Author Topic: Successfully resurrecting old rubber (Read 97242 times)

crazypj · « **Reply #25 on:** July 15, 2008, 11:34:10 AM »

Does it have to be wintergreen oil or would other oils work? (ATF, Olive oil, anything?)
I see one of the posts says its some Methyl salicyate stuff, is that available through other sources?
I want to try it out on several carb/airbox boots, not sure how far 4oz would go at 70% xylene/30% wintergreen mix (I've got 9 bikes in bits)

PJ

dnewman417 · « **Reply #26 on:** July 23, 2008, 06:42:21 AM »

Try using Armor All. I've had luck soaking old rubber parts in the solution. Works great!

swan · « **Reply #27 on:** July 26, 2008, 07:26:05 AM »

I tried soaking rock hard carb intake boats in Armor All for a week but they were still very hard. I treated them with the wintergreen oil/ xylene and they softened up perfectly and I have been riding my daily for several months with no problems.

crazypj · « **Reply #28 on:** July 27, 2008, 08:11:46 AM »

I'm trying xylene/ATF. Had intake boos soaking about 4 deays and they are softening. I'll probably give them a few days more and remove from solution. Will report later on results
PJ

comp · « **Reply #29 on:** August 04, 2008, 05:59:24 PM »

any updates

?

crazypj · « **Reply #30 on:** August 05, 2008, 11:38:15 PM »

I forgot about the rock hard boot for a few days. It swelled up a bit but has now returned to normal size. It isn't really soft but at least I can now flex it a bit and it would be usable if I knew what it fitted
I don't know if ATF works as well as the wintergreen oil, will have to get some to check.
PJ.

yankhunt · « **Reply #31 on:** August 26, 2008, 02:20:56 PM »

I used the wintergreen & xylene combination on both the manifold intake boots and the air box boots with great success. My bike is a '72 CB750 that had not been run since 1996. I also used it on the grommets for the side covers. I couldn't remove them from the bike so I soaked a paper towel and just 'wrapped' the grommet right on the bike. And then I did my battery strap. All worked great. I used 1 quart mason jars. I could get two boots in at a time.

The cheapest wintergreen oil I found was at www.americarx.com. $4.99 for 4 oz bottle + postage. I bought 4 bottles and paid $5.68 postage. The xylene came from Home Depot. Gallon was smallest container available.

comp · « **Reply #32 on:** August 26, 2008, 05:38:40 PM »

Quote from: yankhunt on August 26, 2008, 02:20:56 PM

I used the wintergreen & xylene combination on both the manifold intake boots and the air box boots with great success. My bike is a '72 CB750 that had not been run since 1996. I also used it on the grommets for the side covers. I couldn't remove them from the bike so I soaked a paper towel and just 'wrapped' the grommet right on the bike. And then I did my battery strap. All worked great. I used 1 quart mason jars. I could get two boots in at a time.

The cheapest wintergreen oil I found was at www.americarx.com. $4.99 for 4 oz bottle + postage. I bought 4 bottles and paid $5.68 postage. The xylene came from Home Depot. Gallon was smallest container available.

what was your mix ??

comp · « **Reply #33 on:** August 27, 2008, 09:52:27 AM »

Quote from: crazypj on August 05, 2008, 11:38:15 PM

I forgot about the rock hard boot for a few days. It swelled up a bit but has now returned to normal size. It isn't really soft but at least I can now flex it a bit and it would be usable if I knew what it fitted
I don't know if ATF works as well as the wintergreen oil, will have to get some to check.
PJ.

did you ever try the ATF ??

yankhunt · « **Reply #34 on:** August 27, 2008, 12:10:19 PM »

I used the 30% wintergreen oil, 70% xylene. (4 oz wintergreen to 13.5 oz xylene)

mystic_1 · « **Reply #35 on:** August 27, 2008, 02:55:17 PM »

You can skip the xylene if you want and just simmer them at around 200F in a solution of 1G water to about 8oz of wintergreen. Worked great for me.

OR you could just, you know, buy new ones

mystic_1

crazypj · « **Reply #36 on:** August 29, 2008, 07:14:57 AM »

Quote from: comp on August 27, 2008, 09:52:27 AM

Quote from: crazypj on August 05, 2008, 11:38:15 PM
I forgot about the rock hard boot for a few days. It swelled up a bit but has now returned to normal size. It isn't really soft but at least I can now flex it a bit and it would be usable if I knew what it fitted
I don't know if ATF works as well as the wintergreen oil, will have to get some to check.
PJ.

did you ever try the ATF ??

