6 minutes ago, Namerow said:

 

I've tried three different 'rubber and vinyl restoration' products to date and none of them have been effective in softening hardened rubber (or vinyl).

Have you tried Gummi Pflege? I remember it being brought up in the past. I had thought I might try it on some pieces I was gonna use because they are unavailable.

 A couple of years ago we had a discussion about softening old rubber. Someone (I think it was 240260280) came up with a formula that softens and keeps the rubber soft after the solvent has evaporated. The formula was 1 pt. xylene and 2 ozs. of wintergreen oil. I mixed some up and soaked some old cracked, crusty hood bumpers for 24 hours. I tried flexing one as soon as it came out of the mix. It was nice and soft but crumbled when it was flexed. I waited 24 hours for some of the solvent to evaporate from the rubber and tried the flex test again. The results were much better. No crumble and a lot more flexibility. I found wintergreen oil to be very expensive however. In my notes on the subject there is a reference to "Thor Tire Prep #12". As I recall it is a tire conditioner (softener) used for racing. Might be worth looking into.

Here is a common Ford PCV 1/2" grommet part 42065 available at most autozone, canadian tire, etc shops.  It comes close:

 

1/2" hole, 1" top curved face, 1.4" bottom face

 

 

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/dorman-help--4422/filters-16470/pcv-valve-grommet-12023/dorman-help-pcv-valve-grommet/42065/4527812/1989/ford/f-350

 

 

Part 42066 comes close too:

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/dorman-help--4422/filters-16470/pcv-valve-grommet-12023/dorman-help-pcv-valve-grommet/42066/4527813/1968/ford/mustang

Edited January 30, 20187 yr by 240260280

3 hours ago, Namerow said:

I tried this (lacquer thinner) with a rock-hard side window bumper (the one that sits at the bottom-rear of the door).  It worked beautifully and I thought that I'd finally discovered the secret to rejuvenating all of the aging rubber parts on my car .  Sadly, after 24 hours I found that the rubber had returned to its original, rock-hard state.

I've tried three different 'rubber and vinyl restoration' products to date and none of them have been effective in softening hardened rubber (or vinyl).

I've read that a two step seems to work:

1. Lacquer Thinner to soften.

2. Wintergreen oil to soak

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/soften-hard-rubber.865303/

 

Here in Canada, a rust proofing liquid called Rust Check seems to soften rubber nicely in an unwanted fashion. It may work too:

 

 

17 hours ago, Mike B said:

I've got two originals I could send you. One is softer than the other. I guess one hardened over time. The overall height is the same but one has a bigger gap than the other.

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Classic Zcar Club mobile
 

Mike will be sending me the original for a factory correct reproduction....

2 hours ago, Mark Maras said:

 A couple of years ago we had a discussion about softening old rubber. Someone (I think it was 240260280) came up with a formula that softens and keeps the rubber soft after the solvent has evaporated. The formula was 1 pt. xylene and 2 ozs. of wintergreen oil. I mixed some up and soaked some old cracked, crusty hood bumpers for 24 hours. I tried flexing one as soon as it came out of the mix. It was nice and soft but crumbled when it was flexed. I waited 24 hours for some of the solvent to evaporate from the rubber and tried the flex test again. The results were much better. No crumble and a lot more flexibility. I found wintergreen oil to be very expensive however. In my notes on the subject there is a reference to "Thor Tire Prep #12". As I recall it is a tire conditioner (softener) used for racing. Might be worth looking into.

I did some searching too and found a lot of references to wintergreen oil. One post spoke about mixing about 4 oz of Wintergreen oil in a pot of water and boiling the parts for about 40 minutes. Evidently gave good sustainable results. Another was soaking parts in lacquer thinner mixed with wintergreen oil.

Just keep in mind Wintergreen oil is very toxic!

I found 8oz of oil on ebay for a little more than a $1 an ounce

Hah!  I remember using wintergreen oil on the tires of my slot-racing cars back in the 1960's.  Nothing new under the sun, it seems.

As for trying it out now on old Datsun rubber, I'll wit for someone else to try that and report back.  I'm still not over the pain of the epsom-salts-and-vinegar electroplating set-up that was also 'guaranteed' to work.

Thanks everyone, I will be back tonight.

Kats

Again thank you everyone, nix240z, thanks joined , Mike B ‘s examples will work great, if you sell a replicated grommet , how much it is going to be ? I did not know wider gap exists, I guess the gap has to be tight to stay the grommet in place. 

I did not know the softening the rubber method, is it also used for classic car which it’s glass weather strip can not be obtained but needs to look nice ?

Kats

On 2018/1/29 at 4:28 AM, 240260280 said:

Here is a common Ford PCV 1/2" grommet part 42065 available at most autozone, canadian tire, etc shops.  It comes close:

 

1/2" hole, 1" top curved face, 1.4" bottom face

 

 

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/dorman-help--4422/filters-16470/pcv-valve-grommet-12023/dorman-help-pcv-valve-grommet/42065/4527812/1989/ford/f-350

 

 

Part 42066 comes close too:

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/dorman-help--4422/filters-16470/pcv-valve-grommet-12023/dorman-help-pcv-valve-grommet/42066/4527813/1968/ford/mustang

This looked very close to mine !

Kats

I will break down my original boot , cut every thread and spread the boot to see how the vinyl is shaped and sawed .

Kats

On 2018/1/28 at 5:55 PM, Gav240z said:

Hi Kats, that photo is from HS30 00004, I have not seen the grommet top part of the boot on an AU market car. I have to say it's also my favorite style. I have attached a photo of the boot from HS30 00150 which I assumed was just missing the grommet, but now that I see the photo of HS30 00004's in more detail I'm inclined to think maybe it never came with that grommet?

Hi Gavin, thank you for the photo of HS30-00150, it looks like a genuine leather. Maybe a dealer option at that time ? 

About HS30-00004, it looks it has an exact stock boot for me. I do not see any reason that Nissan would apply multiple type of boot according to its destination. I believe there was an only one boot for early models up to sep 1971 is , this one , thin vinyl  leather with the grommet, 75150-E4101.

Kats

Edited January 30, 20187 yr by kats