Adding a Ground Buss System
by Bnystrom
Typical grounding arrangements consist of several wires that either radiate
out from a single point to several components or jump from one to the next in a daisy-chain fashion. While these do work,
the resulting system has a lot of mechanical connections that can deteriorate over time. There is a method that creates what
is essentially a one-piece ground system, the ground buss. It's a single wire that runs from the battery ground to the body,
with branches extending off it where necessary.
Here's how you make one.
Materials required:
10' of 8 gauge wire
4, 8 gauge gold plated ring terminals
2 additional ground
screws (optional)
Rosin core solder
Electrical tape
Tape to mark wire
Wire ties to secure the finished buss
Tools
needed:
10 and 12 mm sockets and ratchet.
Phillips
screwdriver
Soldering gun
Crimping tool
Razor blade or utility knife
Cost: ~ $15 Difficulty:
Easy
The Project:
1) Disconnect the battery.
2) Take the buss wire and starting at the battery, run it in a neat
manner
to the stock cowl ground the left side of the firewall (when
facing the car).
3) At locations where you want to add a ground connection - such as at the
coil ground - mark the wire with a piece of tape. Measure the distance from the buss to the ground point.
4) At the marked points, strip the wire and tin it with solder. Feed plenty
of solder into the wire to strengthen the area around the connection.
5) Cut a piece long enough for the connection branch, plus 1/2", Strip the
end, then flatten the wire strands.
6) Wrap the connection branch around the tinned section tightly.
7) Solder the connection branch to the buss.
8) Wrap the connection tightly with several layers of electrical tape.
9) After crimping on the ring connector, solder it in place. I don't see
any point in adding grounds, but using crimped connections that will eventually corrode. Soldering eliminates the corrosion
issue. (Do this with all the ring connectors.)
10) This is the connection at the coil ground.
11) At the firewall and intake manifold, I opted to use additional ground
points and leave the stock ground in place. Using the stock ground points would eliminate the necessity of using additional
screws.)
12) Once the buss is installed and secured, reconnect the battery.
--
Regards
Brian
