Starter cable and earth strap upgrade advice

[CHEF_GOLF]

So I am going to attempt some DIY on the chimp.
I am going to fit another uprated cable to the starter and a direct earth to the back of the engine block.

So a couple of questions

Do I need to put a fuse in the starter cable?
How much power does it pull on start up?
Any suggestions on which cable to get ( does it matter?)
Any suggestions on where to strap the earth cable.

Any suggestions on any of it

[bobfather]

Do I need to put a fuse in the starter cable? No
How much power does it pull on start up? Depends on the starter

Oh and it's a Chim, no need to give those medallion wearing, hairy chested Griff boys more reason to pick on us for having the better looking model

[phillpot]

CHEF_GOLF said:

So a couple of four questions about your Chimp

Fuse? No
How much power? Don't know.
Which cable? My car is "quite happy" with 35mm cable, others will probably be along suggesting monstrously fat cable!
Earth cable? onto a bell housing or starter mounting bolt.

[Penelope Stopit]

Where is the battery fitted?

[Belle427]

I went with 50 mm welding cable to the starter, plenty on eBay to choose from.
More than enough for the job, I added an earth to to the back of the passenger side cylinder head, Awkward to get at but managed it ok, there were existing earths attached here so I just added a 35 mm cable.
I have plenty of 35 mm cable in black i can send you if you need a meter or two.

[bomb]

bobfather said:

no need to give those medallion wearing, hairy chested Griff boys more reason to pick on us for having the better looking model

I say - steady on, old chap !!

[bobfather]

bomb said:

I say - steady on, old chap !!

You're forgiven because you're having the Chimaera inspired vented bonnet fitted to your Griff. Your car will soon be nearly as good looking as a Chimaera

[Discopotatoes]

CHEF_GOLF said:

So I am going to attempt some DIY on the chimp.
I am going to fit another uprated cable to the starter and a direct earth to the back of the engine block.

So a couple of questions

Do I need to put a fuse in the starter cable? No but, having a cube fuse on the battery terminal is piece of mind as the starter cable is just layed over the bell housing. So would blow if it chaffed through
How much power does it pull on start up?
Any suggestions on which cable to get ( does it matter?) I've got 35mm sq which is plenty
Any suggestions on where to strap the earth cable. I've strapped it to the rear of the near side head then through the grommet onto the upper body mounting earth point

Any suggestions on any of it

[CHEF_GOLF]

The battery is in the passenger footwell.
I have both cables but thanks for the offer.
Do you think this will also solve the oil pressure gauge problem as it flys off the scale. It’s a new sender. As this earths to the block as well.

[bobfather]

CHEF_GOLF said:

The battery is in the passenger footwell.
I have both cables but thanks for the offer.
Do you think this will also solve the oil pressure gauge problem as it flys off the scale. It’s a new sender. As this earths to the block as well.

Oil pressure is an entirely different and very common issue. The sender diaphragm fails over time. Unfortunately it's not been easy for owners to find one at a reasonable price that matches the gauge. There are many reports of eBay senders failing within a few miles, I can vouch for that, my eBay sender lasted 4 miles.

[magpies]

bobfather said:

CHEF_GOLF said:

The battery is in the passenger footwell.
I have both cables but thanks for the offer.
Do you think this will also solve the oil pressure gauge problem as it flys off the scale. It’s a new sender. As this earths to the block as well.

Oil pressure is an entirely different and very common issue. The sender diaphragm fails over time. Unfortunately it's not been easy for owners to find one at a reasonable price that matches the gauge. There are many reports of eBay senders failing within a few miles, I can vouch for that, my eBay sender lasted 4 miles.

best way to get over that problem is fit a mechanical gauge = the only RELIABLE oil pressure reading, all the others are best guess

[CHEF_GOLF]

The battery is in the passenger footwell.
I have both cables but thanks for the offer.
Do you think this will also solve the oil pressure gauge problem as it flys off the scale. It’s a new sender. As this earths to the block as well.

[Penelope Stopit]

Use 50 mm flexible cable like welding tranformer cable for the main positive directly to the starter motor
Use the same cable and run it from battery to starter motor then onwards to the chassis without cutting it

[Belle427]

Have a look here but it does sound as if the sender is knackered.
You could run a temporary smaller negative from the battery to the body just to test it.
Upgrading the cables is a very good idea though as the originals are not for for purpose.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[citizen smith]

Penelope Stopit said:

Use 50 mm flexible cable like welding tranformer cable for the main positive directly to the starter motor
Use the same cable and run it from battery to starter motor then onwards to the chassis without cutting it

That must be one hell of Welder with 50 mm flexible earth cable.

[Belle427]

citizen smith said:

Penelope Stopit said:

Use 50 mm flexible cable like welding tranformer cable for the main positive directly to the starter motor
Use the same cable and run it from battery to starter motor then onwards to the chassis without cutting it

That must be one hell of Welder with 50 mm flexible earth cable.

A lot of industrial arc sets use this as standard, its actually a very nice flexible cable to work with.

[citizen smith]

Belle427 said:

A lot of industrial arc sets use this as standard, its actually a very nice flexible cable to work with.

I have had the pleasure of using a Mig-tronic 250x 3 phase welder, over 10+ years at work. The earth wire was approx. 15 mm thick. But a cable of 50 mm thick - 1.9685" would have been a very weighty cable to lug about, since the welder was a PORTABLE unit.

[Tobs]

citizen smith said:

Belle427 said:

A lot of industrial arc sets use this as standard, its actually a very nice flexible cable to work with.

I have had the pleasure of using a Mig-tronic 250x 3 phase welder, over 10+ years at work. The earth wire was approx. 15 mm thick. But a cable of 50 mm thick - 1.9685" would have been a very weighty cable to lug about, since the welder was a PORTABLE unit.

I guess it's a 50 square mm cable (i.e cross section area) - this would have a copper diameter of around 8mm - a 50mm diameter cable would be huge..

[Penelope Stopit]

citizen smith said:

Belle427 said:

A lot of industrial arc sets use this as standard, its actually a very nice flexible cable to work with.

I have had the pleasure of using a Mig-tronic 250x 3 phase welder, over 10+ years at work. The earth wire was approx. 15 mm thick. But a cable of 50 mm thick - 1.9685" would have been a very weighty cable to lug about, since the welder was a PORTABLE unit.

This may interest you and others, take a look and have a play with the tool https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/cable-sizing-select...
Selecting 50mm cable I entered 300 Amps for starter current which is very likely a touch high but could also be easily reached depending on circumstances and gave a cable length of 2 meters

[Belle427]

Yes it’s mm squared.