melted wires in coil cap

[Glenn]

how is the best way to clean out the coil towers too the wires off my 50 pan garaged for 44 years and it is nothing but goo in the wire towers. tried picking out the stuff with no luck. any ideas how to clean it out i tried dental picks tooth picks small screwdrivers. any chemical that would melt it and then clean without destroying the coil

moose

[Magic]

There's actually nothing wrong

Hello Glenn/Moose, Actually that's a normal condition of those coils as it's all part of the internal sealing of the coil. There is no metal pointed spike sticking up for contact, Actually there is but it's not visible and small, my mistake for saying that. The proper way to remove and install new Sparkplug wires is to heat the coil up for a period of time internally with current from a battery or charger bypassing the distributor/point system. I use to carve the end of the cable like a dull pencil only to aid in the insertion as well as putting a little oil on the cable end to ease the rubber against the internal tar like sealer. When the coil is very warm on the outside the inside packing becomes softer and enables the cable to be inserted down through about an inch or so into the packing, this requires a pretty good twist and push to insert also, as it cools the packing seals around the Sparkplug cable/wire and almost becomes as one sealing it. Remember these coils were pointed up and exposed back in the days, compared to todays mounted sideways under the fuel tanks to keep out of weather. Keep riding them, Merlin in Pa.

[Glenn]

thanks i'll hook up some power today and give it a shot

[Magic]

Forgot something ..go figure I'm getting older

I'd like to mention something else too, since you said you were trying to pick some of the tar sealer out you may of disturbed the tar packing itself...it's no big deal but will have to be rounded out again to make way for the insertion of the plug cable. Do this before heating up the coil to a warm state. Using a small pick type tool but to be carefull when doing so as there is a small metal contact at the base that can't be broked off...you can't see this so work carefully on the outside edges of the hole. One plug cable will go deaper in then the other till it bottoms out which is normal. Aftermarket coils are different, what you have is an original one and they are pretty good coils. Good luck, Merlin in Pa.

[Glenn]

may have messed up the bottom already. been digging with a pick to move some of the broken wire so not sure if I messed up the contact at the bottom the wire was so brittle that it just broke in pieces and would not pull out. tried a heat gun and warmed it up but not sure if the tar moved away enough to seat the wires.
moose

[Magic]

Those Coils are still easy to come by

Hey Moose, I hear ya, Have you tried the 6V battery directly connected yet? They warm up internally and cause no damage as long as not over heated. The dried sparkplug cables would break off or apart easliy since being pasted or stuck in the tar sealer all that time. Those coils are a common item on ebay and most swap meets and rarely have I seen them destroyed, although check sellers feedback carefully and most people as you know won't guarantee an electical part. Sounds like a nice Motorcycle you have so just be patient with it and you'll be fine. I like when a Motorcycle is found sitting a long time and is about to be a woke up. Good Luck to ya, Merlin in Pa.

[Glenn]

i'm going to try and clean it up but I cant tell if the bottom was damaged by my digging. and even if i use the copper tube to clean it you cant see thru the tar. oh well if I stick the wires in and it fires off I guess that will tell me it worked