Don't ever arc your battery.

Damn near welded the wrench and terminals together. Melted the ground terminal clamp but the battery was fine after putting the fire out.

A reminder to be safe...

Wiring still worked after the roast but the generator light is on... going to have to figure that out now..

Check the ground stud to the body. You can melt that too!

Always ground the battery last.

I did. I was tightening the ground bolt. I was just sloppy and was using the larger RL battery because I was cranking the motor for a long time.

Will do. Most of the juice was running between the terminals.

Had the car coughing / popping after installing a new terminal clamp.

I've done that, not on a 914, but on a bug. I deformed a wrench and killed the voltage regulator (though it may or may not have been dead anyways).

I think my VR is shot too. Might have an extra one around somewhere.

Now I remember why I put a shop cloth over the + terminal when tightening the - terminal......

Kindling? Maybe douce it in gas first for a flash?

Actually, a very good idea. I was just sloppy.

BTDT. Burnt the shit out of my hand.

BTDT, but it was a wrench from the top of the weber carb to the pos terminal on the batt.

Is this where the professional mechanic reminds everyone that this can also cause an instantaneous explosion of the battery ! You should always wear eye protection when working on the terminals , cables ,starter, or alternator , just in case you have a spastic moment. I have only seen it three times in forty years, but all three were like small bombs going off , with sulfuric acid everywhere. Please be safe, disconnect the negative ( ground ) cable first and reconnect it last, but wear glasses !

Ouch....

Best battery arc for me was the hood of another car of mine.....new battery fit perfect.......except for height as it was an easy inch too tall! Luckily they make the hoods of Datsun 510 on the thin side so the arcing was short.

Dropped a crescent wrench over the top of a battery back up setup for a cell site back in 84. By the time it arched & sparked its way through the entire 4 ft tall rack it was nothing but a blob of melted metal. That scared the out of me (I was 19 then) that and I learned to NEVER take the cover off the rack while working above it, not matter how much it was PITA to work around.

Last year someone (Tom T?) sold a kit of fuses to place inline on the positive battery cables. Would those fuses stopped the alternator and other parts from frying? That's what I was thinking....electrical genius...let me and us know. It might be good for others to know.

I may have a VR for you Rob, if you need one.

BTDT: old Dodge Charger years ago. Tightening the Pos terminal with a "too big wrench". Hit the neg terminal and the top of the radiator at the same time. Burned a half inch hole in the top of the radiator...starting spouting like Old Faithful.