[TEG]

Posted in the electrical section but hoping for a response here. I have pretty significant drain. Battery will last for a week or so before it is dead. Tonight, I used a test light and found that with one probe on the negative cable and touching to the block, the light shines bright. My car, a 69 GTO, was epoxy dipped (frame and body) and I am wondering if it is likely that either the ground from the block to the fire wall or frame to fender is bad. Before I go scratching around, does this sound likely? Can't remember if there is a third ground strap. I suppose I could remove the straps, ground them to something metal and retest the light? As you can tell, I am very limited in my knowledge of electrical. There was a slight spark when I touched the light probe to the block.

Yes, I understand this isn't correct and yes, the cables are off the battery.

Any thought about why this is happening?

[69Customs]

You need to hook your neg battery to ground, Disconnect the pos battery cable and hook your test light between the pos cable and battery. With everything off (key out) if light lights up something is drawing current. Start pulling fuses until light goes out. That is the line with problems. If you have aftermarket radio it could be the clock that is drawing current, but if you are getting a spark while hooking up your test light it means a heavy current draw so something may be shorted. I would not store car in garage with cables attached in this condition as it may lead to a fire until you get this problem solved.
So get on the positive (pos) cable and start pulling fuses.

[gtohurstjudge]

Don't bother pulling fuses that are powered up by the ignition switch, as they
are dead when the key is in the off position. The fuses in question are the courtesy
and cig lighter fuse and the brake light fuse. If pulling the courtesy fuse gets rid of the drain, be sure to check the glove box lamp to see if it is out when the door is shut.
Also a bad alternator can cause this problem, disconnect the bat wire to the alternator
and see if the test light goes out. Also unplug the voltage regulator as I have seen these cause a drain. Believe it or not, a drain can be caused by a defective noise
supression condensor on the voltage regulator or the fuse box. Try unplugging
those as well. Another possiblility is that you have a chafed wire on the bat wire
going to the starter solenoid that is touching a ground bad enough to cause a drain
but not an electrical fire. If you have the power seat option or power antenna option
their switches can short out and cause a drain, as can a power convertible top motor switch. Anything that has battery hot going to it when the key is off is suspect.

[69Customs]

Good advice gtohurstjudge !!

[TEG]

Thanks for the advice, I will follow it.