Maybe not too much of a mystery. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Mystery_Oil
The product is composed of 74 percent mineral oil, 25 percent stoddard solvent, and 1 percent lard. Mineral oil - ie unscented baby oil, thickened as Vaseline Stoddard solvent - paint thinner Lard - rendered pork fat The paint thinner will work its way into cracks, dissolve old grease and carry the mineral oil with it. For a more aggressive penetrating oil increase the percentage of the solvent. For a winterizing job decrease the percentage. Very little lubricant is required. Not sure what advantage lard has over newer "slippery stuff" such as teflon, maybe in the dissolved state it carries into thread and cracks better. ATF and Acetone? Another oil and solvent mix. Note that older Ford ATF had whale oil in it as a friction modifier. As a cautionary note it is possible to mix various petrochemical products and end up with something that evaporates into vapor that is explosive rather than being too lean or rich to burn well. Raw gasoline tends to evaporate away, oil barely evaporates so neither is likely to produce an explosive cloud - though they both do burn well. Mixing various things together, particularly like acetone, can result in a mixture that will explode from a simple act of pouring it from one container to another. http://www.workplacegroup.net/articles/article-flammable-liquids.htm Mike
_______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com
