Dumb question regarding coil tips

@rjparker - Thanks for the photo. I thought that may be what it looks like, which is why I haven't tried.

My reluctance to cut it as you and @Tombukt2 suggested is that it's like 2.5" long and I'm not sure how to cut all the way down. My Exacto knife and the ones I see in the stores are not long enough, nor are my scissors. I could try with a long kitchen knife, but the point isn't that sharp and I'm afraid it would more push the thing down.

If you have a suggestion of a tool a mechanic would have... I have access to Harbor Freight, Ace, Home Depot, Advance, Autozone, O'Reilly, NAPA and Amazon. A few days ago at @ASRDogman's suggestion, I tried fashioning a hook out of some wire and tonight, I've cut up a heavy gauge tomato cage which is made of wire which is probably three times the thickness of a clothes hanger. Thus far, I haven't tried sharpening the end, but I have tried putting three of them down the sides and spreading to lift.

If you have a suggestion of a tool, I'm perfectly willing to buy anything that might work.

As for "turning it over with the plug out", I'm curious what that would do.

Thanks and again, I really appreciate the pic.

 

@rjparker - Okay, so you're a fan of garages and wherever you live, the mechanics have decades of experience and wouldn't charge at least $300 to get out the rubber, plus insist on selling you a new plug and coil at 125% mark-up and another $200 labor, sometime next week because they are scheduling ten days out. Terrific for you, but it doesn't help me.

(I'm in Florida, where all services are super-busy and everything costs a lot.)

I'm not sure that a pick would do anything more than my heavy gauge wire, but I'll go through the catalogs and see what I see.

I asked earlier this evening, if there is a suggestion regarding getting the air underneath. I dashed out and bought an air gun attachment for my compressor, but it isn't long enough to get underneath. They did have a longer one which would have required a connector, but considering the thickness of the tube, I'm not sure it wouldn't constrict the rubber so much that it couldn't come up.

I could order a long X-acto knife, but for some reason they are all two-day delivery.

And, while I have a drill, a lot of bits and am close to a store that sells more. I'm not a fan of getting an electric one so close to the plug and don't know that I'd rust a kid at a garage to try. In addition to it probably costing at least $700, once you add the coil and plug.

 

@Tombukt2 - Because it's two-day delivery for a long x-acto knife, I could try your trick with the gasket scraper.

When this all started, my wife had a sharp pair of hemostats that isn't very long. They just take bites out of the rubber. I bought an 11" pair from Amazon at your suggestion. The tip are dull and that may be a factor, but I can look down the hole and get one of the sides between the rubber and the wall, but because the inside is so shallow, I can't really get a good grip and though I can tug (and I have tried pulling gently), they just slide off. (I can get a better grip with my wife's, but they are only like 5" and they just pull off bites.)

I haven't sharpened a screwdriver, but I can get one down all sides and I have tried using two like I have been trying with the three tomato cage wire, but it just isn't coming up. Maybe I'll try sharpening a screwdriver or some of the tomato cage wire.

@rjparker suggested a drill. I'm reluctant to try that, but I wonder if there is a drywall tool or something that has a screwdriver handle, but the end is threaded and to a point, so I could screw it into the rubber. It seems like I might have one, but it could be in a box somewhere and it would probably be easier to buy one, if I can figure out what it's called.

Both of you, thanks for the idea.

 

@rjparker - Yes. If I take the car to a garage and pay them the $215 to $250 they charge an hour, in about a week, they will do the same thing I am doing with more confidence and I would not have to do it myself.

And, because the coil that was there is missing a boot, instead of testing it or any of the half-dozen old coils I own, they will sell me a new one that retails for $112, except they will charge me $250, plus $25 for the plug and maybe another hour to install it.

The least a garage would charge is $500, though it would probably be $700 to $750 and it would take another week. Though, it is now the beginning of Snowbird season, so they may now be scheduling ten days out.

(I had the sway bar links done at one garage and the struts done at another this summer. At that time they were both scheduling one week out and because they used the Advance parts number on the invoice, it was real easy to calculate their markup.)

@Mendel Leisk suggested air and air was also suggested by the Microsoft AI. That's why I bought an air gun attachment for my compressor tonight and might go look at them again tomorrow, but as I said, the tube on the air gun in so thick that it could keep the boot squeezed into place and it looks like it would be difficult to get underneath.

Again, thanks for the pic. It confirmed what I thought and thanks for the suggestion of a drill bit. I have a lot, some of which are burred and some that are eight inches long. If I don't have one that is both, they sell them in town. If it has a sharp enough point, it might be something I could do manually.

Edit: And, now that you've given me the idea, a long screw might also work. HD lists some for <$3.

Though, I'll probably have to hit it with @Tombukt2's suggested rubber mallet. Thanks.