[66Sprint200]

Can anybody tell me a good way to refurbish rubber? In my other thread I said I got a box of parts including the grille foglamp bars, and a set of floor mats. Well, the floormats are a set of ORIGINAL maroon pony embossed floor mats (all 4) so they are going in my car but they have been "well loved". There is black wear on them, and I need to know what the best way to clean them up would be. Thanks guys.

[White05GT]

Mr. Clean Eraser. Don't know if this will work or not but it's worth a shot and don't think it would hurt anything. Might want to try it on the back first.

[White05GT]

If you use it, let us know if it works.

[Calponycarsmike]

They are in reproduction so you could always just buy new ones.

[Icerat]

Waterless handcleaner with lanolin works great on things like weatherstrips and wiring harnesses to clean without stripping anything and restoring that pliable feeling. It may work on your floor mats and if not it is great hand cleaner and cheap.

[66Sprint200]

Originally Posted by Calponycarsmike

They are in reproduction so you could always just buy new ones.

I know they are reproduced but 1-I don't want to/nor do I have the money to pay $80-$120 for them, and 2-They are originals and in great shape. Other than the wear, the only damage is that one of the rear mats has a 2 inch tear. I am starting to become one of those people who try to use NOS parts. For example, I am installing fog lamps on my car. The foglight bars are original, but I need to replace the passenger side, but don't want a repro. Same with the foglamp/GT corral, I don't want a repro. The only thing that will be repro is the wiring. Original items always fit better than reproduction, unless the repros have been done using the FOMOCO tooling. My old kickpanels are repros, and I had to saw off a chunk of the top so that they would fit. The box of parts included a pair of original kick panels, and they fit without any modification what so ever.

White05GT, I will try the magic eraser as I happen to have a couple of them. Icerat, I will have to try and find that stuff. I could always use a good hand cleaner, especially while rebuilding my engine.

[BigSecz]

Lacquer Thinner works great for cleaning plastics, not sure how well it will do on rubber.

[Calponycarsmike]

[quote=66Sprint200;1596589]Original items always fit better than reproduction, unless the repros have been done using the FOMOCO tooling. quote]

Not always true, just because something is made on 45 year old tooling from Ford does not mean it will fit better. Many times the tooling is worn and sometimes warped. I know this as someone in the industry that produces products both in new tooling and off of Ford tooling.

[Zaikur]

If the mats are worn down thru the color (I'm assuming that this is what you mean by the black comment...), clean them real good and then get some vinyl dye. You may have to mix yourself to get the correct color though.

[66Sprint200]

They were moulded in maroon, the black is just pressed in dirt & scuff marks.

[Zaikur]

Then good old elbow grease will do the trick with some soap.

[White05GT]

So, what have you tried so far? How'd it turn out?

[66Sprint200]

Originally Posted by White05GT

So, what have you tried so far? How'd it turn out?

Sorry, I didn't get a chance to try anything. I was so busy last week that I didn't have time. And I won't have a chance to try something for 2 weeks. I am typing this from my hotel room in Emporia, Virginia. I am on my way to Cape Coral, Florida to celebrate my high school graduation with my American family. Then sometime later in the summer, I am supposed to go to England to celebrate with my British family and help my Aunt move from Durham to Winchester.