I've read a few posts regarding problems with starting and maintaining battery charge and there were several references to checking all grounding wires.. I've had the same problem on my '71 prior to an engine rebuild.

Now, after I put my newly rebuilt motor back in the car and hooked up all of the wiring the way (I thought) it was supposed to be, I'm having all kinds of electrical issues. After connecting the battery, I immediately fried a wire that leads up towards the AC area - passenger side top, near the evaporator. I disconnected the battery and unraveled the harness leading to the starter and found a small nick in the accessory wire that leads to the fuse box. Replaced the burnt wire, installed a fuse in that line, and insulated the small nick in the accesory wire. Hooked up again and the fuse I installed immediately blew and I saw a small bit of smoke from the wiper motor and then I had a small fire (Yikes !) under the passenger wiper area where a section of the wiper burnt up !! Disconnected, re-inspected, and found another nick in the accessory wire and insulated that one as well. Third hookup looked OK but had difficulty starting the motor -seems the battery is draining quickly.

All of these symptoms seem to indicate that I have a bad ground someplace and the power is just hunting for a way to get to ground. After I put the motor in, I put the grounding strap from the motor mount to a section of the frame - the service manual showed it from the motor mount to the long bolt that goes through the mount (on the frame side) but the gromet was too small so I connected to a spot on the frame.

Where are the remaining ground locations ?? Is there a reference somewhere ? Some of the previous posts I mentioned suggested replacing or re-installing the battery cables...

Other suggestions ?? Help !

 

Recheck your motor to frame ground. Make sure the surfaces are clear of rust and paint for a good electrical connection.

 

Also, always use a star washer on all grounds (between terminal and frame) so you bite through any non conductive coating.

 

another point, a bad ground will not make the battery discharge quickly, I assume you mean whie it is just sitting. It might affect the charging tho. There is a large ground cable from the engine block in front of the starter to the frame, a smaller one from the rear pass side head to the firewall, those need to be good. There is a harness ground from the firewall connector to the body ground point behind the left front wheel.
Those are the ones that come to mind in the motor well, there are others however. What other electrical probs are you having?