[Spike-A-Pike]

Craig,

I think your talking about the coating they put on the copper (a lacquer type coating) to prevent oxidation from turning the wire green. That said, you may want to actually keep that coating intact. I would try determining if the originals have that coating or not; the simplest way to test that would be to see if it melts.

I have been play with automotive wiring lately and I haven't come across any clear coat on the automotive primary wire sold by Advanced Auto. There is shielded wire used in aircraft applications that has several funky distinct layers; weird cool stuff.

I think you could look at the different gauge wires and find a size that works for your weed guard. Good luck!