OK my 52 had ground to frame from batter, red cable, black power line to starter, and a braided ground from frame to engine. The braided strap went under the spring return for the floor starter. How should I do this for my 12 volt system?
Wrong ! Just run the ground cable to the tranny or engine , retaining all the other ground straps as they're for good lighting and accurate fuel gauge . 6 or 12 volts , even the uncommon 24 volt system , the ground cable *must* ALWAYS be connected to the engine or transmission ! . NO exceptions ! . Just because a shoddy job works , doesn't make it right .
As the original system had red (positive) to ground, are you all suggesting he keep it positive ground? I believe I would recommend going to the commonly accepted negative ground, and make that black cable from battery to frame and engine, with box and cab bonded to the frame with a braided cable as well. Just the way I would do it...
Check the polarity of the cables, not just going by colors.....Ground straps are your friends! The more things are grounded, the more efficiently they operate.
Yeah that was my understanding. My trucks have had a ground coming from the frame to the negative on the battery terminal. As well as the braided cable from the block to frame.
Negative Ground Is the way to go , just be sure if it's an original 6 volt system , to reverse the leads in the ignition coil and yes , they're reversed in a positive ground system .