Electrical system ground. Body or frame?

First off, I know jack-**** about electrical systems. I have a Rebel harness and I got a supplemental wiring kit from M.A.D. electrical. This guy makes real nice stuff and seems to be wicked smart on the automotive electical. Anyway he recommends grounding the system to to the body and not the frame. He says one ground very close to the battery location and also for comfort to ground the motor on both sides to the body.
Like I said this gut seems to know what is going on but everywhere else I look they talk about grounding to the frame. Thanks, Todd

 

ground to the body, then ground body to frame. Thats what I have always done, just my .02 cents. Brandon

 

Plus ground engine to frame. Use good quality cables or wide web straps. Do not use small gauge wire for this.

 

general rule of thumb, you can never have too many grounds

 

There are woven ground strips available for ch***is grounding. Heavy welding cable is also good for this because of its flexibility. All of the circuit wiring in your car is going to be grounded to the body, because it's the biggest continuous circuit in your car. This way you don't run all the current through a grounding strap, which could quickly overload it.

Run a grounding strap between the body and the frame and another between the engine and the frame.

 

Battery needs to be grounded to the engine block.

 

Everyone is correct . You really can't have enough grounds ! I like to have a few , one the front , middle and rear .
If you get a fibergl*** car then it's a different problem .

 

What everybody said above
I just finished wiring my 50 Merc. from scratch and had to use a Lot of Body Grounds
sbc in the Car!
Like they say you need Grounds
just my 3 cents

 

Yup,main battery ground to engine block.Then jumpers of #10 wire to frame and body.Then tail lights and headlights should have a seperate ground running back to a common grounding terminal at battery

 

+1

i always run the battery ground cable to the engine block. usually 1 or 2 cable. then a heavy ground strap from that same location on the block to the frame. then a ground strap from that same spot on the block to the body.

 

Eliminating anything newer than 1990, open a bunch of hoods on many different makes and keep count of the cars with the battery ground cable NOT going to something that is bolted directly to the engine block. You 'll only need 1 hand. Chrysler, Ford, GM.... it won't matter.

Sure it can be done many ways with additional grounds and jumpers. I try to eliminate as many connections (potential bad connections) as possible.

My 56 Ford has one 10Ga ground wire from the engine to the firewall bolt. It carried the amps for lights radio and heater. Of course the battery ground cable goes to the block. It has worked just fine for over 50 years.

Naturally if you have a thumper stereo with AC, PWs, PDLs etc. etc. then your requirements will differ.

Most of the HAMB friendly cars don't need elaborate grounding systems IMHO

 

I always ground both. Battery to block, block to body and frame.

 

When grounding lighting circuits to the body, use those "shakeproof" lockwashers, they want to shake loose.
And a dab of Vaseline on that connection prevents corrosion.