation problem as I see it. With other cars I have done both Ford and GM, the gasket and glass fit firmly in the channel around the window opening so once you start pulling the cord to get the rubber over the pinch weld, the glass and gasket can't move. With the Packard, rather than fitting firmly in the window opening, there is a 7/16" gap that allows the glass to move and the rubber keeps slipping off the trim/pinch weld before we can get it completely on. I'm going to try to fill the gap with a temporary spacer made of foam core board. If that fails, I'll try some glass clamps (second picture).

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Does that rubber seal use a lock strip? I know my '54 windows were very loosey-goosey until the rubber lock strip was installed.

I've had several posts recently explaining the difficulty I was having installing the rear window glass. It turns out it was my failure to understand how Packard installed the rear glass and headliner. There was a tack strip installed around the inside of the the rear window opening to tack the headliner. The headliner had to be installed before the rear glass because the window gasket seal covered the tack strip. I had not planned to install the headliner before the glass so I didn't install the tack strip. I'm going to secure the headliner by gluing it to the body under the garnish molding. This is how a replacement headliner would be installed without having to remove the rear glass. As it turns out, Packard also used the tack strip as a shim/spacer to hold the glass and gasket in place. Trying to install the glass without the tack strip is almost impossible as I have discovered. To correct this, I installed strips of 5/16" thick by 1/2" wide composite tack strip (Bob Drake TS-45983-A) around the rear window. The original was stapled, I used #4 X 1/2" flathead screws. This should take up the space that allowed the allowed to glass to slip and come out of the gasket. Hopefully, the third attempt will be successful!