Ok... so I purchased my 914 in August and had it shipped from Oregon. It is an original 'survivor' car with 100% original paint.
I was super excited to receive it. I've had ten 914's previously but had not had one for 10 years.

When the trucking company unloaded the car, I discovered oil had dripped all over the top of my 914.

Click to view attachment

Being an original unmolested survivor car, the top was quite faded and chalky.
The oil stained the top wherever it dripped. I immediately washed the car to no avail... I hoped that it would dry out and fade away so I would not have to refinish the top.

It's been two months now and the stains still are there... So I decided to just oil the entire top.

Click to view attachment

I know this sounds crazy but the top looks amazing.
For those of you who will say that the oil will pickup dirt, I've washed the oils stains multiple times and they are dry as can be.

Click to view attachment

I am hoping the oil that I've applied will dry out and once I wash it a time or two will allow my top to look not only uniform, but much nicer than the dried out original finish.

Am I crazy?

Considering the fact that you've owned 10 914's in the past I'd say no!

crazy... like a fox. that's awesome!

wonder if something like armor all woulda also done the trick?

You mean silicone oil? Well, yeah. So would a higher molecular weight oil, aka wax. Wash it with water, the water gases off. Try acetone or ethanol. Ditto. But motor oil or silicone oil will leave a thin layer that won’t evaporate. Thus the sheen. If you wanted to remove the oil streaks one would need a lot of detergent, or a solvent like ethanol.

To answer the question. Yes

The top looks great. Good idea

OK, what kind of oil did you use, drain oil to match the strains ??

So Jeff (back) & lets see the rest of the "survivor" car?

Wow, it looks new!

Looks like Valvoline vR-1.

20w-50.

Whenever the sentence starts with “Am I crazy” the answer is usually YES.

In this case the top looks great, so I guess I retract my above statement.
AND

No wait. Certainly welcome. By all means. That doesn’t necessarily exclude crazy. We don’t wanna go around insulting folks. I agree, the top turned out looking good, and would be very pleased to see more photos.

Bumper black products likely do the same thing with oils or silicone that bring back more of a wet and shiny look for days or weeks depending if they be car is garaged

I used Tire Black on mine. Worked great. Stays looking good for a longtime.

Yes

Since you're in here with the rest of us....then Yes and Welcome.

............another "slick" solution

Great, another "oil" thread.. wheres the popcorn!

I only rub high zinc on my top.

Click to view attachment