[KLG]

After reading about SSDan’s success (and everyone else’s) with adding secondary grounding cables, I decided to do something similar. I really haven’t had issues with the starter turning the engine over slowly, although, from time to time I have noticed just the slightest indication of the starter turning slowly, but it picked up right away.

So, first thing I did was check the existing frame to engine grounding. Someone had asked where the ground cable goes after attaching to the frame. After attaching to the frame lug, the cable goes down and over the alternator, with the other end attaching to the right side (passenger side) of the engine block, just past the alternator and ahead of the starter. I checked the tightness of that bolt (15 mm socket) and mine was tight.

I liked SSDan’s addition of a secondary ground cable in the trunk, so I did the same. The only difference is that I routed the second cable through the induction coil, just like the OEM ground cable. Does that make a difference? I don’t know, but I had a 32” cable and it fit.

I struggled a bit with how to run the additional ground from the body to the engine. For my first pass at it, since my sound tube is gone, I used the closest sound tube mounting spot and routed the cable along the radiator hose to the lug on the frame. However, I was concerned with galvanic issues connecting near the water pump and being so far from the starter motor. I wanted the additional connection to be close as possible to the starter. The galvanic issues are probably me just over thinking things, but I am OCD. I never tried starting the car with this arrangement and I removed it soon after installing it.

After studying the situation under the car, I came up with another setup. One end of the cable attaches using the bell housing bolt closest to the starter. The other end of the cable routs to an unused body stud in the transmission tunnel, right side. This stud is the same size as the stud in the trunk floor.

For the project, I used cables from O’Reilly’s. While only 4 gauge, I figure since I was supplementing the OEM grounding, 4 gauge should work fine and it is not too difficult to work with cables this size. And 4 gauge will carry a lot of current just on its own.

For all connections, I tested with my Ohm meter to confirm the body was grounded in the attachment areas. I had no more than 0.3 Ohm resistance after cleaning the body mounting points down to bare metal.

With this setup, I started the car and everything seemed OK. I am doing other work to it right now, so I haven’t been out for a test drive.

--KLG--