Battery Ground Strap:
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Cherryville,N.C.
Battery Ground Strap:
Can someone show and tell me where the positive battery ground strap mounts to on a 1952 F-1 with 239 flathead.I got a new strap from Carpenters and it is only 9.5 inches long????Do I need to run two ground straps.I am still 6 volt stock everything.
Posting Guru
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From: Clitherall, MN.
On my 226 there is a smallish bolt in the top of the head where my ground strap goes. Yours should be fairly close to the positive post I would think.
Last edited by toby tough; Jan 11, 2016 at 06:38 PM. Reason: spelling
Fleet Owner
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From: NM
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Cherryville,N.C.
What I am trying to figure out is Carpenters list a ground strap as "Battery to Motor Block Ground Cable-9 5/8" and just for 48-51?What happen to 52?I don't think this cable will reach to motor?
Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2011
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From: Rockingham, VA
So the short one from DC will not fit your truck, nor would it fit the trucks through '51. It is too short.
Fleet Owner
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From: NM
As was discussed in the linked older threads, it can work, if you take it to the firewall, and from the firewall you have a second cable to the block. That is the way "some" trucks came, but it's a stupid way to do it. If you want to do it that way, go back and read the linked threads. It's all there.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Cherryville,N.C.
I called DC today and ask about the ground strap.I talked to a gentleman that was very helpful.He explained to me that there was a change from 51 to 52.He said his book showed it mounted to the firewall up to 51.I ask him where on the firewall and he said it looked like it used one of the solenoid mounting bolts,which I doubt?I have owned in the past a 48,50 & 51 but can not remember how the battery cables were set -up.
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Post Fiend
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From: Waterloo, Iowa
You could experiment. Measure the voltage drop during engine cranking, between the starter terminal and the battery terminal while ignition is disabled, and between the ground terminal of the battery and a clean unpainted portion of the starter itself. Anything more than a few tenths total between them is too much.
Try running the ground directly to the engine block. Also Block to frame, block to firewall. OCD types run multiple ground straps, also from block to cylinder heads, block to distributor body etc.
It's been 20 years but my 64 was grounded somewhere to the firewall when I got it, possibly the solenoid. I can't remember. I don't think that is factory. I ran a heavy cable direct to a bolt on the starter.
Try running the ground directly to the engine block. Also Block to frame, block to firewall. OCD types run multiple ground straps, also from block to cylinder heads, block to distributor body etc.
It's been 20 years but my 64 was grounded somewhere to the firewall when I got it, possibly the solenoid. I can't remember. I don't think that is factory. I ran a heavy cable direct to a bolt on the starter.
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From: NM
Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2009
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From: Burbank, WA
From the Jan '52 Chassis Parts Catalog;
48-51) 239 application used part number 78 14301, 9.6" long,
or # 8RC 14301, 17.5" long (with note 'battery to engine ground')
52) 239, 215, 254 application used # 2RC 14301, 17.5" long.
So, depending on how it was wired, it could have a short or long cable, but the B6C part shown in the later catalog is 2" longer than original. Since it would work fine in replacement of the longer cable, the old part was discontinued and the new part substituted with a larger application base.
Lead Driver
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From: Rockingham, VA
Sorry, Joe, but you're incorrect. You're reading the 1964 printing catalog with all of it's superseded parts that the factory says will work as replacement parts 12+ years after production, with the belief that list is a production bible. It's a common mistake. That's why the old catalogs are so valuable. They paint a more accurate picture of what would have been correct.
From the Jan '52 Chassis Parts Catalog;
48-51) 239 application used part number 78 14301, 9.6" long,
or # 8RC 14301, 17.5" long (with note 'battery to engine ground')
52) 239, 215, 254 application used # 2RC 14301, 17.5" long.
So, depending on how it was wired, it could have a short or long cable, but the B6C part shown in the later catalog is 2" longer than original. Since it would work fine in replacement of the longer cable, the old part was discontinued and the new part substituted with a larger application base.
From the Jan '52 Chassis Parts Catalog;
48-51) 239 application used part number 78 14301, 9.6" long,
or # 8RC 14301, 17.5" long (with note 'battery to engine ground')
52) 239, 215, 254 application used # 2RC 14301, 17.5" long.
So, depending on how it was wired, it could have a short or long cable, but the B6C part shown in the later catalog is 2" longer than original. Since it would work fine in replacement of the longer cable, the old part was discontinued and the new part substituted with a larger application base.
Fleet Owner
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From: NM
The old, old way was to ground the battery to a welded lug on the firewall, right behind the battery. Then a separate, also short, strap went from a lug on the firewall behind the engine, to the block. You can guess why they quit doing that, it is wrong in so many ways.
BTW those braided straps are incredibly low amp capacity. I wanted one at one point, and looked up their ratings. Really low. Like equivalent to a #4 copper cable.
BTW those braided straps are incredibly low amp capacity. I wanted one at one point, and looked up their ratings. Really low. Like equivalent to a #4 copper cable.
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