Battery Cables - Calling Gary Lewis

[FuzzFace2]

First off I did see on your site the parts list for factory cables and I thank you. My measurements were pretty close but it is nice to have the right sizes.

So my question, you did (I think) a post on making cables, adding ends and what not but I could not find it here or over there.
Do you have this posted some place I can read it as I only glanced over it the first time.

What brings this up is I want to replace the battery cables as part of the rebuild.
I hit the local parts store, I wanted red and black cables to match the side of the battery is was hooked up to.
Well they only had black and some ugly colored plastic caps that went over the battery post ends and looked like crap. I did not even look any farther if they had the right sizes or not.

Thanks
Dave ----

[Gary Lewis]

Dave - Glad the pages helped.  As for making cables, I did that for my boat a couple of years ago, as described in this thread.  But to summarize an 11-page thread, I bought:

TMS 16 Ton Hydraulic Wire Battery Cable Lug Terminal Crimper

Magnalug terminals as any terminal with thinner walls would not crimp correctly with the metric die

Wire from Tinned Marine Wire

Klein cable cutters, although those are just barely adequate for 2/0 cable.  If I were buying again I'd buy larger.

Adhesive-lined shrink tubing, although I don't know where I got it w/o going back to look at my records

Hope that helps.

[FuzzFace2]

I am sure it will help after I read thru it.
I mainly wanted to see how you did it and see if I could barrow (steal) anything from it.

I also got to say "day late and $75 short!"
On the way home from work this morning I hit a different parts store and bought cables (2 ga) and ends.
Why the ends you say? I got what cables they had that were too long, the others they had were too short, and I will cut them down and put the ends on them.

I will need to cut the insolation in the center on the long ground cable as it bolts to the frame and then goes down to 1 of the starter bolts. I want it to copy the factory ground cable.

Only thing I don't like is they are all black and you use a red cover for the positive post. I wanted red for the positive side all the way to the starter - oh well.

I also picked up some (red, did not have black or white) 8 ga wire for the 20" block to firewall ground wire as the one on the truck is falling apart and looks bad.
I was looking for braided ground strap but did not see any in the stores I was in.

Thanks again
Dave ----

[Gary Lewis]

Well, you are going to have good wiring, even if the colors aren't what you want.

And, you got the right wire size for the ground, as shown here: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/engine-to-firewall-ground.html.

[FuzzFace2]

Just thought of something
I am running EFI exh manifolds. When I pulled the ground and starter cables off to measure I saw they were close to the pipe.
I wonder if the EFI 300 six had different length cables and how they may have been run?

My Y pipe is from 1988 but the cable link years only go to 86 so it has me thinking.....yea I know dangerous  are they the same or not?
Guess I will "lay" out the cables before I cut them to see how it all fits.

And we wonder why so little get done because we over think the job.
Dave ----

[Gary Lewis]

If by “the cable length years” you mean what is on my website, the reason they only go to ‘86 is that’s what the website covers. But, the catalog goes to 1989. What years did the 300 have EFI?

[FuzzFace2]

My parts CD only goes to 1986 also or I would "try" and look the cables up.

Auto Zone is showing a 1988 F150 2wd w/ 4.9L MFI 6cyl so I would go with that being it is closer in year to my 81.
I also think that was the year the Y pipe I got was for.

Again I am just wondering if the battery to frame/motor/trany ground and solenoid to starter cables are the same between 81 (carb) & 88 (EFI).

Going to try and get out to the garage tonight or early tomorrow morning to look the cables over and I have to dig out the old trucks harness from a storage bin to check on some missing plugs mine has now.

Thanks
Dave ----

[Gary Lewis]

Here's what I found.  But I can't find a length on WC-8784 or E8TF 14431-AA or AB.  Perhaps you can find that on the internet?

[FuzzFace2]

Thanks I will give that a try
Dave ----

[PetesPonies]

Its difficult to find red cables, but they can be found. Try a real parts store, they may have them.

[FuzzFace2]

Pete, I have given up for now on the red cables. I think I saw I could order them on line (auto zone?) but at the time I did not know the size needed and also don't know if I could get them in 2ga as they also listed 4ga cables.

Gary, I little looking on the net did not turn up anything for any cable other than for a v8 F or U truck and that was at 56".
So I am going with what I have and route it away from danger.

Thanks guys for the help.
Dave ----

[85lebaront2]

Pete, I had the issue on my "Fiat", a 1986 LeBaron konvertible, I wanted a short 8" or so, positive cable to go from the battery to the 1996 Stratus Power Distribution Center, shortest anyone had in red was 18" so I had to get a black one. As for "real parts stores" here, maybe NAPA, but they rarely have anything I am looking for and are a good hour round trip. The one nearest me went to Parts Master about 2 years ago and I am exceedingly careful what I buy there. That is where I got the cable for the "Fiat", but since it goes to a nice red capped post marked as the positive jump start point, I don't think it will be a problem.

Funny story, when my daughter was in college, she had a 1975 Pinto Pony MPG, with the recall shield already installed. She left the dome light on when she got a speeding ticket on the way back to Radford University. When she found the car was dead, she asked an engineering student from VA Tech which is almost next door to help her jump it. Pinto battery was right front, starter relay on the right rear on the firewall. PO had replaced the original ground cable with a Carol one, bright red of course. Tech student started to hook the positive to the red cable and when Donna questioned him, his reaction was "what do you know, you're a girl". She waited till we came up two weeks later, she had enough knowledge from all the Fords we had that the wire to the relay was positive.

[ArdWrknTrk]

You could always use red loom, electrical tape or even that brush on insulation 'Liquid Electrical Tape' to make the cable red.

I use different colors of electric tape or shrink tube at each end of a rubber vacuum line to match the old Ford color coded brittle plastic line.

Red = manifold
White = ported
Green = EGR
etc....

[FuzzFace2]

I ended up buying black 2 gauge cables.
They come with the cheap rubber colored caps that go over the post.

I had to mod 2 of the cables, 1 had the wrong end (needed eye/eye) and the other was too long.
I crimped and soldered the ends on. I dropped some chips of solder in the terminal, added a thin piece of solder in the middle of strands of cable, then crimped before soldering.

I also added the tab in the middle of the ground cable like stock.
http://cars.grantskingdom.com/index.php/1980-Ford-F100/20171015_114608
http://cars.grantskingdom.com/index.php/1980-Ford-F100/20171015_123448
http://cars.grantskingdom.com/index.php/1980-Ford-F100/20171015_123612
Dave ----

[Gary Lewis]

Dave - They look good. 👍  But why not post the pictures here?

[FuzzFace2]

darn I was trying to quote you and it sent an email sorry.

I am still learning how this all works with pictures & quoting.

I did post pictures in a thread on "AC harness" or the like.

Thing is the way the pictures are listed on my PC it is long numbers. So when I go to add a picture I have to open them on my PC to see if it is the right picture, remember the number so I pick the right one to add to the post.
Not that easy and I am one of the people that don't like change but I am getting it just takes me a little longer is all.
Dave ----