Stephen,
The part I was referring to is 20314 & 20315. You can take them out, straighten them, reinstall them so they are perfectly parallel with the windshield dog leg moldings and after opening and closing the door repeatedly, they will bow outward or toward the back or both! My 7 year old resto is fine; Its a show car that only is driven occassionally for exercise. My 5 year old car that was built to the same standards, has been driven regularly and has many thousands of miles on it. Its' drivers door post is now bent out and back. Part of the problem is the 20330 weatherstrip is too hard. I experimented by trying to "soften" it by putting holes and cutting slits on the back side of the weatherstrip; but that didn't work. I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing that can be done to seal the post and upper door dog leg area without altering the stock appearance. Most cars I have seen off the show field, show evidence of attempted correction of this problem.
You seem to be more interested in practicality than authenticity, so I suggest you straighten the pillars, then experiment with various shapes and sizes of open cell (soft) rubber running in one continuous piece from the top of the posts down to the opening for the upper door hinge.
This past year, we went 155 days between measurable precipitation. I can't hardly imagine using a '55-'57 Bird in any environment wetter than that. There are scads of places on that body that seem to be designed to hold water and eventually rust out or they never received any surface protection whatsoever and they would rust into oblivion just from atmospheric moisture.
Keep us Posted, Tom
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