[Arran]

There is a trick that I heard of that some guys use whilst restoring early post war RCA TV sets, such as the 630TS, to deal with the stiff wires. Basically you can heat the wire up with a heat gun, on low setting, and it will soften the insulation enough that you can bend it without breaking the insulation. I don't know whether this would work in an early Philco with the pan chassis but it's worth a try if you absolutely have to move something. It's been a few years since I had the chassis out from my model 96 lowboy, but I know what you mean about the wiring, it's laced into a harness like a piece of old military or telephone company equipment. Apparently cable lacing is not that hard to do but I've never had occasion to try it.
Regards
Arran