Dear Fans of mid-60s Buicks,
I'm looking for a clever way to protect the rubber boots that come out of the front parking light housings of my 1965 Buick Special wagon. I've used 303 Protectant on other rubber items and was wondering if that would help prolong the life of these 49 year old pieces of rubber. Exploring the 303 web site I came across this very odd suggestion: that you can use 303 protectant to keep everything in your engine bay cleaner and lasting longer. Here is the link:
http://303products.com/product-uses/save-plastic-rubber-hoses-in-engineFor the impatient, here is the suggested procedure from that web-page:
Save your Engine Hoses
Anyone who looks under the hood of their own car knows how oily and filthy the engine components can get. Because of grease, oils, fluids and the ozone generated by the engine during operation, radiator and A/C hoses, belts, CV boots and other rubber pieces often have to be replaced prematurely. These replacements are annoying at best and always inconvenient - not to mention expensive.
Also, with a dirty engine it is difficult to tell if your vehicle is losing fluids.
303® Aerospace Protectant™ used in the following manner is an excellent way to maintain and extend the life your under-the-hood rubber and plastics at the same time keeping the entire under-the-hood area looking like new.
First, clean the engine. Your can do this at home, or perhaps more conveniently at a self-help Car Wash. First spray the engine with a degreaser. After the recommended time, use the high pressure hose to wash down and away grease, oil and accumulated dirt. Wipe up pooled water with old towels (or blow it away with an air hose) removing most of the water.
Then spray 303® Aerospace Protectant™ liberally to entire engine compartment, covering the rubber, plastic and painted surfaces. If you have an air hose, blow excess 303® down through the engine and dry surfaces completely with dry, clean, absorbent cloths to remove excess. If you don't have an air hose, let 303® stand for 5 min. then dry all surfaces. CAUTION: Use care to avoid getting water into distributor or unsealed electronic components.
A beautiful, perfectly clean engine! The 303® repellent will keep your engine looking great for months. And when your entire engine compartment finally needs cleaning again it'll just take you a few minutes to keep your engine components looking new
There are two obvious caveats here. First, presumably this advice is for modern cars, although if 303 protectant can be used on classic rubber, there isn't any obvious reason other "mature" parts wouldn't benefit from the same sort of protection. Second, this is the manufacturer's website. This stuff is
very, very expensive and isn't this an interesting way to guzzle a lot of this product.
Any thoughts? Could this actually be a good idea?
Cheers, Edouard
