Softening up old hard rubber

[jass]

Does any one have any methods to soften up some of the old hard rubber from some of the wiring harnesses on my '70 911? Would be nice to get these more pliable so I can get them out and back into some of the holes they snap into on the ends.
Appreciate any methods any of you have that might do the trick.

[jagular911]

jass,

I will give you my 2 cents

When rubber parts are manufactured, they use petroleum oils for solvency, which I believe also provides a level of pliability to the parts

With time, the petroleum oils evaporate (or leach out) out of the rubber.

I would suggest soaking the rubber parts in a non detergent motor oil- i believe that this will soften them up, without degrading the rubber

A harsher solvent like laquer thinner or reducer is too light and will not leave any residual oil in the rubber.

FYI-I do all of my own work on cars, have worked in the oil industry as a Chemical Engineer in both the plant, R&D, sales, etc, and I love this stuff- I have been rebuilding a 911 for the past 7 yrs.

My 2 cents-good luck

Jon

[Turboo934]

Wd-40

[MBAtarga]

I remember someone recommending glycerin in another thread on the board.