renew distributor pigtail wire insulation

[crazycars]

Discovering a shorted out pigtail wire with missing insulation in the distributor of my 40 Dodge and not having a replacement I went about repairing it.  I stripped off the remaining flaking insulation, sprayed the wire with spray contact cement and carefully wrapped it with thread, one end to the other, several times.  I put some tension on the thread spool and simply wound the wire with the fingers of  both hands until it was well wrapped. I then gave it another quick coating of spray contact cement and rolled it between my fingers.  I replaced it in the distributor and the trouble is now gone, no more short. Wire remains flexible but is insulated.

                Hopefully this might help someone in need.

[Bhigdog]

Early on, wires were insulated with silk thread.......................Bob

[Friartuck]

I use parachute cord as a sleeve over the wire to provide insulation and appearance.

[Spinneyhill]

7 hours ago, Friartuck said:

I use parachute cord as a sleeve over the wire to provide insulation and appearance.

Where does one buy short lengths of parachute cord?

[Friartuck]

Parachute cord is in 50 foot lengths for about $5 in the big box stores here in the States. I also use it for erecting ham radio wire antennas in trees and get it in 1,000 foot reels. Especially helpful when rebuilding cord style cigar lighters. Use two 18 AWG Teflon wires inside the paracord to provide a cloth appearance while being safe to operate.

[Spinneyhill]

Hmmm. I see it is a multi-strand rope with braided covering. Do you pull some or all of the strands out and pull a wire through ? It is a lot like shoe laces!

 

For the wire insulation, what about spray-on rubber? I think it is advertised as for spraying on tool handles and so on. Lots of waste on a wee piece of wire though!

Edited December 1, 2017 by Spinneyhill (see edit history)

[Owen_Dyneto]

A good selection of distributor leads is as close as the local NAPA store.