The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay '58 235 Battery cables and grounding straps

I would appreciate it if someone could provide me with pictures of the correct way to connect the positive and negative battery cables, what they connect to, and how long they are. Also would like the same thing for the grounding strap(s). I have two braided straps, one with a battery terminal connection, that were removed from my 1958 235 Apache 3100 quite a few years ago, and I want to know what goes where.

Thanks guys.

factory cables run down behind the battery, + goes to the main starter post, braided ground goes to a boss on the firewall behind the battery ... the other braided ground goes from a starter mount bolt to the lower firewall as seen here - all just long enough to reach

Bill

Unless you're building a 100% original show truck, do yourself a favor and use a ground cable long enough to reach a bellhousing attaching bolt near the starter, then use smaller gauge ground wires or braided ground straps from the engine to the frame and/or the body and bed. The starter pulls the most current of any of the electrical items, and it needs a very low resistance ground circuit- - - -#0 cable or larger with a minimum of connections to negotiate.
Jerry

Bill,

This is very helpful.

Thank you,

John

Thanks Jerry. Going with a 100% restoration or as close as I can get.

John

OK, buddy just dropped off his 56 for the winter, got the thousand words for ya - batt ground, not a braided strap in this case, but connected where the factory put it for 55.2-59, about 10-12" long .... engine starter ground is as in the pic I posted above, measure from that boss on the firewall to a starter mount bolt, and for the battery measure from the batt to the starter

Bill

Thank you, Bill.

My kids were thankful for guys like you- - - -they ate a lot of good meals from the money I made fixing hard start/no start problems because of dirty grounds. Check and clean all the connections about every six months.
Jerry

raleigh58,

If you are interested in authenticity, do you have a 55-59 Factory Assembly Manual?

If it is like the earlier manual, it will show battery cable locations.

Most likely the battery cables were 4 gauge (2 gauge to 4 gauge should work fine). As posted above, be sure all battery cables/leads connectors are clean/shiny and use anti-oxidant conductive grease on the connection surfaces (available in small tubes at most auto parts stores).

If you don't have the manual, there is one for sale in the swap meet Stovebolt Miscellaneous forum.

Thanks to all respondents for the good information and tips. Yes, I do have the manual Cablesmill referred to and will check it once more.