I just finished up one side of my Taylor OVC kit.

I know quite a few people have a lot of trouble with putting the Optispark end terminal boots on the wires. So from my experience.. I have a few tips that will make it A LOT easier!

Well to start... I don't know for sure but I recall the intructions that came with the kit saying to crimp the wires to the terminal and THEN slip them through the boots.. and I just thought, why? It's just going to be harder to slip through. So this is what I did:

1) Mark where you are going to make your cut and remember you're going to strip away about 1/4 inch!

2) Leave at least 4 inches of screw up length on the wires. I left around 5 inches because I've never done this before.. and it saved me on one wire.

3) After you cut, use the stripper and lightly "groove" where you are going to strip off. Then "dig in" to the insolatuon, release, rotate and dig in again. If you try and dig in and then just rotating the wire, it will rip and make a mess (for me at least)

4) Ok now for the good part! After battling my #5 wire for a bit I got a bit fed up. So this is what I did:

The inside of the boot is really dry rubber.. so the wires will not budge when they get in so far. So I grabbed an old pushrod on the bench and jammed it in the boot. After really working in the rubber, I put some silicone one the wire, THEN on the pushrod then rubbed it all inside the boot. Make sure to get it IN SIDE and not have it scrape off. After working in the boot and putting silicone on.. the rubber was fairly warm from the friction.. which I'm sure helped a little. Now with the boot warm and lubed.. use some paper tower, or whatever, to grip the wire (your figers will be too slippery) and voila! The wire will slide right through!

Slid it through far enough so it sticks out and you can crimp on the terminal. Then slid it back so the terminal and boot is relativly flush.

I hope this will help some people who might be nervous about all the cutting, crimping etc.. that is involved in the Taylor OVC kit. It's really not that bad! Especialy after what I've been through on my header install and I hope this helped anyone whos struggling with those damn boots

Trevor

 

I used a 3" extension for my 1/4" ratchet, and it helped too. But a pushrod might be slightly larger diameter.

Something else that will help.. Heat them in water first, like boil water on the stove or in a microwave and once they're warm, they should stretch easier.

 

i have always heard of people having problems with this but i have done three sets and never had the first problem. i just use a silicone spray lubricant and spray inside the wire and about 4" from the end on the wire and they slide right in...


edit: hawk232 on purpleponyeatr's computer...

 

Thanks for the heads up on the wires I am doing my longtube install in two weeks and have been researching the job for a while now and the more tips the better I want to say thank you to all who have gone through the trouble of making install pages and posting information that can save people head aches. With all the right info, a friends help, 3 days , and a case of cold beer I feel confident that I can tackle the job

 

You know, I tried and tried with the new boots that came with my kit. I tried all kinds of lubricants, and couldn't get anything to work. I ended up using the boots off my old Taylor wires, with the 1/4" ratchet extension I mentioned above.