Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

I bought a junkyard 1951 327 engine and it came with a broken carburetor and a lovely braided ground strap, and as I recall, it was bolted to the side of the head maybe where the oil filter mounts. I bought a 1946 Clipper Deluxe which had a broken terminal on its possibly undersized ground cable, so I swapped them. The one on the '46 blots to the side of the head at the throttle bracket. I made sure to clean paint and crud off of stuff before installation of the "new" one.


You can put the cable in a container and soak it in white vinegar and clean a lot of the crud off of it. A few minutes of that and a bit of degreaser for the stubborn parts and a bit of wire brush action and the darn thing looks great.

The 1951-1954 Service Manual shows it clearly connecting under the nut at the back of the water pump. This is the other end of the same bolt to which the generator support mounts so gives a good ground.

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If the main battery ground is attached to the engine, there needs to be another heavy ground strap from the engine or transmission to the frame. I'd want another one from the firewall or other point on the body shell to the engine or to the frame.

You would think that would be the case and Packard did have a large ground strap between the frame and a transmission case bolt thru 42 conventional body models. That was probably because the battery ground strap connected to the frame in those models. For whatever reason, after the Clipper battery moved to the engine compt and grounded directly to the engine Packard did not use a ground strap on those or any postwar models until the 55s when they again added a small approx 10ga braided ground strap between the engine and firewall.

In the prewar Clippers and 46-54 models they relied mostly on linkage and various tubing runs to make a connection between the engine and frame or sheetmetal. About the only solid ground connection to the body in those years was the 16ga ground wire between the generator case and the L fender headlight terminal mounting screw which went on to the regulator body.

Accessory loads were generally lighter on earlier cars, but I'd want a secure, 50 amp ground connection between the body and frame anyway, and a high capacity ground betweeen the engine and frame.

Any car with a radio might have less interference from the generator and ignition with secure grounds.

I've seen severe damage to vehicles with a poor ground between engine, ground, and body when, for whatever reason, starter current flowed through things like choke or throttle cables, temperature sender and oil gauge connections, or smaller gauge wiring not intended for heavy current.

Excess ground current capacity won't hurt anything, while poor or erratic grounds can cause any number of headaches and sometimes severe damage.