How to recondition old rubber pieces

ttocs

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Look closer it says rubber PIECES not rubber-rs so all the sicko's get out.

In the middle of my rebuild and I wasn't sure what to do with all the small rubber mounting pieces. they are all stock from 94 so they will be 20 yrs old and after a life in the engine bay they were not looking as bad as this set I have here(this is the lower the lower rad mounts the lower AC condenser pieces looked horrible). Wanting everything to look clean and new to match the black pant job planned I was going to replace them but after some reading decided to try reconditioning them first.

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So first start off with a good cleaning. Dishwashing soap will work perfectly to loosen all the old dirt/grease deposits that have built up. I first just got soap all over them, gave them a good scrubbing with my nylon bristled brush(you little brothers toothbrush would be even better!). After that get some hot water, put some soap in it(That is the yellow color) and then just let them sit for an hour.
16337204_large.jpg


After it soaks for 60 mins take them out and now with a wire brush give them a good aggressive cleaning. If you don't have a wire brush you can use sandpaper as we are really trying to take the first layer off of it to get to some fresh material. The one on the left is before the wire brush, on the right after. You can see we got the old crusty stuff off of it and its starting too look better now.

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the final step is the actual reconditioning. Take a bag and put them in it and then give them a generous portion of wd40 and let it sit for at least an hour. I am not going to be working on mine till tomorrow morning so I will leave them overnight.
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I left them like this overnight just because I didn't need them till the next day. I would leave them for at least an hour but if you can leave them longer go for it. When your ready to use them just wipe them down and your done. The rubber should again be soft on the outside and when bending it you should not see any hard/crusty pieces separate.
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This shows a better example of what can still be saved, and what you can have when your done. The two finished pieces were in the same condition as the crusty one on the left and didn't take all that long to clean up to the finished condition.
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The metal brackets that they mount too were in just as bad of condition with a fair amount of rust. I soaked the metal in some vinegar for 2 hrs and then hit them with a steel brush. Primed, painted, cleared and they look just as good as they did when they were new and should hopefully last another 20 yrs.
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So don't throw out the old crusty/rusty rubber/steel mounts as it doesn't take long to save them.
 

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