Where does yur battery ground connect to the car?
I am in the process of rebuilding my Jaguar MK2 which has a negative ground. The battery was initially grounded to teh firewall but changed to the bell housing because my mechanic friend said the firewall conection would make a poor connection.
However, the cable interfers with the accelerator linkage.
I would like to know where your MK2 battery negative grounds to your vehicle.
Roy
My 1964 MKII, pos ground: looking at the battery from the front, the ground cable bolts to the firewall just to the left of the battery. Looks like a nut was welded on the inside of the firewall. I think it makes an acceptable ground spot provided you have good metal-to-metal contact.
My car is a 1968 Daimler V8-250 and right hand drive, negative earth.
The battery lives just in front of the driver and earths to the inner wing nearby. It’s just a hole with a nut & bolt.
The important thing is that whether you earth to the body or the bellhousing or engine you must have an effective connection between the two for everything to work.
If you earth to the body your body to engine cable should be the same grade as your battery to body cable. If you earth to the engine it could be a bit smaller, but what’s the point?
I believe there is an extra earth strap between the bellhousing and the chassis rail, left side around the area of the front of the front door. Otherwise there is no earth path between the engine and the body because everything is rubber mounted, except for the throttle linkage. I found out the hard way.
You are correct Ian, just beside and below the heater. It’s been some 25- 30 years since I did mine, but I still seem to recall a captive nut in the left chassis rail; must be misremembering. Either way, a separate strap is a must otherwise a sluggish starter motor and stray smoke are likely results!
One of my grounds (braided silver style) goes to the bolt for the hood/bonnet. I also have a ground from the block to the frame. Cables are available in many lengths and the thicker the better. Or consider relocating the battery to the trunk with 2 gauge wire and give yourself much more under hood space.
I did think about doing this , as most newer Jag’s have the battery in the boot , only problem comes when you want to lift the battery in and out ,with it’s under the bonnet !
As said before my battery has been in the car 8+ years , and space is not a issue with me , so left it as is !
I’ve changed the battery several times in my lifetime and each time it seems to get exponentially heavier!. Its definitely in a poor location. Every time I have to do this I think about taking off the hood/bonnet. I think one big advantage of locating the battery in the rear is for those adding A/C. I run my car on a Battery Tender and have hard wired it in so I don’t have to constantly risk scratching the hood with the battery clips. On occasions that I have had to jump start the vehicle, it is a precarious task to avoid the paint with the big clips.
Our batteries never seem to last eight years. Less lead content or old voodoo is not present anymore. My Buick has the battery under the rear seat in the middle and its a heavy sucker (read big) to maneuver to the center and also vent it to the outside through the floorboard. That car had so many fuses and relays, I got dizzy! Why didn’t the engineers consult us in all of the details our cars present during the design period!
I put my battery’s lasting a long time on my cars and bikes down to I have a kill switch in the Jag , and I remove the fuse on some bikes and disconnect the battery on others .
If you have the 2 wires connected to the battery it will drain the power .
Where do you install it in the boot? I assume that it should be under the right wing (fender)
Do you put the battery in a plastic contained bolted to the trunk deck?
Is there any disadvantage to having a battery in an enclosed space as opposed to under the bonnet where there is some air movement?
Roy
Look at sights/vendors like Jegs and Summit for options. Many hot rod sources will diagram the set up. I think open mounting with covers over the terminals would prevent gas fumes to build up, I think heat build up would be detrimental to batteries. Plus you were going to add A/C !!
