[TR] old grommets

[jerryvv at roadrunner.com]

Dave, you might try a light oil such as 3 in 1 and let them soak for a few days. Rubber compounds have a lot of oil in them and over time it dries out. There are also waxes in the compounds that would soften them as well. You might try a liquid wax if the oil does not work. I suspect they are either Natural Rubber or EPDM, either way a soak in oil may help them soften up some.
Neither of these compounds are resistant to gasoline and will swell if soaked in Gasoline. Likewise they are not resistant to oil but in this case they need the oils replenished. You may find they will swell slightly too but once out of the oil and wiped dry they should return to close to their original size with some flex ability.

JVV

---- dave <dave at ranteer.com> wrote: 
> ?I'm probably out of luck here, but I thought I'd ask.
> 
> I have two odd shaped grommets that fit in odd shaped holes (not in a 
> triumph), and both are pretty hard.
> 
> fortunately, they are both out.  but quite hard.  is there a product I can 
> soak them in and get just a little flexibility?
> 
> thanks! 
>