[scott-462]

When we were reassembling my car we ran the negative battery cable to the frame, directly under the battery. After some thought, i realised it was originally connected to the drivers side head somewhere. I was pondering this because 85% of the time the starter has trouble cranking the engine. I thought, surely my compression isnt so high it would have trouble (oem starter). Then theres my presumably leaking well plug on the Q-jet, maybe it was extremely flooded and had trouble cranking, doubt it but.... THEN came the AH HA moment when i remembered the negative cable routing. Would grounding like that cause issues? I've read some vehicles came from the factory with the battery grounded to the frame instead of the engine. I dont want to buy a new cable and mess with redoing it if it will have no effect.

[steve25]

The start must beable to pull all the current it calls for from the battery at high load demands, and they only way it can do that is from the battery being grounded first right to the motor!
The factory ground straps will bring the current into the body of the car and the rest of the electrical system.

[68 Firebird Brian]

On my 68 Firebird, the NEG cable is attached to the head on the engine. The other end of the cable goes to the battery NEG post. Another wire from the NEG post connector goes to the fender as an additional ground to "frame".

[David Jones]

When I installed my 6X headed 455 I put it in expecting the ground strap I had to simply re-attach to the head as it had on my 400. To my surprise the 6X didn't have a hole in the same place as the 48 head. I like the "fewer wires showing the better" look so I simply rerouted the ground down to one of the tapped holes in the block. Works great. Doesn't show.

[pfilean]

For Pontiacs it is quite common to have the neg battery cable attached to a head bolt on the left front corner of the engine. Maybe right front if the layout for a specific year has the battery on the right side. There is usually a head bolt with a stud as part of the bolt head . After the head bolt is torqued to spec the cable can be attached to the smaller thread stud with no effect on the bolt torque.

[2002Z4CSS]

Put the ground cable on the engine. Remember the starter needs a good ground and you won't get a good ground through rubber in the engine mounts.

[Engine-Ear]

When it comes to cabling, you have to think like an electron: LAZY.

If a gateway meant for those little buggers is too small, guess what? Only some get thru.

Then you have to account for high-speed electrons (charging system, ignition system and radio currents!)...here is where all those stupid ground braids come in.

Yep, those engineers (dare I say, engine-ears?) sprinkled those flat wide cables around for a damn good reason!

With the all amps that flow during the cranking event, the lowest resistance, lowest inductance path you can provide will pay off in spades. Return wire on the head.

[scott-462]

I have ARP head studs, but i'm sure i'll figure something out to reattach it to the motor.

[MrWrestlingII]

Is there anyplace available at the front of the head? That's where I've attached the negative connection on an e-head. Be sure to use a star washer to get some bite into the head.

[pfilean]

There may be a bolt hole on the front of the head that did not get used as an accessory mount. Not likely but maybe. On the other hand the same holes exist in the rear of the head. Would require a longer cable and might look a little strange but is possible. But use the star washer. Or maybe you could get a cable on the block side of the motor mount.

[gtofreek]

Grounding to the frame instead of the engine causes all the starters amperage[200+] to be pulled through the rear springs, rearend, u-joints, tranny, to get back to the engine. This can cause arcing in some of these areas and ruin u-joints and such. Seen it happen many times when I did auto electrical. NEVER run the main battery ground cable to the frame. The heaviest amperage draw in the whole car is the starter, and it's bolted to the engine, so this is where the heavy ground cable needs to go. The rest of the car can get by with the smaller ground wires.

[HWYSTR455]

Ground on my LeMans goes from the battery to one of the engine mount bolts. In the middle of the same cable, I stripped the insulation, and grounded it to the frame, right below the battery tray by the sterring box. I have a cable coming off the battery neg lug that grounds to the fender, and a jumper to the core support. Have a ground from the back of the passenger head that goes to the firewall, OE one. Also have a couple grounds for the dizzy, gauge panel, and carb that ground to the intake. I ran a ground from a post in the trunk to a post under the dash, and then through the firewall to the battery. All accessories in the trunk ground to the ground post, all in the dash ground to the post under the dash. (I have a power wire that does the same, but goes to a ford sol on the firewall, then the battery. A heavier power wire from the alt goes there too.) I have a power wire off the battery that goes to a 4 fuse block on the core support that has a bank of relays, those feed high and low headlights and fans.

.

[Blued and Painted]

On my trunk mount battery, I found a spot where 3 sheets of the uni-body came together on the rear wheel well and grounded there. Then a short cable from the brake booster mounting stud to the cylinder head. Then some heavy welding cable on the hot side.
Starts fine with 9.8 to 1 compression and a moderate street cam.