Battery Cable Specs

[Bob_Spidell]

Thanks, but it was my own [dang] fault. I wasn't working on electricals, and it didn't occur to me to open the cutoff switch (wouldn't have happened on my BJ8 with battery in the boot). That steel line went from 70deg to 700deg in about a millisecond. Won't happen again

 

[Michael Oritt]

Because of the small size of the individual wire strands in welding cable it contains more conductor than does batt cable. However, one of the pro's of battery cable is that it has heavier and better jacketing than does welding cable, an important factor.

 

[vette]

Here's what I did. Bought the cable from Summit Racing or Jegs Performance. I forget the size it is maybe "01 or 02'. It is what the drag racers use when building their cars. The insulation is very thick and very strong. It is stranded copper wire, don't remember the size of the individual strands but this stuff is flexible and the insulation is very strong and will resist abrasion and impact. I have attached a picture of the boot of my Healey where you can see the red cable.

 

[vette]

Found Another Picture:

 

[Bob_Spidell]

I see you also use the best battery available (and made in the USA). How did you terminate the cables (crimp or solder)?

 

[vette]

Bob, the terminations are pressed on with full bodied dies. Since I worked in the electrical field I had access to the same dies and press that we used to terminate high voltage cables. But I think that most electrical contractors would have the same tool.

 

[vette]

Down in the shop today I noticed I have some of the cable I used left over. If I can post the pic from my phone it will show the type of strand that is in the cable.

 

[vette]

Shows the strands.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

[OT] Aren't most dragsters magneto-fired and push started (like the dirt track racers)? You don't need a battery to go 1/4-mile.

 

[vette]

I suppose at the top end of the sport you're right. We’re talking more the weekend warriors. Some of the hot builds that run on the street too. Pro-Touring, etc.

 

[Rob Glasgow]

Vette, that’s an interesting tail light set up you’ve got. Is that an orange beehive lens in place of the stock reflector?

 

[vette]

Rob, my Healey is a BJ7 with BJ8 lighting arrangement. The lens are original glass lens. Over the years I tried to find out about the lighting arrangements. When I bought the car I thought that the shrouds had been changed but when I restored the car the shrouds appeared to have never been removed. I have read that there were some cars sent to Europe that had the early lighting of the BJ8. My car was originally dispatched to Germany.

 

[Editor_Reid]

Yes, cars intended for continental European delivery had different configurations to meet the laws in effect where they'd be sent. A BJ7 with twin side lamps was almost certainly originally exported to Europe.

Speaking of which, I recently visited Beverly Hills Car Club (a car dealer, not a club) while in southern California for Conclave, and they had a two-seat tri-carb (the rarest production Big Healey with just 355 made) with twin glass side lamps up front! It must have originally been exported to Germany. How many of those could there be? A half-dozen? Last one remaining?

Priced at $29,000 and some, two things made me decline to pursue a purchase. First, it had a Ford engine, and second it had a VIN plate from a BT7. The body number plate appeared to be the original. If it was, the original true VIN could be determined. However, between the need to source and prepare and install an original engine with all the ancillaries and undoing all the other engine compartment mods, and the potentially large headache of getting the chassis number reassigned and the title changed to match (if it could be done at all short of an Act of Congress), it was just too much.

It's a shame though as it is such a rare car. Perhaps someone reading this is looking for an "ambitious project" and wouldn't mind going to the trouble to bring this ultra-rare Healey back to service?

 

[Keoke]

Because of the small size of the individual wire strands in welding cable it contains more conductor than does batt cable. However, one of the pro's of battery cable is that it has heavier and better jacketing than does welding cable, an important factor.

Because of the small size of the individual wire strands in welding cable it contains more conductor than does batt cable and guarantees U less end to end voltage drop.