Battery Cable & grounding question

I've just received my new battery cables from M&H Electric and have a question about the negative cable. My '71 GS455 has an aftermarket negative cable that also has the thin grounding wire that is attached to the fender for grounding. The new spring ring cable I received doesn't have the small wire. So, is this correct for a '71 and if so, how does the engine get grounded to the chassis and/or body?

I believe the very late '71s and later models have the side post terminal cables and the negative cable does have the grounding wire to the fender. Correct?

 

I have a 72 skylark and has side mounting terminals with the small grounding step to the fender you mention.

Mark

 

1970 chevelle also had the extra wire to the fender.

 

I don't know if '71 had the extra wire on the cable or not. You just need to make sure that the ground straps between the engine & firewall are present.

 

There should be a grounding strap from the rear of the pass side head to the firewall..

 

No 71's had small grounds on the battery cables. The early spring ring cables did not have them. The 455 A body changed over to side post cables around April and this generation side post did not have the ground either. These cables can be made by M&H as well. The ground on the side post started in 72. Another interesting thing is very early 70 cars had a small ground on the neg cable of the spring ring cable. This may not have hung around too long and may have been a 69 carryover.

 

"I believe the very late '71s and later models have the side post terminal cables and the negative cable does have the grounding wire to the fender. Correct? "

Not true for 71. I have taken original side post off of 71's and no small ground was present.

 

If you want to be super correct the braided ground strap at the back of the Engine attaches to the passenger side screw on the voltage regulator

 

That's the info I was looking for and I now remember that strap on my '70 GS455 convertible. Thanks for all the feedback, guys.

 

Ray, I am guessing your 70 was very early.

 

Actually, it wasn't very early. VIN was 446670H281XXX built in April 1970. It had non-pointed gauges and opaque radiator overflow jug. Why would it have had to be an early '70 car?

I also went rummaging through an old nut and bolt box this evening and found what I believe might be an original ground strap from a pre '72 GS. Is this what it looks like? It's 12 inches long from center to center of the connector holes.

 

Dave, thanks for the pic. Looks like the braided strap I found in my parts box is the one. Can't see where on the head the other end connects. Is it the manifold, or is there a threaded hole in the head itself?

 

Ray, It is the head itself it attaches too. It takes a 3/8" hex head bolt which is about 1/2" to 3/4" long. The original bolt was zinc plated. I can try and get you a picture of where it attaches. You can clean those cables up to look new. I used Prep All or brake cleaner and an old toothbrush. Soak it good and scrub away. It will look new. The ends can be cleaned with 0000 steel wool. I wonder why I ever wasted money on new ones that were not the correct length?

Funny about your 70 having the ground style negative cable spring ring. The assembly manual shows no ground on the cable. There is a note in the upper right corner that is very difficult to read. It looks like the cable part number was changed in August of 69. There was usually a delay when these changes went into effect. They must have had a large stock of the old ones on hand. The diagram shows both the new battery cables and where the ground strap attaches to the head. Look for the pen pointer. I also included a photo of the ground on my car.

 

I must not have explained what my '70 had correctly. It had the ground strap on the back of the head and not the ground wire on the negative battery cable. That would make it consistent with what you were thinking is correct.

Did all the heads from '70 up have the threaded hole for the ground strap? I did clean the ground strap I found up with gun scrubber and a copper brush and it turned out looking pretty good. Here it is while it was still dirty. It still has some red engine paint on the 3/8 hole and the other hole is smaller to fit the voltage regulator. It's been in my nuts and bolts box for over 20 years. Can't believe I remembered it was there since I sold my '70 over 20 years ago.

 

OK Ray. I got you now. A know at least the heads from 70 and 71 have the threaded holes in the head for the ground strap. I cannot speak for later years. And by the way the ground strap bolt to the head is 1/2" long.

 

I removed the heater core box from my firewall tonight to strip it and repaint it and I noticed when I was taking off the speed nuts that two of the fasteners up on the fan end of the box were 7/16 headed screws with star washers underneath them while the rest were just the regular tin stamped 7/16 speed nuts on the remaining studs around the heater core opening on the firewall. No ground straps attached to those star washers but makes me wonder why they were there, do they ground the case for the fan motor? And to bring it back to the original question about battery cable grounds who makes the best repro battery cables for a '70?

 

I think there is only one place that makes them, American Autowire. The other sellers like LectricLimited get them from there, I think CARS, M&H and others get them from there. If you need the insulator block on the + LectricLimited can do it. I don't know if the + cable is supposed to have a braided covering or not. I don't think the repros have that. I see copperheadGS1 (Dave) has that on his X, but he may have done it himself. I don't know if it was there originally or not. I'm sure he will chime in.

 

Frank. You are right, here I am..........My positive battery cable did come with the braided cover but I do not think they came that way originally. Most original cars I see do not have them. I guess the wrap could have fallen off as well. Later NOS side post cables did come with the wrap. I have not decided if I will take mine off or not. The assembly manual diagram does not show the wrap either........As far as the screws with the star washers they are correct. There was no ground wire on Non AC cars so the reason is anyone's guess why they were used. You can see the screws in this diagram I attached. .. For another little tid-bit. The heater box on the engine side was gloss black Much glossier than the firewall which was pretty flat.

 

Jeff, you may also be correct that the screws do ground the blower motor as only one screw attaches to it.