I don't have any wintergreen so I used ATF.
Only seem able to get Wintergreen oil online/by mail and haven't bothered yet.
PJ
PJ

comp · « **Reply #37 on:** August 29, 2008, 10:38:19 AM »

Quote from: crazypj on August 29, 2008, 07:14:57 AM

Quote from: comp on August 27, 2008, 09:52:27 AM
Quote from: crazypj on August 05, 2008, 11:38:15 PM
I forgot about the rock hard boot for a few days. It swelled up a bit but has now returned to normal size. It isn't really soft but at least I can now flex it a bit and it would be usable if I knew what it fitted
I don't know if ATF works as well as the wintergreen oil, will have to get some to check.
PJ.

did you ever try the ATF ??

I don't have any wintergreen so I used ATF.
Only seem able to get Wintergreen oil online/by mail and haven't bothered yet.
PJ
PJ

so it work fine ?

750 · « **Reply #38 on:** September 16, 2009, 07:31:07 PM »

Well, tonight was the night. I removed all of my rubber connecting the carbs to the head on my 750 K8, heated them to, to hot to touch with a heat gun and put them in a mixture of 30% baby oil 70% xylene. Wintergreen oil is just too expensive and well, if this works it takes the price way down. More answers tomorrow. If it doesn't work I'm thinking ATF fluid also. After that, as a last resort, brake fluid. My thought is to work my way from least toxic to most toxic. I think opening up the pores with xylene is the real trick in all of this. I would just replace the rubbers but at 25$ a pop, it's just plain too much money if these can be fixed. If I still have a vacuum leak after this then it's time to replace. WELL SEE.

crazypj · « **Reply #39 on:** September 17, 2009, 12:28:31 PM »

ATF was marginal success.
I still haven't got any wintergreen but I think its pretty much a waste of time not using it.

PJ

SiliconDoc · « **Reply #40 on:** September 17, 2009, 02:16:55 PM »

Nice, thanks Swan and JLeather.

750 · « **Reply #41 on:** September 17, 2009, 08:06:28 PM »

No Success on my end either. Bit the bullet and ordered new boots tonight

mystic_1 · « **Reply #42 on:** September 20, 2009, 02:21:18 PM »

Quote from: crazypj on September 17, 2009, 12:28:31 PM

I still haven't got any wintergreen but I think its pretty much a waste of time not using it.

Yes.

Wintergreen oil absolutely does work.

The jury's still out about long-term effects, IMO, at least in terms of 5+ year time-frames. I don't know how long people have been using this trick. First mention of wintergreen on this board is in this post from n9viw on April 16, 2005:

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=472.msg2914#msg2914

But it certainly works in the short term.

mystic_1

Holubs · « **Reply #43 on:** September 28, 2009, 10:22:22 AM »

I looked at the AmericaRx.com site in one of the above posts. The reviews said that the Wintergreen Oil they are selling is synthetic, not natural as the ad says. Does it matter if the Wintergreen Oil is synthetic or natural for restoring rubber?

Holubs

mystic_1 · « **Reply #44 on:** September 28, 2009, 10:35:17 AM »

Well reading back a bit in this thread the important ingredient seems to be Methyl salicyate, so as long as it has that it should work fine.

mystic_1

Holubs · « **Reply #45 on:** September 28, 2009, 11:31:15 AM »

The AmericaRx.com website doesn't have any information that says what is in their product.

Holubs

mystic_1 · « **Reply #46 on:** September 28, 2009, 04:42:31 PM »

I got my wintergreen oil on eBay, came in a bottle that was obviously filled by them from a larger container. Generic label with no ingredient list. Worked fine.

mystic_1

HondaMan · « **Reply #47 on:** October 06, 2009, 08:16:15 PM »

Thanks, all!
With seven CB750s to build in this coming winter, $560 worth of hoses wasn't looking too good. I'll be trying the wintergreen bit: maybe I'll try it on my own bike too, so it will waft up behind the fairing in traffic and improve on the tailpipes I usually smell.

rrjockey · « **Reply #48 on:** November 14, 2009, 07:09:23 PM »

I've not tried the 30% wintergreen oil, 70% xylene. (4 oz wintergreen to 13.5 oz xylene) but, try Vasoline.

I use it as part of my detailing tricks. And for the black back of the blinkers that have turned gray with age. Vasoline!

Retro Rocket · « **Reply #49 on:** November 14, 2009, 07:24:53 PM »

Believe it or not, floor wax rubbed into the black plastic brings it up great as well, we use this trick on cars to bring the plastic {external} up nice before selling.

Mick

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Author Topic: Successfully resurrecting old rubber (Read 97242 times)

comp

yankhunt

comp

comp

yankhunt

comp

SiliconDoc

rrjockey