Cleaning up the path to ground

[rooster]

I noticed when I removed the ground connections along the radiator support that the wires
had large connectors but contact with metal was minimal, only contact with the attaching
screw was the link to ground. The screws were special and had a collar that smashed itself
into the wire connector.
Over time the once shiny connectors appear dirty or oxidized , the brass color connector
appeared greenish when I disconnected it. The car pictured is now 13 years old , all but its
last 3 years its been garaged, it has a little over 50K miles on it..
I thought that a better contact would be to remove the paint, where contact would
increase, that would open this area up to rust. I got a can of Krylon ignition sealer that I
am going to spray over this area to help prevent rust.

[enjenjo]

Grounds are one of the things that cause the most problems. Even new cars can have bad grounds.

I use NKY compound from Trucklite, or NOCO corrosion prevention spray to seal ground connections.

[kb426]

You guys put the fear in me. Every single ground on the 32 is hooked to the same place on the trans. I have to run a ground to the frame for the tail lights. Everything else is hooked to the trans. What is NKY compound?

[Dave]

You guys put the fear in me. Every single ground on the 32 is hooked to the same place on the trans. I have to run a ground to the frame for the tail lights. Everything else is hooked to the trans. What is NKY compound?

Never heard of it.. there is a compound i guess you would call it for coating connection plugs and i think its made by permatex (ill look when i get time) that coats the connection and dispels water.. Nice stuff and available at advance or autozone.. Basically its simple weather it be the ground or the positive side all connections need to be clean and free of anything that would weakin the connection. Not only does 12v need a good path to ground it needs a good clean path on the positive end of things also.. Usually there are  reasons things corrode like dissimilar metals and stuff like that. Every connection is subject to corrosion so... Dont stay up all night worrying about it.. It may or may not ever give you a problem....... Heres my grounding procedure ( just for you bill) because everything ive built has the battery in the trunk or under the rear of the car I drill a hole in the frame (boxed) and use a 3/8 fine thread tap and tap the hole for the ground. I make sure the area where the head of the bolt is gonna hit the ground connection and the frame is free from paint.. Now I can also use line clamp tapped 10/32 holes and stuff for fuel sender and electric fuel pump grounds cause the battery is grounded to the frame.. Next.. I with a small block chevy always run a ground from a fuel pump bolt to the motor mount bolt. I do this cause its a short clean run but maybe not as effective as it could be but no problems yet.. Then i always run a wire from one of the transmissions housing to engine bolts up to the dash for gauge grounding..  This hasnt failed yet and ive been doing it this way for 30 years..  Another good thing that can be done is to get a piece of copper and make a ground buss bar and mount it under the dash area . this way you can attach multiple wires easier and spread out the grounds . Since im not using my car as a transmitter (the ham radio stuff here) I dont think it really matters or is needed..
Man my fingers hurt  
Take it for what its worth...
Dave  
ps: i will get the part number on the stuff to coat the wires but it will have to wait till i get back from the weekend trip.........

[enjenjo]

You can find it here. http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=23656&langId=-1 most truck dealers stock it

[kb426]

Because I live in the desert, corrosion isn't a large problem buy I don't want to say " wish I woulda". Putting something on a fresh connection isn't much work. Good luck hunting, Dave.