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Tips
Tips

Installing wire tips

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Be careful not to cut the old wire too far back if you decide you need to clip off some bayonets. After you make the repair, you still want to have enough length (and looseness) so you can insert the bayonet into the connector otherwise the shortened wire may pull the bayonet back out the female conncetor.

That's why I try to leave all the wires at the original length - to avoid tension on the wires if they are cut too short - too many times.

I bought some new connectors and have torn the old rusty ones open to get the bayonet out. Then I would clean the bayonet exterior by Frank's methods or something else and you may not even need to un-solder and re-solder the old bayonet (or a new one) unless the stranded wire really looks like it's had its day and might break.

BTW, it's possible that the weak looking wire became that way when some PO used the corrosive acid core solder which may have eaten away some of the tiny strands. The use of acid-core solder may have also helped to corrode the bayonet into the connector which might resemble a rusted-in bayonet.
 
Randall,

My thoughts exactly. I am inclined to remove and replace the bullet contacts, and even the female connectors. I know that some would say: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." And there is much truth to that. But I am also motivated by "If it ain't broke, improve it." I suspect that none of my connections have been treated with dielectric grease, so replacing and greasing the contacts would greatly improve things. I try to honor "originality" wherever I can, but since my aim is to drive this car with as little trouble as possible, I won't lose sleep over a 6-way shell vs three 2-way shells. Besides, it can always be returned to "original."

I intend to go slow with this project, however, because there are so many connections. I'll start with the suspicious-looking ones and the easy to reach ones. Besides, I am absolutely new at this, and it will be a "learning experience" for me.

Don:

You've hit right on one of my concerns. Most of my wires see to me just the right length, and if I cut them they may become too short. (I could resort to replacing the entire wire, but that opens an entirely new can of worms). I'll have to keep that in mind as I inspect the wires. If I can remove the old bullet without cutting the wires, that might be best, but tricky. Thanks very much for the word of caution and all you other good advice and guidance..
 
Received a "British Crimping Tool" (made in Twiwan, ha, ha!) today as recommended by several of you. But no instructions came with it. How hard can it be to use a crimping tool, you ask? Well, probably not very hard. But the tool has two faces: one side with a large hole, and the other side with a small hole and engraved "crimp here." I am guessing that the open end of the bullet is crimped at the small hole, but whether it is inserted into the small hole or through the large hole to the small hole is not made clear. The large hole must be there for some purpose. Before ruining a few bullets and screwing up my connections, I thought I'd ask someone who has used one. I'm also not sure why the tool has a ratcheting mechanism and a knob for "opening" the tool. Seems a bit complicated for a crimping tool.

When crimped, the tool leaves a little tail on the bullet that prevents it from fitting completely into the Lucan connector. This doesn't seem right.
 
I don't know anything about the bullet connector crimping tool, but I am quite familiar with ratcheting crimping tools.

The purpose of the ratchet is to prevent the tool from releasing the connector until it has been crimped to spec. That way, you can't undercrimp a connector.

The knob for opening sounds like a manual release mechanism in case you can't crimp enough for the ratchet to release itself.
 
Dr. John...

Many thanks. Your explanation certainly makes sense to me. The ratchet doeshold the bullet until it has been crimped. As for "spec," I assume the British Writing Company "British Crimping Tool" has only one spec -- the one set for the bullets supplied, for example, by Moss and TRF.

You'd think the tool would come with some instructions, but none came. I hope someone who actually uses this specific tool will be able to give me some guidance.
 
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