Just purchase a set of battery cables designed for my '71 Grande. The new cables have only one ground wire going from the battery to the engine block. The old ground cable also has two other wires connecting to the frame/chassis. Is an additional ground to the chassis needed?
nope
Yes.
Wonderful! Sure it's needed. Do you think Ford was just throwing money away when they built it?
Just ground the engine block to the chassis with a separate cable.
Al
The wire assembly I just bought has only one cable. Part number 'cable
14301' and it only goes to the engine block. There are no other wires attached to it. The cable I am removing has two additional wires (~ 12 g) but there is no guarantee the cable is an original part. One wire goes to the body where the quarter panel is attached and the other to the frame where the radiator is attached. The 1971 Ford wiring manual shows only one wire going to the engine block. Part number 14301. It probably would not hurt to ground the chassis and the frame to the battery but that is not what the original diagram indicates.
Just checked the new ground cable and two thirds of the way down the cable is a bracket attached to bare cable for mounting to the chassis. Problem solved.
Thanks for everyone's advice.
You are totally right! After re-reading it, I am ashamed to say I misunderstood what he was asking. (Not geting enough sleep, i guess!)
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