[njsteve]

Back to the unitized wire set rebuilding.

Received the new wire set for the "octopus" and new spark plug terminal ends for the old wire set.

I got a box of 50 of the spark plug terminal ends and installed eight of them with the correct crimping tool. It's amazing what having the right tool for the right job will do! The angles on these terminals are an exact match to the originals.





The new donor wire set I got was from Lectric Limited. No one makes unitized wire sets, so these are for the regular points style ignition. They are date coded 3rd quarter 1971. I removed the tower boots and terminals from each new wire. I then carefully removed the bowtie terminal ends from each of the remnants of the original cut wires from the "octopus" with a small screw driver to pry the edges up and then a needle nosed pliers to bend the tabs.

Once I got the terminals off, I noticed that not only did the original wires have a section of the inner graphite core stripped and folded over to lie against the terminal base, they also had a one inch section of copper wire stuck into the end of each wire and bent over to also form a contact with the terminal. In addition to that, the terminal has an internal barb that pierces the wire and touches the internal graphite wire. I used the new crimping tool to affix each bowtie terminal to the wires. I also use some White Out to number each wire so I knew which was which.



After getting all the wires matched to length, (the new set has the correct number of long, medium and short wires that match the unitized wires length), I applied a layer of black weatherstrip adhesive to both sides of the octopus and the channels where the wires set. I inserted all the wires and seated the terminals through the octopus. I then installed the octopus on the cap and bolted the coil down on top which created the perfect clamp for the wire set. I also used a bunch of large binder clips and clothes pins to squeeze the outer edges together and will let it sit overnight.

[PB]

Outstanding Steve! Can you send me detailed info on where you got your wires, terminal ends and crimp tool? I'm inspired by your work and will do the same on a couple sets of wires I have.......much cheaper than the $800 bucks a guy on eBay is wanting for his NOS set of 4Q plugs.

[njsteve]

http://www.taylorvertex.com/Products/

#44389 for the 135/45 degree terminal ends

#44390 is the crimping tool

It was around $40 including shipping, total for both.


http://lectriclimited.com/

#2364-713 is the wire set date coded for 3rd quarter 1971. From Lectric Limited. $75 plus $10 shipping.


Clothes pins: stolen from the wife's laundry room
Binder clips: stolen from the kids' homework notebook.

[charles bledsoe]

Thanks Steve for taking the time to photograph and post your progress!! Looks good!

[njsteve]

Here is the 1112203 (1973) distributor all back together with the new wires and octopus installed.

I checked the resistance of all the plug wires with an ohm meter and they are the same as when they were single wires with the old boot style terminals, so nothing was affected by the transplant.






Here's a question for any unitized experts out there:

Both of my coils have this strange "hammertone" black finish on them. Is this how it should look? Or should it be gloss black like the NOS coil packs I have seen.

[njsteve]

I got a Valentines Day gift from one of the Yenko.net members up in Ontario who was able to get the Ontario ownership search done through the DMV up there.

You have to have a Canadian driver's license to purchase the search. It costs $20. Also note how it shows the word "VOID" all over the document when you scan or copy it. The actual document has an intricate green watermark that covers the entire page.

Neat stuff! It shows the attorney William Nursey being the listed owner as of January 4, 1973. So it looks like he put it in his own name after only one year and not after the three year lease expired, as I had thought before. Maybe a perk of his position as a partner in the law practice?

I also shows the second owner James Robinson, having purchased it from WIlliam Nursey on July 4, 1985. As the prior research indicates, Robinson put on the NOS quarters and painted the car and then sold it to the late owner in British Columbia in the summer of 1986. That man's widow then sold it to Grant in 2011, who sold it to me in 2012.

I have tried to locate both gentlemen but have come to a dead end. William Nursey is listed as a General Counsel for London Life Insurance Co. in London Ontario, although the date of that info is several years old. I called their General Counsel's Office and they did not have him listed as an employee. He may have passed on several years ago.

James Robinson's Ontario phone numbers are disconnected from the old Hemmings ad listed previously in this thread as well as numbers from my old paperwork.

