70’s Mercury 850 Thunderbolt - Distributor Wires

I have an 850…works fine (although the rpm’s are a bit high), but I am concerned about the 3 wires from the distributor to the Switch Box Assembly. The wires are worn at the point where they enter the Distributor Body. I soldered one that was sheared off flush and supported others to prevent them from being pulled, but it seems to be a failure waiting to happen.

After the wires enter the Distributor Body, they disappear under what appears to be black wax or plastic.

Question: is the black stuff meltable, such that the wires could be accessed and spliced, then the black stuff put back? The alternative is to either wait, or buy a $650 part (neither of these give me a warm fuzzy), so I’m all ears.

As always…thanks

There was a post several years ago about exactly the same problem. He carefully ground out the filler material (Dremel maybe) down to contacts and was able to solder new wires on . I don't remember what he used as a replacement filler.
Mercurys of that era had terrible insulation on wiring, better check

Post in thread '74 mercury 850' https://forums.iboats.com/threads/74-mercury-850.761292/post-5807290