port hole rubber gaskets

Hi all, The rubber gaskets on the brass port holes on my 1977 M T are drying out and cracking. Anyone know of source for new gaskets, or of a method to revitalize the old ones ?
thanks
Mike

I got mine from a friend. A slope worker on the drilling rigs. He is called a tool pusher.

Anyway. They have a tool for making O rings. He made me up a couple. So maybe an O ring manufacturer.

I don't really know just a thought.
SD

Check Grainger. I've had some luck there.

Is it a manufactured gasket with a special shape or just the traditional square rubber gasket used in most older portlights? Perko still supplies gaskets for their long discontinued portlights: PERKO Inc. - Ventilators - Portlight Weatherstripping

If it's just the old style square rubber gasket, just google rubber and find a company near you. We used to buy it from Reller Rubber in Miami. If we needed 1/4" square, they would take a sheet of 1/4" thick rubber and slit off 1/4" wide pieces. As I recall the sheet was ten feet long so that is how long the gasket was. Same thing for 5/16" and 3/8".
Bomar uses round foam gasket. I think I've still got some of that in my shop. If not it's pretty easy to get. 3M Weatherstrip Adhesive is the correct glue to use.
If it's a special shape, you need to contact the manufacturer to see how to get them.

If your town(or a surrounding community) has a reasonably large agricultural, manufacturing or processing plant base as mine does, it's a safe bet that you may have a wholesale rubber supplier in the area. Industrial plants are full of one off custom hoses, gaskets and belts that must be replaced on little or no notice. Check the yellow pages, they are typically one or two shop operations at most in size.

My local guy has never let me down and I have brought in stuff that everyone swore was a factory only item, they have had it in stock or duplicated it in the same day if the circumstance called for it. The prices for these services can range from surprisingly cheap to out of this galaxy(dependent upon your schedule). Rubber port hole gaskets(regardless of shape) should be no problem for any rubber company worth its salt.

The seals on my bronze ports (CHB 34, 1975 year hull) were cactus when we bought the boat. Found out by discovering wet V berths after being on our first cruise and having a rain storm. I obtained square sectioned rubber trim stripping from either a motor parts shop or the chandlery - can't remember which, but it is pretty common. I then gouged out the old seals and just put a length of the new rubber in and trimmed it so the ends met neatly, then glued that in with contact with the join at the middle top. That was ten years ago - still sealing beautifully.

If the port light is not sprung , but still in good condition simple shaft flax style packing of the right size works well and lasts "forever".

Works best with ports with an adjusting screw in the hinges , so FLAT can be maintained.

FF

www.defender.com has various sizes and types. Mine were square, so I used my Fein Multimaster with the U shaped blade and cut the old stuff out, cleaned out the groove with a bronze brush, then installed the new stuff with 3M weatherstrip adhesive from the auto parts store. Make sure you put the gap at the top.

Yes, that also would work well, too.

Thanks to all who posted reply. I haven't remove old gasket yet, will gouge out old like peter B said and see what shape and size it is. Will try auto glass co. when I know what size. If o ring will work ( ? thickness ) I have some 1/4 '' already. Thanks again
Mike