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My friends dad has a 1980 corvette with 45500 miles. Hes been sick a long time and the family wants me to get it all cleaned up and running. Its been sitting on there carport for several years and only started on occasion. My first problem is the battery ground cable that goes through the floor through the rubber plug is bad. I cant find one that looks like or has the new plug on it . Here is a picture of it .
The ground wire attaches to the metal bulkhead that is behind the seats.
The terminal block on the left side of the battery in the battery box is for the positive battery cable. Do not hook your ground wire to that terminal block! The terminal block is the connecting point from the red charge wire coming from the alternator and going to the battery.
The ground wire attaches to the metal bulkhead that is behind the seats.
how exactly does the ground wire attach to the steel bulkhead behind the seats? I don’t see a bolt or terminal for the negative battery cable to attach to. Is there supposed to be a terminal? I have a 1980 L-82
Last edited by lvacordian; Jun 2, 2024 at 10:19 AM.
The negative battery cable goes through the bottom of the battery box and attaches to the frame crossmember right below the battery. There should be a hole in the frame right below the battery.
[QUOTE=Mrvettenick;1607860873]The negative battery cable goes through the bottom of the battery box and attaches to the frame crossmember right below the battery. There should be a hole in the frame right below the battery.[/QUOTE
Thanks for your reply. My negative battery cable has two ground connections like the one in the picture. The main grounding point is like you mentioned under the battery box to the frame. That connection is already in place but the shorter wire is not. A previous poster said that the shorter wire should be connected to the steel bulkhead behind the seats.
I’m trying to determine where exactly on the bulkhead the shorter black wire connects to since I don’t see any terminal connections or bolts on the bulkhead to connect to. Do you know?
Does the shorter black wire also connect to the same grounding point that the main connection does? If so then why have an additional wire?
I have the factory service manual and the assembly manual and I was surprised not to see any information on this. Thanks very much for your help.
Your manuals do not have any information on this shorter wire as it is NOT factory. Not certain about the very last of the C3's. Knowing the year of your car could be helpful.
But I am certain on the earlier cars, pre 1980 for certain. This extra wire does not exist.
That's probably a multifunctional cable meant for multiple cars. All they did was add the grommet to make it fit. I would either cut it, or cover the end with electrical tape, so it doesn't touch the positive connections when you move things around.
how exactly does the ground wire attach to the steel bulkhead behind the seats? I don’t see a bolt or terminal for the negative battery cable to attach to. Is there supposed to be a terminal? I have a 1980 L-82
Mine is an 81 and there is a small ground wire that comes off the negative battery cable and is attached to the bulkhead right of above the armrest bracket. There is also a ground wire coming out of the harness that attaches to that same grounding point. I wouldn't cut it if it were mine. In my opinion, the more ground wires the Vette has the better.
Your manuals do not have any information on this shorter wire as it is NOT factory. Not certain about the very last of the C3's. Knowing the year of your car could be helpful.
But I am certain on the earlier cars, pre 1980 for certain. This extra wire does not exist.
It is factory on the 81 and more than likely on the 82. It may have been an additional ground point for the CCC on the 81 or part of the ETR type radio. The ones with the ETR radio, 81 and 82, did have some different wiring than the other earlier Vettes.
Battery ground cable
