Hey guys! I am replacing starter on my ”˜49 Chevy 3100 series pickup. The old battery and starter wires are off already. Trying to find out where I attach the black ground wire from the battery to the new starter? Any help greatly appreciated!
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You want minimum resistance in the circuit, so as close to the starter as possible. A mounting bolt, on the starter side, with the lug against the starter ear. Buff the lug and ear and bolt head underside before assembly. WL
Is the 49 truck battery under the floor or in the engine compartment? If it's under the floor like my 38, I ran the ground cable to the starter itself. If it's in the engine compartment ground it to the engine. Below shows my 38 & the cable connected to the pivot bolt. The stock location in 38 was a transmission cover bolt but that can be difficult to access.
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The battery is under the right side floor on the ”˜49 3100. We had to determine where to connect the ground cable on my friend’s truck when we were getting it back on the road.
I agree with Tiny that the best connection is to somewhere on the engine block or transmission. You also might need to consider a ground wire between the engine and the chassis.
Initially we had the ground cable connected to the frame. The engine would start and run great. When we installed new motor mounts the engine would not even turn over. The new mounts had insulated the engine and transmission from the frame. We moved the battery ground to the engine block. If I remember correctly there is a tapped hole on top of the ear on the right side of the rear of the block. We installed a second ground cable from that point to the frame. Everything works great electrically.
