Morris Minor Owners Club

Not sure if this is the right place .... I am sure that I have read some post somewhere that stated that Olive Oil applied to the crazing on this type of boss - and they all seem to have it, has worked wonders. I believe this is on the basis that this clear resin has essentially shrunk causing the carving and the oil makes it smooth again a bit like skin care I suppose . Can anyone comment or point me in the direction of this original post before I experiment, ta muchly JM

It works! I left my 1957 steering wheel boss face down in a bowl containing about 4mm of olive oil and the crazing has all but vanished.

1) Before
2) After

Crazy! That's a tip worth knowing!

I know, I cannot remember or find where I read this tip, but given that 99.9% of all these resin bosses have crazing, and there is no new old stock or modern reproductions, this is an excellent way of restoring the previously unrestorable.

Thanks for the tip

I have two old stock clear ones now i got from New Zealand last year.

My friend has one that is not very clear i will for sure let him know this tip.

I wonder if this is what he did to the ones i have.

Oh Well they were not that much- They were a thank you gift from a friend.

Very cool tip,

Thanks for the link to this tip,

VIGIL

Tesco Extra Virgin , but probably any type will do! Let us know.

I did not wait for your reply.

We went with extra virgin.
You can never go wrong with a virgin...lol...at least that is what they say

With in the three hours it has been in the oil most of it is almost totally clear.
We still have it soaking but the last time we checked it was over 95% better then when we started.
I was just saying we should pull it out around the 4 hour point because it should be done.
That would give us another hour from now.

It seems the oil must penetrate the plastic to fill the separation in the internal parts.

I do have questions about the process.

How long did it take to get the olive oil off the outside.
I would guess dish soap and water would do the trick.

The other would be how long ago did you do yours and do you notice any difference as time passes.
I am wondering as the heat drys it out there must be some returning defects.

We are headed into summer and our temperature has been running from 75-85F and will be getting hotter.

Still cool and you could repeat the process if it does return.

That was the selling point for us.

It even surprised my wife how well it worked.

VIGIL

I did not wash it but simply wiped excess oil until no longer oily. I only left it in about an hour. I have only had it done 24 hours but have seen no sign of drying out or return of the crazing. I think it inevitable as you say that the crazing will return but it seems a small price to dip it occasionally. I hope others have a similar result. It looks sooooooo good!

JM

It would be interesting to know the science behind this.

My guess is that the air in the cracks is replaced by the oil, and because the oil has a similar coefficient of optical refraction to the resin, the cracks can't be seen.

Alternatively, perhaps the oil is dissolving the resin slightly, or causing it to expand - but this seems a lot less lightly.

I thought it might be that the resin has dried out causing the fissures - none are very large. Application of oil allows the resin to expand to original size and closes the fissures. A bit like moisturiser on skin or a dried leaf. But hey, I don't care. It works and I have proved I am not completely barmy.

However it works, it's a cool trick.

Just to prove to myself it wasn't a fluke I treated my original which was badly scarred and had a chip on the top RH side. Results still pretty amazing although maybe a longer soak is needed than those less badly crazed.

That's amazing.

BrianHawley wrote: My guess is that the air in the cracks is replaced by the oil, and because the oil has a similar coefficient of optical refraction to the resin, the cracks can't be seen.

Er, wow!...you must be a pukka scientist Brian!
I had to read that 3 times before I got it!

Just the nerd in me coming out.

There used to be a forensic technique of comparing glass fragments by putting them in a bath of special oil.

Heating the oil up changed its coefficient of refraction. At a certain temperature the oil would bend the light exactly the same as the glass, so the fragments seemed to become almost invisible. Glass from the same item should disappear at the same temperature.

Unfortunately it could only prove that two samples were not from the same bit of glass, not that they were.

Probably they have some expensive machine now to do the job.