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Starter wire melting---re-routing suggestions???

3K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  fordnut 
#1 ·
I seem to be melting starter wires with the long pipe headers on my '69 CJ and I was hoping someone has a better solution than my mechanic's.

When I got the car, I replaced the starter and discovered that the wire to the solenoid was toast--the plastic shroud was cracked and missing in multiple places and some of the copper wires were broken. This "original" wire was wrapped in heat tape.

I ran my new wire the same route, which is directly forward and up, kind of through but not touching the header pipes. I used two little "heat sock" things from Napa (they recommended these rather than wrapping my new wire in heat tape) around the wire to protect it as it runs through the headers. The car has been driven only 3-4 times since replacing this wire, only 50 miles max, and I am told that my new wire is melted and will soon fail.

I did not have very much fun doing the initial R&R of the starter, and I don't want to be replacing cables every 100 miles I put on this car. My mechanic wants to drill holes and run the cable from the starter, out the engine compartment, along the frame, and back in at the solenoid. My CJ may not be show car...alright, I admit, it may actually be kind of junky, but I don't want to adulterate it in this fashion. Suggestions? (I do not have the stock exhaust manifolds to go back to)
 
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