The Home Machinist!

Hello guys, I have a set of Bougicord brand spark plug wires that the boots seem to be vulcanized to the wire that goes thru them. They seem inseparable. If they are not vulcanized, then your guess is a good as mine how they are so well adhered to each other. But it seems that if I had a very long, very sharp, very strong, hair like thin diameter special tool of some sort, I could separate them -- like a very sharp, piano wire diameter, kinda cutting tool, though I know of no such tool. I managed to get a very thin long piece of round metal between them pushed from the back of the boot to the front, but that's all I could do. I wasn't able to encircle the inside of the boot to cut the two parts.

Is there some process that could make this task possible, maybe extreme heat to un-vulcanize them, maybe a chemical or a combination of those two? The distributor ends are not an issue. Btw, I am not referring to boots that are stuck to the spark plugs.

I don't think I've ever tried that, but I'm pretty sure they are not directly bonded on there. Maybe more of a high coefficient of friction combined with a slight shrink fit, and maybe some other adhesion promoter (short of bonding). If I'm right, then maybe something like an automotive hose "pick" would work? Something to just break the seal and let it start moving relative to each other.

I've also had some luck on similar problematic grippy rubbery/silicone sleeves by using an air blowgun situated to direct the stream between the parts. May require something to help it start under (like that wire), and something blocking the other end to build pressure inside, but I've removed handle bar grips and the like (similar to your issue) with this technique, so it may work for you.

Of course I can and would buy a new set of wires if they were in bad condition. But these are in good condition and I see no point in doing that all the time. What happens is that the inside connector gets loose and I have a wire crimper for plug ends, so I prefer the fix instead.

Try some penetrating oil. Also try heat. If they really are vulcanized together perhaps you can heat them up untl they are pliable and then roll the boot back over itself far enough to get at the connector.

Can You carefully crimp the connector with the boot on. It used to work....................

mcostello wrote:Can You carefully crimp the connector with the boot on. It used to work....................

I actually did that, Its not hard to do, It does work to some extent but it is limited in how well it runs out also, ergo, the my question.

Grind a thin knife blade 1/8" wide from an old hack saw.