KuHL 951

I'm tying up loose ends on the clutch job and I'm not sure where the 10" long bare copper ground from the top of the bellhousing connects to. I think it's to one of the firewall clamps for the fuel lines. Could someone with an early car with the old style fuel routing check this for me? After dropping a sensor mount bolt into the bellhousing area I had to remove everything back down to the crank all over again, the bolt was there b/t the FW and block...not a good day. These cars are so much fun and I'm so clumsy!

Thanks
Steve

83na944

Soory, I can't be sure, but I think you're right. IIRC, the copper cable attaches on of the studs that are also used to hold the AC lines. That cable is pretty stiff, so if you bolt it back on the bellshousing, it'll just about jump on the right stud.

BTW, the clutch is a bitch. I feel your pain.

hy944

Steve,
The cable is attached to the right side capscrew/clamp arrangement for the A/C lines that disappear into the bulkhead. There are only 2 threadmounts there, left and right.

dualblade

if you're still awake, hang on a sec. i'll go outside and take a picture of the spot

btw, what else is left on your clutch job. we still have to put the exhaust back on and the shift lever, but everything else is done. started up the car today because i wanted to show skoot what our cars sound like without an exhaust

edit:

KuHL 951

Thanks a lot for the photo. That's the same spot I put it, I just couldn't remember for sure. As far as where I am in the clutch job. I've spent a total of 2 days so far. I have the trans back in(filled with Redline); axles and the exhaust are next. Getting dedicated time in full day blocks is tough for me. Working at night is out also so the 83's name of Ol Pokey applies to me also. Working alone is the hardest part, Serge dropped by last weekend and helped for an hour or so and it was appreciated. There were a couple times where an extra set of arms or hands would have sure helped out but after finding that sensor bolt behind the flywheel all has gone smooth. I can't wait to get this finished. It will be great to have a car that doesn't drive like a mechaical bull in 1st and 2nd gear.

Next time here's the plan:
1. I won't remove the sensor mount and will loosen the motor mounts;
2. I'll buy 6-ton jackstands to get the car higher; the axle-jack converter for my floor jack is too tall to clear the undercarriage with the 3-ton jacks;
3. I'll steam clean the entire under carriage and engine bay 'prior' to starting the job.

Thanks to all of you guys who were doing clutches at the same time, the group support and info exchange was great. I think I could do an N/A in two days myself now. Luckily the clutch on the Turbo is still strong so I've got plenty of time now to do other stuff I've been neglecting.

Steve

IceShark

Steve, you should have junked that bare copper ground cable for the later style. It is a poor system all around. One of the problems is corrosion walks up the interface between the wire and terminal. If you replace to later style you will notice a difference in the electrics, even how well the motor runs.

I do have some of my upgraded main grounds for $49 on hand but I guess it is too late for that on your project now.

KuHL 951

Ice Shark,
Thanks for the offer. I have various sizes of welding cable at work 2/0 to #4. One of these days I plan on making some new cables with exothermic welded (thermite) lugs rather than the compression type ends. I use these to bond large diameter pipeline joints for low resistance applications. If I could afford your kits I would do so in a heartbeat; everyone raves about the QC and improvements they make.

Steve

IceShark

If you have the supplies at work then do it. Given our current draws, #1AWG off the battery to the inner firewall and another off from battery to bellhousing will be heavy enough and well under 1% drop. Then run a #4 from the front of the motor over to the frame rail under the headlight bucket. That should fix you up on main grounding.

KuHL 951

Ice Shark,
Thanks for the tips on size and location. Is there any benefit to upgrading the power run to the fuse box on these cars or doing a relay type ignition conversion to cut the load down at the ignition switch? I seem to be chasing a phantom on the Turbo with a no start problem after the car sits in traffic awhile(heat soak at the starter?) I've cleaned the grounds well but the problem is so intermittent I suspect the ignition switch after installing a new starter. I can rock the car in gear and it usually restarts, it always starts with a rolling jump with the key on.

mbonner

Iceshark, I have some #4 welding cable, this would work for the ground to the firewall from the rear of the engine?
Also I have yet to install the supplementary ground, (fused) from the battery terminal to... where does the other end go to, and I believe a hole has to be drilled, I lost the instructions. Please advise,
Mike

IceShark

Yes, there is a benifit of adding a sister power wire over to the fuse/relay board and is why I include that in my battery cable package. You can see 3 quarters of a volt jump under heavy load fairly easy. The other reason I did that was to provide an 150 amp fuse to bolt up everything except the starter cable to to provide fused fire protection. So you are fused off the battery terminal rather than 8 feet down the wire runs.

You can still push start the Turbo in the heat soak condition. Could be the starter even though it is a recent rebuilt. Some rebuilds are better than others. I'd also take a look at your main starter cable. People have sent me some pretty sad pictures of starter cables that are shot from age and heat cycling. I mean these are really bad. Could also be the red ~ 10 gauge starter solenoid trigger wire or the solenoid itself.

Since it is intermittent I'd hook a wire up to the solenoid trigger post and hit it with good power next time it happens. Then you will know it the problem is up or down stream from the solenoid.

IceShark

Mike, you got the full battery cable kit so you don't have to do anything extra about the rear of the motor to firewall. Just put in the main negative cables you got and you will be fine.

I'll e-mail you the instructions again.