77 240d Battery Cables WTB
 

Hi All. Does anyone have recommendations for good quality battery cables for my 77 240d? Thanks.

Negative AND positive?

77 240d Battery Cables WTB
 

It’s easy to overlook the little things, but the truth is that most OEM battery cables are not particularly well made. Many OEMs (even Ducati) use cheap steel crimp terminals and coarse wire stranding, making the cables both miserable to work with and bad at functioning appropriately. At Revival, we’ve sourced high-quality components and materials to develop a special DIY battery 20231022/4350494ba603358f5c49b2d5b180db21.webp[/IMG]


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another '77 240D owner, nice!

just make sure both cables are black and leave them disconnected when parked.
That way if someone tries to steal it, there's a chance they burn it down instead :laugh:

77 240d Battery Cables WTB
 

Okay

The actual thickness of the wire core on my 1984 300D was 1/4 of an inch. There is a picture in my old thread below that shows the US gauge sizes of batter cables. You will see a notation I put on the picture comparing the 300D with the insulation on it to the US size with the insulation on it.

I also found that by removing the terminal ends that the copper wire part of the cable was OK after soaking int in baking soda and water. OK means that the wires were not eaten away by corrosion. They just had a lot of the greenish blue with corrosion that copper gets. I either reused or replaced the ends and applied solder to wick inside of them and taped up the insulation.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/401590-what-gauge-stock-84-300d-battery-cable.html

Some people like to upgrade to US 10 gauge. But personally, after seeing that the 300D only has a 1/4-inch diameter wire bundle inside of it I don't think it is needed.

Autozone sells brass cable clamps and copper ends with an eye in them. You can crimp the down with a dull chisel and as I mentiond heat them and fill them with solder. That way they never corrode inside of the cable end.

Making your own battery cables.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=TY9dIp6NXC4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=PqOa2d8v8Tw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=BcFLolSfz2I

You use the battery cable ends whey an eye/hole in it and you use what out here are called marine batter clamps. If you don't like the wing nuts you can replace them with a normal hex nut and washer or even a nylock nut.

The picture is from autozone and clamps are actually brass clamps. They also have the cheaper lead clamps that have the same arrangement.

Unless it is a show car, I'd make new cables and make them one size larger than OE. Don't forget the braided strap between the bellhousing and the frame.

Thanks all. I'll look into making my own.

You can get new braided ground straps on eBay and maybe amazon. Likely Summit Racing also has them. Places like Autozone have them but they have limited lengths.

FWIW, Battery cables are one of "those things" in which quality matters. If you are near a well stocked marine store look there for components. Research this first; but, I think welding cable makes great cables IF their insulation is properly rated e.g., oil resistance, moisture resistance, heat resistance etc.

BEWARE!
SCAMMER :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

What is meaning of this Rubbish ****


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My car doesn’t have a ground strap from the bell housing but rather a long cable from the block to the battery grounding point on the fender.

IIRC, both my '76 & '78 had braided ground straps . They were manual transmission cars. My '93 300E also had a ground to the bell but it wasn't braided. Just make sure it is very well grounded and it will be fine.