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TR2/3/3A Improving your ground...

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PatGalvin

PatGalvin

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Hi Guys

So, I'm finally installing the modern wiring harness that I purchased some time ago from Advance Autowire. I'd like to improve the grounding for my tail lites, brake lites, and rear turn signals. What have others done to improve the ground for these items? Should I just take a ground off each light socket and tie all the black wires together and then screw into the interior trunk sheet metal with a nice star washer? Did you solder the bullet to the light fixture or just push in the bullet connector for the ground? Any tips or tricks related to improving the grounding of your lights would be much appreciated. I'm hoping to make some decent progress on the wiring tomorrow.

pat



 
Preferably what you want is a good clean contact with the structure.

If the area in the structure is painted remove the paint back to bare metal only over an area large enough to accommodate the foot print of the grounding lug.

You can place a star washer under the lug to bite into the metal firmly.
Adding a flat washer on top of the grounding lug will insure the lug foot print is securely meshed with the structure.

You can if you choose coat the connection with RTV to seal out moisture and prevent rust.
 
I try to avoid adding more holes (over time, it leads to a swiss cheese effect), so my added ground wire runs around the edge of the trunk (along with the original harness) to a ring terminal that goes under one of the fuel tank mounting bolts. I've also got a ground wire up to the fuel gauge sender.
 
Looking good Pat!
 
As crazy as it sounds the ones I have seen that I thoughtwere original just striped the wirer back and left it on the outside of a largerbrass bullet and pushed the two down into the female case/frame holder. Clearlysoldering the wire and perhaps running a second wirer from fixture to the tubwould help. I just left mine stock to be a purist.
 
PatGalvin said:
Hi Guys

So, I'm finally installing the modern wiring harness that I purchased some time ago from Advance Autowire. I'd like to improve the grounding for my tail lites, brake lites, and rear turn signals. What have others done to improve the ground for these items? Should I just take a ground off each light socket and tie all the black wires together and then screw into the interior trunk sheet metal with a nice star washer? Did you solder the bullet to the light fixture or just push in the bullet connector for the ground? Any tips or tricks related to improving the grounding of your lights would be much appreciated. I'm hoping to make some decent progress on the wiring tomorrow.

pat



Click to expand...

I used threaded rod to make a stud for the battery cable mount to bulkhead nutted on both sides .I left about 1" sticking out the back to pick up grounds.I
ran separate ground wire ring terminal from this stud to the rear lights and fuel gauge.Probably more than required,but I made my own harness so not to much extra work.
Tom
 
sp53 said:
As crazy as it sounds the ones I have seen that I thoughtwere original just striped the wirer back and left it on the outside of a largerbrass bullet and pushed the two down into the female case/frame holder. Clearlysoldering the wire and perhaps running a second wirer from fixture to the tubwould help. I just left mine stock to be a purist.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure the factory didn't run ground wires at all for those rear lamps. I've seen the bullets you're talking about, apparently Lucas supplied them with the bulb holders and intended that they be used just as you say. But I don't think the factory used them, at least not on earlier cars. Maybe they started at TS60K or something though.

Just curious, Tom, did you also run a ground cable to the engine? The factory setup where the starter current runs through the body mounting bolts always seemed dodgy to me. Seems like the hot setup would be the way they did it on later cars, with a "3 headed" cable that runs to both the body and the engine block/starter.
 
TR3driver said:
I'm pretty sure the factory didn't run ground wires at all for those rear lamps. I've seen the bullets you're talking about, apparently Lucas supplied them with the bulb holders and intended that they be used just as you say. But I don't think the factory used them, at least not on earlier cars. Maybe they started at TS60K or something though.

Just curious, Tom, did you also run a ground cable to the engine? The factory setup where the starter current runs through the body mounting bolts always seemed dodgy to me. Seems like the hot setup would be the way they did it on later cars, with a "3 headed" cable that runs to both the body and the engine block/starter.
Click to expand...

Hey Randall.I had thought of running a #4 from the back of this stud to the starter,but after installing and testing a new high torque starter it seemed unnessecary.I have the stock engine to frame braided strap.
I used a Period lucas SF4 fuse block to replace the old control box,and based on your informative posts ran the dedicated grounds.
Thanks
tom
 
I made use of all those ground bullet connectors on the light bases even though my harness did not have wires for them. I daisy chained black wire for the rear lights and added a ground for the tank sending unit (those 6 up connectors would have been handy). They were all joined/bolted at the rear deck with a star washer, to the existing captive nut hole for the occasional seat. I also added grounds for the front parking lights. My negative (ground) battery cable is bolted to the engine/transmission thru bolts because I just don't like it bolted to the firewall (the ground strap around the engine mount grounds the engine to the frame/body).
 
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