Pre-war (up to 1942) 1941 Ignition with Armored Cable and Coil Cap

[J. Russo]

I have a question for anyone that has installed a completely attached ignition switch with the armored cable and ignition coil cap.

My current switch has no armored cable with the cap. I want to install the unit in the photos, but I want to make sure the length is correct before I address the wire.

My question is this: How do you feed the armored cable through the firewall? I have a grommet on the firewall that I purchased from Steele Rubber. It has a hole only big enough for the cable to fit through which means I would have to remove the cable from either the ignition or the cap.

From what I can see there is no way to remove the cable from the ignition end. The cap end of the cable has a fitting for a 1/2 inch wrench, but it is not threaded into the cap. It just turns. There also does not appear to be a retainer clip that you can remove to separate the cable from the cap.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[Cadman-iac]

 I can't answer your question, but I have one of my own.
 What was the purpose of that shielded ignition wire? Was it an attempt by GM to try and prevent someone from hot-wiring the car?
 
 Rick

[V63]

Yes, that was hot wire protection.

"Personally" I would eliminate that feature "under dash"  at the inside firewall, it can be more of an annoyance than theft protection at this point. Just my opinion.

[Tom Boehm]

The ignition switch, the armored cable, and the cap are not intended to come apart. They are crimped at the factory. There is a guy advertising in the Self Starter who will install new wires in these units. He would be able to answer your questions. He has figured out a way to take these apart and reassemble.
Marty Watkins, Langhorne PA, 215-355-1519   martyhw @ msn.com

About the grommet: It is installed on the conduit at the factory before the whole thing is assembled. When you remove or install this switch/cable/ cap unit the grommet goes with it.  I left my original on knowing there is no way to change it. In your case you can have Marty rewire and install a new grommet  OR

cut the new grommet with a razor blade so you can slip it on the conduit. Once installed in the firewall you probably won't notice it was cut.

One last thought in favor of installing a new wire: If the insulation is worn off inside the conduit, it will short out. I'm running a risk in using what I think is a good original.

[Cadman-iac]

  If you do cut a rubber grommet for that and want to make it stay in place like the original one, super glue works great for that. I've glued rubber pieces together for various things and once done it will not separate. You have to cut it again to get it off.

[Tom Beaver]

I cut the rubber gromet on my car.  When you install the gromet with the cable you can orient the cut so that the cable does not have any side load against it.  Iv'e had no issues with the gromet and it's hidden behind the coil as well so you can't even see the cut.

Tom Beaver

[55Fleetwood]

I have a 4160 special and just had Marty Watkins rebuild my ignition, put new wire in the armored cable and it came back. Perfect! Marty is almost 90 years old, but is a master at these 41 Cadillacs!  My wire was burnt when I bought the car and the previous owner did not disclose it and I'm fortunate I didn't have a fire!! Marty Walked me through every step of the process. And I agree with whoever said above, be sure to send him all the parts, including the new grommet and he will send it back perfect. The yellow wire is a new wire that we ran to the ammeter to replace a section of burned wire from the ignition to the ammeter. The wire with the relay is for me if I needed a new cigarette lighter wire

[J. Russo]

I sent my ignition assembly to Marty and he installed a new wire. I then cut the grommet half of the diameter to the middle hole.

I installed the assembly through the firewall starting by pushing the ignition switch end through the engine side of the firewall and under the dash.

The cap fit the coil perfectly and the switch works great.

[toybox]

GM did the armored ignition wire through 46-47 on an all their lines. It can be a pain but it did help with slowing car theft. The funny part is they went the other way in the fifties, unless you locked the key switch you didn't even need a key to start the car. Tim