Replacing Speaker Wires Without Drilling Rivets

Contributed by Steve Davis

A lot of our old Philco radios use a bakelite plug to connect the speaker to the chassis. Oftentimes the wires become frayed where they enter the plug and require replacement. The first couple of times I did this, I drilled out the rivets that hold the plug together. I didn’t know where to get rivets that looked like the originals so, I wound up using small machine screws. They looked really bad. After giving it some thought, I came up with a way to replace the wires without drilling out the rivets. Take a look.

[Image: 40129644552_f049981179_k.jpg]by Steve Davis, on Flickr

This is the key. Using a drill, I reshape and enlarge the whole down inside the plug, being careful to not drill the outer portion where it could be seen. The idea is to create some relief to make it easier to push the wires down into the pins. When finished, the hole, again, only down inside the plug, will sort of be shaped like a four leaf clover.

[Image: 40129644542_a7543c8510_k.jpg]

by Steve Davis, on Flickr

Next, strip the wires about one and a half inches and solder only the very tip of the wires to hold the strands together, leaving the rest flexible.

[Image: 40129644532_480d6ee3ae_k.jpg]

by Steve Davis, on Flickr

One at a time, work each wire through the back of the plug and into its pin.

[Image: 40129644482_30f1eaffea_k.jpg]

by Steve Davis, on Flickr

After all the wires have been inserted into there respective pins, use a pair of pliers to pull the wires all the way through, making sure all the stripped portion of the wires are pulled all the way into the pins.

[Image: 40129644472_d9510f737e_k.jpg]

by Steve Davis, on Flickr

Solder and trim the wires.

[Image: 40129644462_df52e47705_k.jpg]

by Steve Davis, on Flickr

It requires a little work and might even be a little frustrating, but in the end, it is worth the effort.