I have an old pump (Lotus "Little Gem") which is still working fine (so
am loath to throw it away) but the cable is becoming very degraded: the
outer rubber cover is cracking away in several places. As far as I can
see the cable just disappears into a lump of resin(?) in the body of the
pump. Any thoughts about digging this out and replacing it (with
silicone?) -- or am I really onto a loser here?

Douglas de Lacey