Ignition Lead Rebuild

When I removed my ignition leads I found a couple of them had gone solid and actually snapped into pieces under the silicone sleeve.

High time to do something. I was not about to pay the crazy price for a set of new leads so looked into rebuilding as many people have done. Its even easier than I thought!

This is what the inner of my leads looked like!

The first step is to unscrew the screw in the inside of the contact in the distributor cap and remove it. This simply pierces the lead to make the contact. Then the lead can be removed from the cap.

Then, at the plug end, fold back the part of the outer sleeve which covers the plug cap.

TBC
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Next:

Cut off the inner lead flush with the end of the plug cap. Use something which is approx 7mm diameter to push the end of the lead into the cap.
Alternately use pliers to pull on the plug connector from the inside of the cap. After alternating between pushing and pulling a few times it comes out. (Better rephrase that )

Place the connector in a vice and using a large screwdriver the crimp can be opened out and the wire removed.

NOTE there is a small contact which is pushed into the end of the wire, which connects the inner wire coil to the outside and contacts the crimped connection. Dont lose this!
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The wire I used was Magnecor Electrosport 70 which is a 7mm coiled-conductor wire. This type of wire must be used, do not use solid copper conductor wire.
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Push the new wire through the red sleeving from the distributor cap end, and then roll the end in baby powder to enable it to slide through the plug cap. (My wife wondered why I had baby power in my workshop but she is naturally suspicious)

Push through the cap until it protrudes.

Insert the small U-shaped contact so that the inner end is between the inner coil core and the insulation of the inner wire.
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For crimping the connector back on, I used a proper hex crimp tool. These are relatively inexpensive and you can also buy sets which a tool and replaceable dies on Ebay which contain hex dies. Probably worth the investment but not 100% necessary, pliers could probably be used instead. But I am a tool junkie

Then push the contact home back into the cap so it is fully seated. Finish with a new new shrink-fit "number" and roll the outer sleeve back over the cap.

The other end is simply cut to length with approx 30mm of the inner cable exposed, ready to refit back into the distributor cap. Rinse and repeat for all the others. I have not done the coil leads yet, will update if necessary.

Easy! Couple of 100 dollars saved in a few minutes.
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The Magnecor wire I ordered direct from Magnecor UK, 01530 274 975. very inexpensive.

I didnt replace the sleeving because it was OK but I would think similar silicone sleeving is readily available. Cable idents on Ebay.

 

The resistance reading will be different because all the leads are differing lengths. The exact resistance is non-critical, it should be around 5-10 K ohms.

 

Just a quick update:

To rework the coil lead in the same way as original, a short length of heatshrink sleeving is needed. This needs to be 10mm diameter pre-shrink. This is fitted to the boot to prevent it from sliding down the wire. Its hidden under the outer red silicone sleeve normally.
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To round this off, the length of wire required in total including the coil leads is 21 feet. But suggest buy 25 feet to have some spare in case of mishap.