Recommendations for cleaning up roof rail seals?

[beanhead]

Hi all, I recently scored a good used original seal from a member (thanks to Don/@Moparparts). It's slightly weathered and dry in appearance only, what's the best way to recondition it? Anything special, or just a gentle soap n' water bath? Thanks

 

[1967coronet]

Kent industries sells a weather strip /seal restore/condition.
comes in a small spray can, pretty good stuff.

 

[69L48Z27]

I would use dish soap and water or maybe simple green. That will pull all the oils and grease out of them. After that use a rubber and vinyl conditioner or spray shine like Back to Black. Should look like new after that.

 

[StreetWedge65]

Gojo hand cleaner. Also works great on radiator/heater hoses.

 

[moparnation74]

Not long ago I restored original seals for my project including one original roof rail strip I got from Don, the other was NOS...

I washed it down with warm soapy water. Then hand dried it.
Then used SEM vinyl prep to clean and to soften. Several heavy coats.
Last step was several heavy coats of mothers "back to black". Without wiping it down removing the Mothers I placed it in a ziplock bag overnight.

Looks brand new.....
https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopa...gtx-restoration.127388/page-86#post-910835323

 

[beanhead]

Thanks guys...much more specific advice for our cars compared to the stuff on the google, that's exactly what I was looking for. I'm washing it tonight and will 'back-to-black' it tomorrow since I just bought more of that stuff, and bag it up (I like that idea!) Thanks again!

 

[69bfan]

Do not leave the seals tightly rolled up after cleaning. Once everything is cleaned and covered with a good preservative, either install the component or lay out with no drastic bends or kinks to prevent the rubber from forming a crease which can eventually lead to a break in the seal. Also, do not suspend the seals up as you would a rope. They can end up over time stretching and not fitting as they were designed to do.

 

[beanhead]

Do not leave the seals tightly rolled up after cleaning. Once everything is cleaned and covered with a good preservative, either install the component or lay out with no drastic bends or kinks to prevent the rubber from forming a crease which can eventually lead to a break in the seal. Also, do not suspend the seals up as you would a rope. They can end up over time stretching and not fitting as they were designed to do.

Thanks Richard, I plan to install it when ready. It's laid out on the workbench in a big trash bag in the shape it will be in when in the car. (And thanks for your help in guiding me towards an original piece!) Looking forward to the new window felts..

 

[SureGrip]

I've had good results with placing rubber pieces in a container/bag of Simple Green overnight.

It softens and makes them black again (also helps remove any overspray or grease from it).

Also, as StreetWedge65 said, GoJo hand cleaner is good too.

 

[beanhead]

So what I ended up doing, was just washing it gently with a little dish soap and lukewarm water and then let it dry out for a couple days. Then I gave it a nice going over with the Back to Black stuff, let that sit for a day or so and then I installed it yesterday and it looks great. Thanks everyone for the replies!