C1 Grounding Straps

[Donald H.]

I believe my car, a 1960, did not come with a radio.

There was no evidence of there ever being a bracket inside the trunk that the base of the antenna would have mounted to. No bracket, no screw hole in the fender well, no patch.

There had been a radio installed at one time or another (I got a '61 wonderbar radio in a box with the car, but it was never in the car). However, the hole for the antenna in the rear fender was not located correctly. The hole was off center of the fender ridge and it was much closer to the tail light assembly than others have told me (mine was 3" from the tail light, others have measured 4" to 4 1/2" for correct location).

The car did have the typical grounding straps on the engine mounts, exhaust and accelerator arm to the intake manifold. These straps are listed in the AIM as being part of F.O.A. 102, the radio option.

Is it possible the straps were installed on a non-radio optioned car? Should I reinstall these straps if I do not install a radio?

Thanks,

[Joe M.]

Re: C1 Grounding Straps

Donald, I did a quick search through archives and found one related comment that I thought was appropriate. If the "build sheet" did not show a radio option, they would not install any part of that option, such as capacitors, ignition shielding brackets, ignition shielding pieces, and most likely grounding straps. The radio option on the 1960 was "expensive" due to the added parts that were required to install the radio. Not like a steel body car that needed a radio and an antenna. I suppose it is possible that a worker could have started to install the optional equipment by accident and the ground straps had been installed before the mistake was caught.

[Donald H.]

Re: C1 Grounding Straps

I found the same threads, I was just trying to make sure the grounding straps didn't have any other purpose other than for the radio.

My car didn't have the courtesy light option originally. There are no holes for the switches up near the upper door hinges. Someone added the light later and put switches at about the middle of the hinge pillar. They were incorrect switches. They were the type that snapped into a hole rather than having the correct housing with two screws.

Don

[Philip P.]

Re: C1 Grounding Straps

The only thing that may be wrong is the upper shield brackets were installed on all cars to route the spark plug wires. Page 59 of the 58-60 Judging Guide.