I agree. I did the ones on my 69 Charger and fought with them tooth and nail using some colorful language even having a screw driver slip off and gash my palm of my hand pretty good. Like Mike said, try some lube, either WD-40 or some other type of grease with the channel locks. It won't be easy by a long shot, but they usually will go in. I've also heard that the way that was done originally was to slip the bushing on and then weld the strap in place.