Anyone Have Any Luck Softening Old Ruber Parts?

[vanapplebomb]

Just wondering. Got some parts that are no longer available that are getting hard with age and compression. If there was a way to soften them even just a little, that would be cool. molding new parts from rtv could be done in a pinch, but I would rather not fuss with that if there is a way to breath a little bit of life into existing parts.

Thanks!!

[vdubdriver]

Although I have not personally tried it, 67Type1 (club member) uses a mixture of 90% wintergreen oil & 10% acetone. Soak a rag in the mixture and wrap the rubber object. Place in plastic bag. Check every few hours. I have witnessed the results on the 40 year old motorcycle he restored.

[gokart]

Yep. I was going to say the same thing.

[vanapplebomb]

Wintergreen oil and a splash of acetone. Now that sounds interesting. I wonder what is so majical about the wintergreen oil?

[Ruffuss]

wintergreen oil also keeps mice and other critters at bay/ or out of your engine/ interior bay.

[gokart]

Nov 30, 2015 22:50:47 GMT -5 vanapplebomb said:

Wintergreen oil and a splash of acetone. Now that sounds interesting. I wonder what is so majical about the wintergreen oil?

I'm not sure what's in wintergreen oil, and it may depend on what type of rubber you have if it works. For example, some rubber (EP) is resistant to brake fluid and will swell and soften when exposed to petroleum oil. While others (Buna-N) is resistant to petroleum oil, but will swell and soften when exposed to brake fluid (DOT 3, 4, & 5.1). Silicone and Teflon are resistant to both fluids, and silicone oil (DOT 5) is compatible with both rubbers.

I don't recommend putting brake fluid on your oil seals to soften them though.

[81pumagtc]

I use a product called "Gummy Pflege Stift" to protect and restore weatherstripping.

The vintage SAAB BMW, and Porsche guys swear by it. I purchased it from Amazon.

It's not particularly expensive, at around $11.00.

It comes with a built-in foam applicator.

I have used it on 50+ year old weatherstripping on the Fiat, and it worked well. It also did a great job on the 28 year old Volvo. Hopefully, it will protect the weatherstripping in the future.

I just tried it on some old dried out motorcycle rubber parts. I'll let everybody know how it turns out.


Dave Riedle

[81pumagtc]

I used the Gummy product on a old rubber air cleaner housing, and it worked fine, but it was a foam rubber part.

I also used it on a hard rubber part, and found it restored the surface a bit, but did not penetrate into the harder rubber.


Dave Riedle

[MadMike]

transmission fluid seems to do a 'too' good of a job,, I changed out a lot of motor mounts(trans mount)over the yrs
maybe a lite soak, then rinse 're-pete' as needed

[vanapplebomb]

Thanks for the suggestion guys!

[vanapplebomb]

So now I wonder how long this keeps the rubber in a softer state. Ozone has already attacked the rubber for 40 years, I can't imagine such tricks actually reverse the damage...perhaps more of a bandaid fix to get by? Hmmm...