[T3] Glycerin treatment

["David" <rdavid@rochester.rr.com>]

Hey All...just a FYI on my experimenting with Glycerin as a rubber
treatment.
After doing some online research....I decided to give this a liquid a go and
see what happens. Glycerin is used as a moisturizer that can be applied to
the skin if it is diluted 50/50 with water....(I read that if you apply
directly to the skin, it will actually draw moisture OUT of the skin).....I
bought a 6 oz bottle at the drug store (for under $3) and tried a test....
I have a old used dried out windshield gasket, so I marked sections off with
tape and labeled them. I left a area untouched as a control, another area I
sprayed silicone spray, another area 100% glycerin and the last area with
50/50 water and glycerin.
It took overnight before the silicone area looked dry, but the 2 glycerin
areas took about 2-3 days to look dry to the touch, (the 100% glycerin area
looked dry last). Anyway, on the first day after application, the 3 treated
areas looked allot darker. I believe the 2 glycerin areas actually felt more
flexible, whereas the silicone area really didn't seem any more flexible
than the control area. After about 4 or 5 days, the silicone area looks like
it never had anything on it as it returned to the pale color of the
untreated area. It has been about 2 weeks now, and the glycerin areas are
still very black in color and still seem more flexible that the control area
and the silicone area.
This was enough for me to keep going here, so I tried applications on new
gaskets from WCM.....here, it seems like it will take FOREVER for the
glycerin to appear dry...I had to wipe off the gaskets because I was at a
point where I needed to install the gaskets!
So then I applied 50/50 glycerin and water to my old, yet still good, hatch
gaskets and hood gaskets and let them sit for several days before I
installed them....I'm telling ya, these gaskets look and feel great!...they
are SO dark and flexible....I'm very impressed!
So that's where I'm at.....who knows, maybe this treatment will only last
months and have to be reapplied often, or maybe my gaskets will disintegrate
before X-mas.....but I think this may be a great way to extend the life of
older gaskets....and I like what I see. Another thing that got me.....when I
mixed up the 50/50 solution in a dish, I used a very small rag to apply the
solution onto the gasket....you know, soak the rag and wipe away.....well,
the used rag got left hanging over my bench vise to "dry"....guess
what....this rag is still damp to the touch, even after sitting out for
about 2 weeks or so.....yikes.....gotta say something there!


Dave Pallo
'72 Square...(still into resto)

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