Grounding the battery., What's the proper way? Options

[Bob L.]

I have just finished moving the battery to the front trunk. so far I have the ground cable bolted through a pre drilled hole in the front trunk. I scraped away some paint/coating to get to bare metal, for a good ground. So far it all seems to work fine. I just don't feel like I should leave it like that.

Is there a proper way to prepare the sheet metal/bolt/wire to prevent corrosion from the current or moisture?

OR... should I just coat it over with a protectant spray now that it is done?

Thanks,
Bob.

[Mike Bellis]

Electrically you have a correct connection. When I moved my battery up front, I bolted a ground up front to the chassis as you did but I also added a 4/0 cable all the way to the engine block. Mine is a little overkill.

[SLITS]

The single bolt without any covering worked for many years on a stock car ... wanna reinvent the wheel?

[vw505]

I've got a kit to move the battery. Can I see some photos of your battery placement and where you ran the cable.

[stugray]

If you are overly anal and $ is not a problem, then there is a copper brush on coating that actually plates a bare metal surface.
http://www.caswellplating.com/electroplati...copper-kit.html

Then when I attach a ground stud to bare metal, I use one of those "star" lock washers to get a good bite.
Finally home depot sells a CRC lube that is supposed to drive water out of, lubricate & protect electrical connections.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/CRC-2-26-5-oz-M...2004/100398344#

For low current connections I do as they say above, but I would treat the battery differently since that connection will see greater than 100 Amps when cranking the starter.

... wanna reinvent the wheel?

The stock ground lug is brazed in place BTW. Doing it as good as stock is not "re-inventing the wheel" IMO.

[Bob L.]

I ran the cable following the A/C hoses into the wheel well, along the passenger rocker, into the front wheel well and into the front trunk through one of the A/C holes. If I didn't have the A/C hoses I would probably have tried to go through the tunnel. The cable is thick and very hard to bend tightly so gentle curves help.





What kit is available?

[mgp4591]

It's not a bad idea or overkill IMO to run a large cable back to the engine, 'specially if you're planning a nice sound system. The added grounding will help prevent unwanted noise in your system if the other connections are correct also. That's another reason they make grounding kits with lots of add-on connections. Helps all the electricity to get where it's supposed to for the engine also....