Laurie S.

When my fastback was being wired, the negative battery cable was routed
along the subframe connectors to the rear of the car. It's still attached
with cable ties only. My thought is that it's neither the safest way to do
this or a long-term solution.

I have a trunk-mounted battery (on the passenger side) and it's connected to
the negative cable with a short cable that attaches to a bolt on the tiedown
bracket. The positive cable runs down inside through the door sill area and
along the underside of the rear quarter.

Last weekend, I started to secure the cable to the rear frame rail with
insulated clamps that I bought from Summit. Is there any problem that I'm
overlooking with attaching the clamps to the floor pan and moving the cable
up and off the subframes? I have loads of interior floor padding, so the
screws won't stick through. I was thinking of running the cable along the
floor pan in alignment with the subframe connectors to hide it a bit. I
don't want to drill holes in the subframes, but I've also been cautioned
about drilling holes in the floorpan.

Also, I'm noticing that as I secure the cable, I need less length. Is there
any way to shorten the existing cable, and if not, where is the best place
to get one at the length I need? It looks like it will be 6-8 inches too
long by the time I'm finished.

It's been suggested to me that I don't need the long cable, but to just use
the frame rail for the ground. However, someone with big block experience
said that it's not enough to crank a BB and that I should stick with the
long cable.

Advice, please?

-------------
Laurie S.
Thunder Snake #7

keller428@hotmail.com

The BB advise is right....especially for a street car where charging
loads can be high and heat-soaking a starter is common. You want the
frame/chassis connected to the negative battery terminal. The motor
should also be grounded to both the frame/chassis AND directly to the
negative side of the battery. A separate ground wire routed directly
from the battery to a junction block in the dashboard area for your
accessories to directly ground to wouldn't hurt either.

Why not run both cables inside the car to keep them hidden and away
from potentially damaging road debris? The main issue with shorts/fires
is the chaffing of the positive cable, so as long as you properly
address cable protection there's no problem with running them with each
other. You could run them up over the rear wheel house, inside the rear
quarter panels, along or in the rocker/door sill and either out through
some strategic holes in the toeboards, torque boxes, or the
firewall/cowl area right behind the passenger side of the motor.

-Mike.

Laurie S.

<keller428@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1132770006.960868.317080@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> The BB advise is right....especially for a street car where charging
> loads can be high and heat-soaking a starter is common. You want the
> frame/chassis connected to the negative battery terminal. The motor
> should also be grounded to both the frame/chassis AND directly to the
> negative side of the battery. A separate ground wire routed directly
> from the battery to a junction block in the dashboard area for your
> accessories to directly ground to wouldn't hurt either.
>
> Why not run both cables inside the car to keep them hidden and away
> from potentially damaging road debris? The main issue with shorts/fires
> is the chaffing of the positive cable, so as long as you properly
> address cable protection there's no problem with running them with each
> other. You could run them up over the rear wheel house, inside the rear
> quarter panels, along or in the rocker/door sill and either out through
> some strategic holes in the toeboards, torque boxes, or the
> firewall/cowl area right behind the passenger side of the motor.
>
> -Mike.
>


The problem with moving the negative cable inside now is my interior is all
done and with the modifications I did, it would be a whole heck of a lot of
work to tear apart. I can't bring myself to do all that. I think I'll just
attach it to the frame rail as high as I can. This isn't a daily driver, so
it should be okay.

-----------
Laurie S.
Thunder Snake #7

STUK

"Laurie S." <aztlan@theriver.com> wrote in message
news:43849a5b$0$1763$8b463f8a@news.nationwide.net...
> When my fastback was being wired, the negative battery cable was routed
> along the subframe connectors to the rear of the car. It's still attached
> with cable ties only. My thought is that it's neither the safest way to do
> this or a long-term solution.
>
> I have a trunk-mounted battery (on the passenger side) and it's connected
> to the negative cable with a short cable that attaches to a bolt on the
> tiedown bracket. The positive cable runs down inside through the door
> sill area and along the underside of the rear quarter.
>
> Last weekend, I started to secure the cable to the rear frame rail with
> insulated clamps that I bought from Summit. Is there any problem that I'm
> overlooking with attaching the clamps to the floor pan and moving the
> cable up and off the subframes? I have loads of interior floor padding, so
> the screws won't stick through. I was thinking of running the cable along
> the floor pan in alignment with the subframe connectors to hide it a bit.
> I don't want to drill holes in the subframes, but I've also been
> cautioned about drilling holes in the floorpan.
>
> Also, I'm noticing that as I secure the cable, I need less length. Is
> there any way to shorten the existing cable, and if not, where is the best
> place to get one at the length I need? It looks like it will be 6-8 inches
> too long by the time I'm finished.
>
> It's been suggested to me that I don't need the long cable, but to just
> use the frame rail for the ground. However, someone with big block
> experience said that it's not enough to crank a BB and that I should stick
> with the long cable.
>
> Advice, please?

I concur with Mike about the long negative cable. However we live in the
vicinity of Rustville, your Arizona car might not be as big an issue but It
wouldn't do you any harm.

As for the cable length, what I did when we ran cables for Ed's '68 Cougar,
I borrowed a "lug crimper" from my electrician brother and cut the cable to
the length I needed and measured and crimped it on. At the battery we used
marine cable ends that have a wing nut on them for quick disconnection.
StuK

ThunderSnake #11
>
> -------------
> Laurie S.
> Thunder Snake #7
>