The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay grounding question

Here i am working on a 1956 chevy truck with a 235 engine. From looking at the factory manual it shows the ground the flat wire coming from the negative side to the firewall just under the batter bracket.

Should i run a grounding wire from one of the starter bolts to the frame also? I don't know, whats your opinions?

Since the most current hungry item on your truck is the starter that is where I would put the battery ground. I use one of the large bolts that mount the transmission to the engine. I then go from somewhere on the engine to frame and also to chassis.

Too many grounds won't hurt a thing.

Originally the Battery Ground was bolted to a captured nut under the battery tray on the fire wall. A second ground strap was bolted to a captured nut down low on the toe board just above the starter and connected to the starter mounting bolt at the bell housing. I guess that was cheaper than running a 40" copper cable from the battery to the bell housing.

If you do go direct from the battery to the bell housing with a cable don't forget to add the ground strap from the same bolt on the bell housing to the toe board to ground the cab.

Mike B

I just went out to the garage and looked at the bolt that is at the corner of the toe board on the passengers side that is about 2 inches away from the transmission cover. The bolt head is out by the firewall and threads in. That's a perfect spot. where exactly did you run it to from the clutch hosing. Under the stop starter mounting hardware or should I get a longer bolt for the bottom of the starter and run the grounds one to the frame and the other to the bolt in the toe board? BTW what was that bolt used for in the toe board?

Two more connection points for the starter current is not a good thing, especially if you're still running 6 volts. Run a HEAVY ground cable from the battery to the block or bellhousing near the starter, and a smaller-gauge jumper from the engine to the frame or the body for grounding headlights, etc. A 6V starter can draw 250-300 amps on a hard start, and having a low-resistance current path is essential. It's not the original cable routing, but it's MUCH smarter to give the starter every advantage you can. You don't have to try to make a profit selling hundreds of thousands of trucks.
Jerry

Copy Hotrod, My 56 is 12v I went to NAPA to day to see what Kind of grounding staps they had and I purchased 3 staps a 1/2 lug to 1/2 lug 14 inches long I plan on using from the bottom of the starter bolt to the frame and at 2 different points I am using 1 3/8 lug to 3/8 lug 9 inch long from the clutching housing to the body that special sweet spot I was referring to on the fire wall and a 3/8 lug to clamp that goes from the clutch housing at a different mounting point to the battery. Your right 40 bucks is going to break me since I am not in the MFR business

thanks guys