quote:
Originally posted by wgl
Michael,
Thanks for your reply. I do not fully understand it. The car that we are working on has 45,000 original miles. It is quite likely that the cables are original. They do not have any MB markings but are lead that has had the cable swaged in. The original battery had the - post closest to the engine. The new MB battery has the - post on the left side of the battery. It would be simple just to turn the battery around but then we would lose the MB markings. We are getting this car ready for a judged concours here in OR. MB has no cable long enough for the ground, so I have to figure out a way to fabricate one as close to original as I can.
Bill
Bill,
Forget about my clamp description, sorry about that...I was looking at a cable I removed, not the correct ones I just installed.
To help you along, send me your direct email address and I'll get some high-res photos to you. The 80K limit on photo postings here is not good enough.Note I have a new MB battery, and new cables from MB: the + cable, though new, has a production date of 1971. There do not appear to be any obvious MB markings on the cables. Interesting point: my + battery cable is covered in a grey/silver woven fabric. The - in black vinyl. Others I have seen were all black vinyl. RED is not used, and that's a dead giveaway for an aftermarket cable.
As you look at the battery from inside the bonnet, the - is on the left; the cable is very short and is fixed by screw to a standing sheet metal seam as the ground/earth point. The + side is on the right, this VERY LONG cable gets snaked down through grommet #1 in the battery tray, to a series of grommets inderneath the front of the engine, to the starter.
As a suggestion, if you are going into an MBCA judged concours, do it correctly. Don't turn the battery around. If it doesn't fit right with the cables you have, get some other ones. If it isn't MBCA judged, it probably won't matter.
Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored
