Update on ground cables
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Update on ground cables
I did the country boy fix to the battery ground cable over the weekend.
I cut the corroded cable back about 4 inches, and soldered on a brass compression lug. With the battery out of the way, I used a small handheld butane lighter/torch to solder with.
Then I made up a 6 in cable from and old piece of 4 ga, with matching lugs at each end.
Bolted all together, and put a marine style clamp on the battery so the cable bolts on there to.
Seemed much easier than taking the harness apart to replace the cable.
I may go to a gold plated car stereo type post clamp or similar later on.
Works so far, and it all comes apart with bolts and nuts.
I cut the corroded cable back about 4 inches, and soldered on a brass compression lug. With the battery out of the way, I used a small handheld butane lighter/torch to solder with.
Then I made up a 6 in cable from and old piece of 4 ga, with matching lugs at each end.
Bolted all together, and put a marine style clamp on the battery so the cable bolts on there to.
Seemed much easier than taking the harness apart to replace the cable.
I may go to a gold plated car stereo type post clamp or similar later on.
Works so far, and it all comes apart with bolts and nuts.
Last edited by rkd; Dec 17, 2007 at 11:36 PM.
Thread Starter
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Member
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 78
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No photos, and I covered all the connections with electrical tape.
My original clamp was nearly corroded away, and the first 3 inches of the neg cable was covered up in corrosion, and had split the insulation, and had a number of broken strands. It was not long enough to just cut off and bolt to a replacment clamp.
The keys to this were a bolt cutter to cut the cable off the truck, including the small body ground, and being able to solder the lug to the cable with a torch inside the engine compartment. I don't do that on my carbed cars.
I just used a crimp on ring terminal on the body ground and bolted it into the connection at the extender cable to the original.
I had a bunch of old battery cables laying around, and the brass or copper crimp lugs were from Advance Auto. I used 3. The marine style clamp was also from Advance. It clamps to the post, but has a stud for the lug to bolt onto. That way you can disconnect it w/o messing with the actual battery cable clamp. My boats have been that way for years.
I stripped about 3/4 in of insulation, and squeezed the lug closed with vice grips, and then soldered.
I have done a similar thing with those cheap bat clamps with the bolt down clamp for the wire, clamp, then solder. Has worked for several years on my Capri and Mustang.
Kind of ugly, but it works, and was faster, in my assessment than either replacing the original, or even running a separate new one.
My original clamp was nearly corroded away, and the first 3 inches of the neg cable was covered up in corrosion, and had split the insulation, and had a number of broken strands. It was not long enough to just cut off and bolt to a replacment clamp.
The keys to this were a bolt cutter to cut the cable off the truck, including the small body ground, and being able to solder the lug to the cable with a torch inside the engine compartment. I don't do that on my carbed cars.
I just used a crimp on ring terminal on the body ground and bolted it into the connection at the extender cable to the original.
I had a bunch of old battery cables laying around, and the brass or copper crimp lugs were from Advance Auto. I used 3. The marine style clamp was also from Advance. It clamps to the post, but has a stud for the lug to bolt onto. That way you can disconnect it w/o messing with the actual battery cable clamp. My boats have been that way for years.
I stripped about 3/4 in of insulation, and squeezed the lug closed with vice grips, and then soldered.
I have done a similar thing with those cheap bat clamps with the bolt down clamp for the wire, clamp, then solder. Has worked for several years on my Capri and Mustang.
Kind of ugly, but it works, and was faster, in my assessment than either replacing the original, or even running a separate new one.