Re: Replacement of wiring on !922 Ruddertwin. Serial No 2603

[Anonymous]

Monte, yes it is possible. The caps are removable, sometimes they have small pins around the edge to keep them attached to the end of the coil tube. What you have to do next is dig through the tar or pitch that the coil casing is filled with and find your terminals for the high tension leads, and solder new spark plug leads onto them. The pitch is not to be trifled with, I believe the ingredients make it a carcinogen, so you want to avoid heating it and inhaling any smoke or fumes that may be given off.

One trick I’ve learned from somebody who works on these coils often – leaving the coil submerged in a container of gasoline for a number of days will soften/dissolve the pitch to the point that everything will slide out of the coil casing. The benefit of this is that the coils and wiring will be completely free of the tar substance, making everything easier to work on. Obviously, the downside is this isn’t a practice for chain smokers to get involved in, and the gasoline can’t be used for anything after it gets the coils out, so it needs to be disposed off safely.

Other options – working under a heat lamp to soften the pitch…. some say boiling water will do the trick and is safer than other methods….. you’ll have to decide for yourself which way is best, quickest, and safest.

Whichever way you use to remove the pitch, when you attach your new spark plug leads, consider installing strain reliefs… simple as twisting a metal wire tightly around the spark plug lead insulation that is inside the coil casing so that the lead can’t accidentally be pulled out through the hole in the cap…

Hope this helps.

Best,
T2