It used to be common practice to soak a dried-out cork gasket in hot water for a time to soften it and restore some flexibility before installation, but I don't recall ever oil-soaking one. Rope seals for crankshafts got the oil soak treatment pretty regularly. I've been tinkering with cars for about 50 years so far.
Jerry


"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!