Today while making some timing and carb adjustments I noticed that I didn't see a body to engine ground anywhere. The two small blocks have grounds from the left cylinder head to firewall and the big Merc a strap from left side block to frame rail. So where would have been the correct place for this ground be on a 65 with 352 engine?

 

check out my new post... i have 2 engine pics i think you should beable to see the motor to cab ground...

 

Looked, and I don't see what I am looking for. One can just catch the battery to block ground right by the alternator though.

 

well... hmm... i know what cable your talking about on ours it comes from a intake bolt on the back side and runs to a hole in the dash in some place if i remember correctly.. jsut wait until ND see's this thread he will tell you how many thread count bolts there are... lol

 

Any bolt on the block near the front should work for the battery - cable, the more grounds that you can add will be a plus. Make sure you remove any paint before attaching new grounds.

I have noticed that the newer trucks have ground cables everywhere, but are more dependent on current flow.




John

 

However, I am talking about a second ground. All my other Fords have a second ground from the engine to the frame. Cougars and Mustangs use the same location behind the left cylinder head. I wanted to know where the second location would be on a 352 truck. I could put it anywhere but you know me I would like it to be correct.

 

Interesting, my truck does not, it surely wouldn't hurt to have one, but don't think it is required either.


But if it pleases thee to have one by all means please do.





John

 

My 66 is grounded from the back of the intake, where the gas pedal cable bolts on, to the firewall.

 

Mine was on the back of the block to the steering shaft cover bolt, I didn't like it when I installed the new motor so I cleaned an area on the fire wall through the paint using a dremmel with sandpaper and smeared a little dialectric grease on the bear metal for corrision protection then used a large self tapping sheet metal screw to secure the ground strap, I instantly noticed my headlights and dash lights were brighter.

 

My 65 too, installed a direct linkage accelerator pedal so moved the ground strap. Ended up purchasing a couple extra straps from Napa parts and added 1 from the 65 CC instrument cluster to the steering column bracket, may be my imagination but seemed to have calmed the instrument jitter.

 

I worked at a transmission repair shop years ago and saw a lot of pitted/scored bearings in trannys and differentials due to bad engine/body grounds.
Electricity takes the path of least resistance, and if that happens to be through your block-trans-driveshaft-rear diff assymbly then thats where it travels.
Imagine full cranking amperage (700 amps + on a cold motor) going thru your rotating bits, not good considering the small contact points of ball bearings.
One way to check for this is to place a voltmeter between the neg. batt post and a good ground on the motor and crank it over, if you see any voltage during cranking you have a ground issue.
You can check chassis grounds by placing a voltmeter between the neg batt post and a clean spot on the chassis or the ground lug on your headlight bulb and turn on the headlights. If you see any voltage you have chassis ground issues.
If you see, lets say 3 volts, between the ground lug on your headlight bulb and the negative battery post that means your only running 9 volts thru your headlights. (9 volts = dim...)
I have been a FM 2-way radio tech for 25 years and constantly stress the importance to my techs the importance of multiple grounds on vehicles.
New vehicles have ground straps,(flat braid) not wire, on the diff, trans, exhaust and several on the motor.
Even though we are not running all of the newer modern current sapping devices in our old trucks, its a good idea to install some good ground straps on our trucks.
Good luck, Doug