"Tenderizing" air boots

In a carb thread a few months back I was complaining about how stiff the boots are that connect from the carbs to my airbox. Vedalkin offered a solution at the end of that thread (pg.3) that involved soaking them for 12 hours in a mixture of 4oz of wintergreen oil and and 13.5oz of xylene. I was very intrigued to give this a try, so last night I put an old and very stiff boot in that solution along with a couple of rock-hard manifold vacuum tube caps. This morning the caps were still pretty rigid but the boot was downright supple, "springy" even. Pretty amazing just as Vedalkin had said.

However, it had also expanded considerably as shown below in the photo with a boot from my 650 for comparison. In the other thread Rick had said he soaks his in Armoral then microwaves them for a few seconds wrapped in a damp cloth. Does anyone else have methods for softening these things up that have worked well for you?

 

Looks like I'm maxed on my attachments, so I'll have to delete something, I guess.

 

The vacuum nipple caps: PITCH 'EM! I have never ever seen petrified rubber that bad before; you can't even squoosh them with pliers!!

Airbox boots: Simply drop them in boiling water, then remove the pan from the heat and let them sit until cool enough to handle.

No expansion, and they seem to stay pliable for long afterward. Give them a good armor-all treatment (soak and sit) before reinstalling.

(Get a photobucket account so you can imbed pics!)

 

You can get a Blister Pack of Vacuum Plugs at AutoZone with Enough Plugs to do the Manifolds & Bleeder Screws for under 5-Bucks.

They fit tight and won't need a Spring Clamp.

 

Thanks, Rick & Fitz, for those tips.

Does the Armoral actually penetrate the rubber or does it just work as a sealant?

Also, does anyone know if the admin mail account is being checked by anyone? I've sent a couple of messages in the last 2 or 3 weeks but haven't received a reply.

 

I reported the guy hawking the iphones and whatnot a week or so ago. I got a reply same day.

 

the real test is in a month, they may be fine but they may turn to stone

 

The boot is actually a little smaller today. I suppose the solvent is drying/evaporating.

 

xylene will evap out of the rubber.

experiment first on something you dont mind losing, but diesel, atf, and most engine or hydraulic oils will "soak" into rubber and make it squooshy, it lasts a while too.

a frequent treatment of silicone spray will help prevent the hardness from coming back.

 

And P.S. xylene is some nasty, dangerous stuff..........

 

I think the idea is that the xylene will carry the oil into the rubber, leaving it behind after it evaporates.

Interesting. I assume the silicone is just a sealant, right?

 

Meaning carcinogenic? Is it worse than acetone or lacquer thinner?

 

For what it's worth, here are a some links with info about the health hazards of xylene, acetone, and lacquer thinner. Acetone and xylene are not known to be cancer-causing, but the benzene in lacquer thinner is.

 

After this came up, I dug around in the garage this weekend and found the boot I had boiled and Armor-All'ed back in July sometime and it's still nice and pliable compared to the spares I haven't "treated" yet.

Last I knew, neither boiling water nor Armor All are the least bit carcinogenic... (except maybe in California.)

 

Depends on what's in the water, although you usually have to drink quite a bit of it. I think I can say with confidence that it would be best not to drink the water after you boil your boots in it. At least let it cool down first...

Fitz, do you think the Armoral is actually being drawn into the rubber? How long do you soak them and are they still warm when you drop them in?

 

I do believe Armor All soaks into the rubber to some degree.

I have generally applied the Armor All while the boots are still somewhat warm to the touch; once dried off, I just set them out on paper towels and spray them down liberally and leave them until the Armor-All has soaked in/dried, like overnight.

 

water is considered carcinogenic in california.

 

Starting December 2011 you can not get a toy with your happy meal in San Fransisco unless it comes with fruit and a nonsugar soda. Seems to take the Happy out of the meal!

 

For your amusement I thought I'd update this thread from last fall. The topic was basically how to soften hard rubber carb-to-airbox boots. I had tried Vedalkin's xylene and wintergreen oil recipe and found that the boot I treated swelled up to about twice it's original size, then started to shrink back down after a day or so once removed from the mixture.

Earlier this week it was finally time to put the rebuilt carbs back on this bike, so I grabbed the boots from downstairs and headed for the garage. The xylene-treated boot was not only harder than it had been to begin with, it had also continued to shrink as it dried out leaving it at about 85% of it's original size. In other words, NOT going back on the bike under any circumstances!

Others may have had different results, but I can't recommend this method.

 

I've been experimenting with this too ... it's pretty obvious the armorall soaks in or it wouldn't work, but it has to be clean first because it doesn't seem to have much of a solvent in it. I think Fitz' method of boiling is a great idea because it helps release the surface film of oil and oxides that prevent the armorall from getting into the material.

I tried putting armorall straight onto a rubber that still had that grimy just degreased look and it ran straight off. The stuff I put on the clean rubber worked brilliantly. It has helped alot to re-treat it every day for a week. I've got shiny soft airbox boots now that before hand felt like they would break if I tried to install them. I would wholeheartedly recommend the gentle heating then armorall treatment.