Ground Bus

[content22207]

Today I started making a ground schematic. Learned a few things in the process:
DeLoreanGroundsInProcess3.jpg
I'll finish it tomorrow.

This is my current bus overlaid on that schematic:
GroundBusSchematic.jpg
Remember that the bus wires are 4 gauge, not 12 gauge (extension to the headlight ground block is 8 gauge). The junction behind the central A/C duct will be tied in as a future addition, using the same 4 gauge cable and copper lug as all the other junctions (I like symmetry).

Bill Robertson
#5939

[sean]

Feel free to keep Bus talk here but if you want to talk about bill's Ground findings please continue that over here.

[content22207]

When I said a continuous cable what I wanted to say is the buss cable should not be cut and terminated at each grounding post but should have a tee type connector that wraps around the cable with a hole in it that attaches to each binding post.

Have you read a single word I've written? My console junctions *ARE* connected with a continuous cable, using connectors that wrap around the cable:
GroundBusConsoleAnnotated.jpg GroundBusJunctionLug2.jpg GroundBusConsoleMiddle.jpg

There is one bolt in the relay compartment that acts as a central mounting point for cables that are going in 5 different directions (there is no way to run a continuous cable around the relay compartment).

The ECU compartment has a ground block so I could add a 1/4" stud to the bus for future additions (ground bus cables themselves use 3/8" bolts). This block also allows me to attach a cable to the engine -- it's a junction point similar to the bolt in the relay compartment.

As stated, there are no bus junctions underneath the console -- all factory junctions are tied into a continuous wire with wrap around connectors.

At the front of the console the bus is joined with a 1/4" bolt. This bolt is a junction point for wires that used to be attached to the radio bracket (I just moved them to the bolt), and it is a point to attach future wires, such as a cable to a factory junction behind the A/C central duct that I've only recently learned about.

Altogether it is a very neat and orderly installation. It also works fantastically well -- even without the instrument cluster junction tied in I don't have any of the electrical problems that other owners complain about.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Farrar]

Altogether it is a very neat and orderly installation. It also works fantastically well -- even without the instrument cluster junction tied in I don't have any of the electrical problems that other owners complain about.

I bet your fuses run cooler, too.

Farrar

[ramblinmike]

I've got to hand it to you man, it looks great. Another project on the list!

[content22207]

I will be tying this newly located junction into the front bolts of my ground buses in the near future with short pieces of battery cable (that is why that bolt is there -- to allow me to add grounds to the bus as necessary).

Done (except for wrapping everything up with electrical tape):
GroundBusAddition1.jpg GroundBusAddition2.jpg

Perhaps a little overkill, especially considering that I don't even use that junction for my fuel pump, but I can honestly say, with little fear of contradiction, that I likely have the only DeLorean in the world with EVERY ground junction tied into a 4 gauge ground bus. From bow to stern, every inch of my bus is 4 gauge.

BTW: That junction is *MUCH* easier to access with most of the dashboard out of the way, as it will be on #2508 (after which time there will be two DeLoreans in the world with every single ground junction tied into a 4 gauge bus). I was reduced to working by braille. Removing the plastic shrink wrap over the factory junction was an exercise in patience, but once it was off I knew I was home free.

This addition does illustrate well why I use a bolt to join the console cable to the cable that runs through the firewall.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[dn010]

I can honestly say, with little fear of contradiction, that I likely have the only DeLorean in the world with EVERY ground junction tied into a 4 gauge ground bus. From bow to stern, every inch of my bus is 4 gauge.

BTW: That junction is *MUCH* easier to access with most of the dashboard out of the way, as it will be on #2508 (after which time there will be two DeLoreans in the world with every single ground junction tied into a 4 gauge bus).
Bill Robertson
#5939

In a few hours, there will be 2 Deloreans with every ground tied to a 4 gauge bus... That is, until your #2508 is ready. This was definitely worth doing in my opinion.

[dn010]

Bill, did you tie in the grounds that were originally below the ballast resister?

[Farrar]

Here's a question which may possibly be off-topic, but I think it's related:

Where are they relays grounded? It would seem to me it might be easier to take the ground wires of the relay sockets and attach them to the bracket itself, since the bracket is a ground point. But if memory serves, the ground wires from the relay sockets disappear back into the harness. Where do those wires go? In my early car, they're black/red, if that means anything. I ask because I am about to dig in to that area as I re-wire the cooling fan circuit soon.

Thanks,
Farrar

[content22207]

Bill, did you tie in the grounds that were originally below the ballast resister?

Nope. My ballast resistor bracket is electrically neutral (screwed directly to the fiberglass):
BallastResistors.jpg

The grounds I am mapping out are from the bulkhead bolt forward. My engine compartment is wired radically differently from a K-Jetted PRV. I only have a handful of grounded devices back there:
- Alternator
- A/C compressor
- Choke heater
- Spark plugs
- Starter motor
- Dash gauge sending units
- Whatever else I've forgotten
Believe it or not, for just those few devices, I am running 3 block grounds: the original braided strap, the ground bus already pictured, and this ground cable, added when I did the engine swap:
MotorMount.jpg
Suffice it to say, my engine is well grounded, though mostly by historical accident (the driver side cable was added because the braided strap is cheap & flimsy, and I tied in the ground bus by principle).

Bill Robertson
#5939