Cab Ground ?
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From: Graham, Wa.
Cab Ground ?
I am chasing some electrical gremlins in my 74' and I found what appears to be a factory ground wire attached to the firewall directly behind the drivers side head. This wire currently is attached to the firewall, but the other end is just dangling with a broken connector. Am I correct in assuming that this should be attached to motor? Given it's length, it would appear that it may have been attached to the back valve cover bolt. Any info would be appreciated.
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From: Graham, Wa.
This wire is actually a heavy gauge sheilded wire, but I also found an unshielded flat wire on the passenger side that was also dangling loose, but it did not appear to be long enough to attach to anything.
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From: Graham, Wa.
Any suggestions as to where this grounding strap is supposed to be connected to? Is the cab supposed to be grounded to the block or to the frame? Either way, it was not long enough to be connected to either (but that can be fixed). Thanks.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Dec 2009
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From: NorCal
Grounds....there should be a braided ground strap on the passenger side firewall connected to the hood with a sheetmetal screw. It's there to dissipate static electricity on the hood. Interesting tidbit: early 60s Vette's had a metal hood formed over the distributor cap cuz it created radio interference. SBCs and BBCs, as you may know, have their distributor located on the back of the block. Getting back to the subject at hand....
For the cab, my rig has a factory ground wire (about 10 gauge) with two large eyelets connected btwn the firewall to a stud on the back of the passenger-side cylinder head The stud is double-ended.. a threaded end goes into the cylinder head and then the eyelet is secured with a nut on the other end. Feel the back of the driver-side cylinder head for a bolt hole.
Variations could exist depending on where your rig was built. I think mine was built in Missouri.
For the cab, my rig has a factory ground wire (about 10 gauge) with two large eyelets connected btwn the firewall to a stud on the back of the passenger-side cylinder head The stud is double-ended.. a threaded end goes into the cylinder head and then the eyelet is secured with a nut on the other end. Feel the back of the driver-side cylinder head for a bolt hole.
Variations could exist depending on where your rig was built. I think mine was built in Missouri.
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From: Graham, Wa.
Grounds....there should be a braided ground strap on the passenger side firewall connected to the hood with a sheetmetal screw. It's there to dissipate static electricity on the hood. Interesting tidbit: early 60s Vette's had a metal hood formed over the distributor cap cuz it created radio interference. SBCs and BBCs, as you may know, have their distributor located on the back of the block. Getting back to the subject at hand....
For the cab, my rig has a factory ground wire (about 10 gauge) with two large eyelets connected btwn the firewall to a stud on the back of the passenger-side cylinder head The stud is double-ended.. a threaded end goes into the cylinder head and then the eyelet is secured with a nut on the other end. Feel the back of the driver-side cylinder head for a bolt hole.
Variations could exist depending on where your rig was built. I think mine was built in Missouri.
For the cab, my rig has a factory ground wire (about 10 gauge) with two large eyelets connected btwn the firewall to a stud on the back of the passenger-side cylinder head The stud is double-ended.. a threaded end goes into the cylinder head and then the eyelet is secured with a nut on the other end. Feel the back of the driver-side cylinder head for a bolt hole.
Variations could exist depending on where your rig was built. I think mine was built in Missouri.
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From: Austin, TX
Correction: The braided ground strap on the hood is used to increase the ground plane area for the radio antenna. It also serves as the ground return for the under-hood light, if so equipped.
At the end of the day, the cab sheetmetal needs to be grounded to the block through a thick ground strap. Both ends of the ground strap need to bolt to clean, unpainted metal. This ground path is responsible for the ground return for the entire front half of the truck's electrical system.
The frame is grounded by connecting to the cab through a second ground strap - and the cab is grounded to the block as mentioned above.
At the end of the day, the cab sheetmetal needs to be grounded to the block through a thick ground strap. Both ends of the ground strap need to bolt to clean, unpainted metal. This ground path is responsible for the ground return for the entire front half of the truck's electrical system.
The frame is grounded by connecting to the cab through a second ground strap - and the cab is grounded to the block as mentioned above.
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