Ground to body?

This is how my 70 was, too. and it also had the radio suppression capacitor there.
Since I no longer have an external regulator now my body ground is attached at one of the starter solenoid mounting ears.

 

It's been too long for me, I don't remember which VR screw hole had the ground and which had the capacitor.

 

It's been 15 yrs since I took the car apart. Looks like it very well could have been the top bolt.

 

Since when?? Rubber is a very good insulator...

The rivets through the mount may provide a current path for awhile but rust and vibration will soon end that...

Every vehicle I've ever seen originally had/has a body ground and engine ground... Without a body ground, ground path is generally through the drive shaft which can damage the yoke and bushing in the rear of trans or possibly U joints...

As mentioned in the early post the orig design was a "J" crimped/soldered in the mid part of negative cable that was connected by one of the regulator bolts... Possibly early models had a separate ground from rear of engine, was Ford's preferred method in the '60s...

 

I guess my electrical system isn't grounded then, and has been working flawlessly for the past 42 year as a result of pure magic.

 

Seems this same discussion took place on this website about 9 years ago. The jury was still out as to weather or not some Mavericks/Comets came with an engine to body ground strap. Some members had evidence that some vehicles did have a strap. Others disagreed. I don't know.....the debate continues!!!!!!

The 2005 discussion is at the following link:

http://mmb.maverick.to/threads/did-mavericks-have-engine-to-chassis-ground.16405/

 

I never said it wouldn't work without a engine to body ground but without one the ground path for body is generally through the drive shaft, some vehicles work fine this way, some don't... So don't use one if that's your preference, defiantly not mine...

Before I started & drove my Comet I made sure there was at least a temporary ground, which in my case consisted of a large alligator clip...

 

Cold air intake...

 

If anyone really wants to know if they need a ground or not just measure to see if there is any voltage between battery and body, even a tenth of a volt is too much... To perform this test correctly ,start engine and turn on headlights along with max heater blower...

Again there should be ZERO voltage between battery NEGATIVE post and body...

 

I have a 1" braided ground strap from a starter bolt to the frame...

 

Well, obviously there's no such thing as "too good" of a Ground, so adding a strap certainly isn't going to hurt anything.

As far as "preference" goes, My preference is the way Ford did it on the assembly line, only because it's simple and it works. I like fixing things that are broken, and modifying things that need improvement, otherwise, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

 

Run a body ground from the Battery cable to the body. ITs a no brainer. You can get a neg cable that has the smaller ground cable built into the terminal. Just ground it near the battery. Don't rely on an engine ground to run your body systems. That's old school and totally wrong. IT was wrong 40 years ago and its really wrong today. Hope this actually helps.