1940 Plymouth Convertible top vacuum cylinder lubricant

[Bruce W]

Greetings, I noticed one of my convertible top vacuum cylinders was not operating smoothly. It felt sticky and gummed up. I disassembled the cylinder and cleaned all the goo from the moving parts. Everything looks to be in good condition. I now want to reassemble the cylinder. My 1940 Plymouth shop manual says to lubricate with a mixture of neatsfoot oil and kerosene. I am not so sure about this. I am considering using a silicone lubricant or something that won't gum up over time or damage any of the parts. Does anyone have any suggestions or experience with this? Thank you.

[EmTee]

Maybe a little ATF?

[c49er]

Turbine oil...aka air tool oil.

[rick60]

The top on my '39 Plymouth showed no signs of movement when activating the dash control.  I used a turkey baster with a hose attached to inject two ounces of neatsfoot oil at the top and bottom of the convertible top cylinders ( four ounces per cylinder). After the neatsfoot oil was added I cycled it manually.  I could feel resistance immediately.  Prior to adding neatsfoot oil the top felt as if it was not connected to the cylinders when cycled manually.  The top operated fine the first time I operated it with the dash switch.  Neatsfoot oil is recommended for leather and worked well on the leather seals in the cylinders.

[c49er]

I'm thinking this^^^ is the best answer..

[auburnseeker]

I used tranny fluid on my 48 Plymouth as it wasn't working right and it worked well afterwards for the next year while I had it.  I think mine were actually stuck when I took them apart and lubed freed everything up.