<VV> Wire connections - no Corvair

[Dale Dewald]

At 12:55 11/18/07 -0500, Stephen Upham wrote:

 >>snip<<

>Is it possible to splice (butt connections) wires to what is left of the 
>leads, or am I
>looking at replacing the entire wiring harness?

If you have a reasonable amount of skill soldering, then you might be able 
to butt solder new lengths of cable onto the existing leads.  I would 
carefully measure the OD of the wire conductor, then go my local FLAPS to 
see if the correct sized lug fittings are available (for a solder splice). 
The other option is to go to a hardware store and get the closest sized 
copper sweat coupling or short lengths of the correct ID copper pipe. You 
will also need some appropriately large sized shrink tubing and rosin core 
(not acid core or plumbing type) solder.

Make sure to clean all of the parts to be soldered with a wire brush, steel 
wool or emery paper.  Strip back the wire insulation and slip on a good 
length of shrink tubing. Use a propane or Mapp gas torch for heat.

I did this type of repair on the positive cable of my old Ford F-250 
diesel.  About 18" of the original had corroded inside the cover due to the 
gradual infiltration of road salt from the starter solenoid end.  Since 
this cable was about the diameter of my thumb, a 1/2" copper sweat coupling 
was used as a solder lug to attach the piece of #00 welding cable I used as 
a splice.  I also soldered on the replacement screw lug that attached to 
the solenoid bolt.

Dale Dewald
Hancock, MI