[Ron Finney]

There is nothing wrong with the chassis ground if done properly. Sorry to disagree Bill, but grounding to the starter still connects the ground to the block, motor plate etc. Usually most ground issues are too small wire or bad connections, not cleaning the chassis, rollbar, block etc. wherever the ground is attaching. Any bad connection creates resistance which provides for a voltage drop. That is the voltage that is creating the oddities in other systems. In an electrical circuit the load should consume all of the voltage, not the wiring, connections, etc. I have seen many people run a big power wire and then a small ground. THEY MUST BE THE SAME SIZE! Now lets blow your mind for a minute, if you study electricity, (electron theory shows that the voltage leaves the battery through the negative terminal and returns through the positive!). Hard to convince people of that but it does kinda explain why most problems are on the ground side of the circuit. Definitely having redundant grounds is not a bad thing, just make sure they are big enough.

The relay advice is excellent. A relay is, is a remote electrical switch. It allows you to use a small current and to control a much larger one. Relays are used to keep from running big wires for every component into the dash or switch. Without a relay, all switches would have to be large enough to handle all of the current the load uses. If we did this, the wiring harness would be huge and we wouldn't have much room. You can use a smaller wire on the control side of the relay because it doesn't take much current to energize the relay and therefore a smaller current switch. Also, by not having to run the high current wires as far, you have less voltage drop in the wires and more available current to the component you are operating. Makes things much nicer.

Good Luck!

Ron

33 S/C