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Posted by: ahdoman Nov 20 2006, 11:03 PM

Don't know if this has been posted before but...like some of you I will soon be faced with having to locate a new targa seal. Being born a poor white child and having not married into money has made me a resourceful geek. So, today I got this idea to try and revitalize my slightly oxidized and roted targa seal with a little black silicone. It works pretty good! But, here's the trick...I gently wiped the seal with rubbing alcohol to clean the years of oxidation and "armour all". I then worked the silicone into the seal by massaging it (rubber gloves help) making sure all the cracks were filled. I let it sit for about 10 minutes (this is not the quick dry type) and then wiped it down with a shop paper towel. After wipping the rubber for about 10 minutes the shiney look of the silicone began to turn "flat" like the natural rubber look. Now that it's dry it looks great and all of the cracks are sealed and the rubber itself has a "new" feel to it! Now we'll have to see if it stands the test of time.

Posted by: Air_Cooled_Nut Nov 20 2006, 11:36 PM

Glycerin works great and is cheap (drug stores carry it). I wouldn't recommend using alcohol (or acetone or xylene or gasoline) as it will dry out the seal.

Posted by: eric914 Nov 21 2006, 07:07 AM

This post is worthless without pictures!!

Posted by: ahdoman Nov 21 2006, 10:02 AM

Have you ever tried to take a close up pic of a black rubber with a digital camera? The old vs. the new pic looked exactly the same. The post with pics would have been worthless.

Posted by: rdauenhauer Nov 21 2006, 11:14 AM

Not sure Im following
Silicone spray lubricant should have no effect on "cracked" or "rotted" rubber

Posted by: SLKWrx Nov 21 2006, 11:56 AM

I think he's talking about Black Silicone gasket maker (i.e. RTV Black), not lubricant

Posted by: highways Nov 21 2006, 02:45 PM

Clarifications please! More details... and you just need a really bright light up close to the rubber in order to get a pic to come out.