Ground strap locations

[Andy4639]

Well a friend of mine gave me about 50' of this grounding wire they used at the phone company. I grounded the 68 with it. I have the ramp truck done with it also. Neither one is Stock correct by no means but the lights and all the electric's work well.

On my 71 LS 6.0 swap I added a bunch of grounds with #10 wire to it just to make sure all the electronic's worked well. So far so good.

[68 P.O.S.]

Originally Posted by 70STOVEBOLT

Does anyone have a pic of the radiator support ground strap? I see in DeadheadNM's Blazer post that it's bolted to the core support behind the battery tray but the pic doesn't show where the other end attaches.

On my current truck, and my previous truck, the ground wire on the rad support uses the same bolt as the headlight ground behind the battery box. The other end you're asking about connects to the small wire that comes off the neg battery cable.

[68 P.O.S.]

Originally Posted by Andy4639

Well a friend of mine gave me about 50' of this grounding wire they used at the phone company. I grounded the 68 with it. I have the ramp truck done with it also. Neither one is Stock correct by no means but the lights and all the electric's work well.

On my 71 LS 6.0 swap I added a bunch of grounds with #10 wire to it just to make sure all the electronic's worked well. So far so good.

Nice Andy, I bet that wire works very well.

[72c20customcamper]

Just cleaning a few of the ones I took off the 68. Came out good this is the firewall to block strap. It was black when I started the frame one from the cab to body mount hanger is still soaking

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by 72c20customcamper

Just cleaning a few of the ones I took off the 68. Came out good this is the firewall to block strap. It was black when I started the frame one from the cab to body mount hanger is still soaking

My 68 was missing the firewall to engine ground strap. Does your 68 have just this one strap? Where do the two ends attach? Is it a V8?

[Andy4639]

Originally Posted by 68 P.O.S.

Nice Andy, I bet that wire works very well.

So far it has. My 71 I did way before I got this ground strap wire. I put several extra grounds all over the truck. I haven't had any issues with wiring at all.

[72c20customcamper]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

My 68 was missing the firewall to engine ground strap. Does your 68 have just this one strap? Where do the two ends attach? Is it a V8?

Only one I've found on the engine
I6 so its mounted on the passenger side firewall and to the valve cover

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Yesterday I installed new replacement valve cover straps on way to install all five. I thought to check the old ones f with little intent to install them, I had chucked the one off the fender and there wasn't one for the bed. The three off my truck were painted like everything else exterior, wholly smokes, no rust but everything had to be stripped when I tore her down.

You're not kidding above, Most of GM's suppliers were top notch, it's had to believe these are 50 years old now, built in USA. Paint comes off and so does tarnish for days. Many hours later I came up with a set, my donor truck has rarely let me down, two is what I needed & two is all she had, she gets the new stuff For what worth the replacements barely stretched to my inner fender hole on the donor truck, it's not a good fit, they're 1/4" or so shorter than original.

This is what my truck had & restored, for forensics 1971 402, mileage may vary......

LH valve cover 13.1/8" and RH valve cover 10.1/2". I think those were measured end to end, I didn't double check, I just know one is longer and can't speak as to why. They're open-ended for the valve covers. Replacements are 12", though I've only seen one set.

The other three are 6" end-to-end. Asterisk for bed but there's no reason for a different strap than 6". I don't know where the bed strap was placed for positive, but I believe it connects from the RH frame rail interior wall to the rear bed cross support on my 71 SWB. Same on the LH side EDIT, SAY I SAID WHAT? I don't believe my truck ever had a ground strap on the LH side beyond the LH valve cover to firewall (BBC). The other four are on the RH side. For what worth, the truck was restored with really great finishes. I only exposed metal using a pilot brush for the three straps connected to the RH frame rail. Everything works. I guess what I'm trying to say is it's not a big deal unless grounds aren't accounted for or the connections are bad. I suppose a rotten frame can cause BA problems though, just a guess.

[cericd]

Originally Posted by 71CHEVYSHORTBED402

Yesterday I installed new replacement valve cover straps on way to install all five. I thought to check the old ones f with little intent to install them, I had chucked the one off the fender and there wasn't one for the bed. The three off my truck were painted like everything else exterior, wholly smokes, no rust but everything had to be stripped when I tore her down.

You're not kidding above, Most of GM's suppliers were top notch, it's had to believe these are 50 years old now, built in USA. Paint comes off and so does tarnish for days. Many hours later I came up with a set, my donor truck has rarely let me down, two is what I needed & two is all she had, she gets the new stuff For what worth the replacements barely stretched to my inner fender hole on the donor truck, it's not a good fit, they're 1/4" or so shorter than original.

This is what my truck had & restored, for forensics 1971 402, mileage may vary......

LH valve cover 13.1/8" and RH valve cover 10.1/2". I think those were measured end to end, I didn't double check, I just know one is longer and can't speak as to why. They're open-ended for the valve covers. Replacements are 12", though I've only seen one set.

The other three are 6" end-to-end. Asterisk for bed but there's no reason for a different strap than 6". I don't know where the bed strap was placed for certain, but I believe those run from the RH frame rail to the rear bed cross frame. On mine there's a hole in my frame rail for that. Same on the LH side, but I think it takes a harness clip. No sign of a hole on any of my bed cross frames, but the bed had some work.

Are those the restored ground straps in your pics? If so, how did you restoe them? They look brand new!

[CastIron]

I know this is an older thread, but it seems to be the most complete thread about grounds. I have some questions for everybody: Has anybody figured out why some engines don't have ground straps between the valve covers and firewall? I bought my 1969 C1500 (307/ 3ott) from the original owner and I have been unable to find any place where the ground would go to the firewall. There's no holes where most trucks seem to have them. My truck was very original when I bought in 2001, but since then I've installed a crate 350 and a few other upgrades.

[67 Burb]

My battery ground cable is connected to the right cylinder head. I have a ground from the same cable to the inner fender. The alternator has a ground cable to an intake manifold bolt. My electrical system works fine with no ground from the valve cover to the firewall.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by cericd

Are those the restored ground straps in your pics? If so, how did you restoe them? They look brand new!

Yeah, they are. Refreshed more like it. GM built a nice product. That was long ago. They had paint on them, and I probably started and finished removing it with paint remover. Then brushes, cloths, a good metal polish, and rub to your heart's content. I seem to remember using 3M metal polish. If so, one more example why the straps were built so well. Gold anodized, some level of brass? Not sure.

For what worth.........................

I had to clean up some nonsense from my post above.

As for my negative cable, with a side mount battery............ a jumper wire on the cable's battery terminal connects to the RH fender wall, with one of GMs standard 1/4" tap screws, located approx. 7.5" forward the hood hinge. The cable's ring terminal connects using the lower A/C compressor bracket’s bottom front bolt and flat washer, for 71 BBC with AC. Old thread man

My 71 had a top post battery, and the corrosion burned up my battery box, of which I was partially responsible. Here's an interesting memo a board member shared. I restored the truck with a side mount, 1971 were either or.

Ooops, the memo doesn't post well as images. In general,

August 1, 1970, New batteries for GMs 71s".

Developed in 1969, that could well remove maintenance problems, will supply 80% of GM car divisions' 71 model cars, the new Delco Sealed Side Terminal Battery. Maint. free, reducing corrosion by a lot, life is good and so on. Interesting read, hopefully someone has a link to the memo.

Here's a twist; "Most 1971 GM passenger and light truck, as pointed out, will use the Energizer ST unit as original equipment".

Say what? Energizer and Delco, what's the difference, GM used both? Energizer built Delco?