[njsteve]

I've been talking with the guys at ECS Automotive and they gave me some good news yesterday about reproducing the correct air filter decal for the Ram Air air cleaner:

"Hello, Steve
We will be making the RQ decal. They will be offered at regular price. It could take up to a few months until they are ready. I have you on a list to call once they are ready to sell.

Thanks, Charlie
ECS Automotive Concepts"


If you are interested in one, feel free to drop them a line so they have an idea of the interest in this item.

[Held for Ransom]

Do they have a sample for the reproduction?

[njsteve]

They are doing it from the photos we have been posting of original decals, if someone has a perfect specimen, that would help, too.

[Held for Ransom]

They know the ones I send are always washed out. I've always had to gently clean them to remove old paint. I'm sure back in the day, when a trade in came in they got treated to rattle can clean up. They have this one I sent. And, they always say too, they can't do them from photos.

[njsteve]

They seemed happy with these. I guess since they have the other 1972 decals, that the only difference is the part number for this application.

[Held for Ransom]

I guess they're just a little stubborn with me. Charlie did say a summer release.

[njsteve]

I've been doing some more hunting and found some NOS stuff for the unitized project. I located an NOS ignition module, and NOS distributor cap housing and an NOS coil (which is on the way at the moment).

I also found another remanufactured unitized distributor at an online auto parts store and when I opened the box it turned out to actually be a 1972 1112127 (455 non-HO) with a 1K13 date code. So that is as close as I'm going to get to a 1112133 at the moment. And seeing that I only spent about 1/8 of the cost of a 1112133 for it, I was quite happy.





Here's the instructions with the NOS control module. It even had the little tube of heat-sync grease still in the box.

[njsteve]

The NOS coil pack arrived yesterday. There is a slight difference in finish from the original which has a somewhat visible fiberglass grain texture and the slightly glossier NOS piece which is still dated from late 1971. So maybe the gloss gets worn away after the electrical heat from usage.

[PB]

Steve, how did you get the Bowie terminals out of the harness without boogering them all up? I've pushed some out, but it marrs up the end some. I think a hair dryer may help losen the hard rubber enough to get them out easier. Then on installation, did you just push them back thru?

[njsteve]

I used a small needlenosed pliers to grasp and gently push the bowties up while gently rocking the attached wire and terminal. Do all of this while the octopus is immersed in soapy, hot water. Dont use WD40 because it will prevent the adhesive from sticking later.

The bowties are soft aluminum and get scratched easily by the needlenose pliers. I gently sanded them smooth before attaching them to the new wires.

[PB]

Thanks Steve. I ended up putting it in front of my LB White propane garage heater for a few moments...industrial hair dryer! I could almost push them through with my gloved hand. Worked like a charm.


A theory: original unitized wire sets are not numbered on the top side rubber. After pulling all my sets out, I noticed my early dated set did not have the numbering on the top, dated 2Q 73. All my later sets, 1 and 4Q 75, 4Q 77, were numbered on top. Also noticed the older dated one does not have the little nub on #7 and #4 wire.

Can anyone else chime in on this? Here's a pic:

[PB]

I think my theory holds up. Sometime after 2Q 73 built harnesses, there must have been a change to the moulds. May be a difference b/n production line items and over the counter available harnesses, I don't know. Here is a 3Q 71 harness on eBay without the nubs:

https://touch.ebay.com/tablet/item?i...55502032&rd=vi

All the later dated harnesses I've found have the nub and the numbers. So this appears to be good info for those "correct" restorations . But, who would know this? Guess those reading this now do!

[PB]

Steve, did you cut any of the new wires from electric limited to match the length of the original wires? Or did you match em close? I see some are a bit longer as near as I can tell.

[njsteve]

I measured the set and matched them to the intact old set I had (the one I had to replace the terminals on) and they were pretty close so I didn't shorten any.

Remember to take in to account that the terminals inside the rubber spark plug boot may be at different points in the boot, so that may throw off your measurement.