Hood Turn Indicators 'ground' issues

[69 M-CODE CUDA]

I'm putting my hood mounted turn indicators on my '69 Cuda and notice that they no longer get their ground connection through the sheet metal like they did before I restored the car. These indicators just have a single signal wire that runs through the hood channels back to the firewall near the master cylinder, where they connect to the wire harness. Apparently there was originally enough of a ground connection through the original hood/hood hinges, etc. I was meticulous in the restoration, and I'm not really surprised that I lost this ground connection, because I've got a lot of paint on those parts that were probably barely covered when new.

I'm not sure if I'm going to run a separate ground wire from these indicators to the firewall. I really don't want an extra ground wire service loop there to deal with.

Has anyone experienced this before? Appreciate all the help!

 

[A56]

I'm putting my hood mounted turn indicators on my '69 Cuda and notice that they no longer get their ground connection through the sheet metal like they did before I restored the car. These indicators just have a single signal wire that runs through the hood channels back to the firewall near the master cylinder, where they connect to the wire harness. Apparently there was originally enough of a ground connection through the original hood/hood hinges, etc. I was meticulous in the restoration, and I'm not really surprised that I lost this ground connection, because I've got a lot of paint on those parts that were probably barely covered when new.

I'm not sure if I'm going to run a separate ground wire from these indicators to the firewall. I really don't want an extra ground wire service loop there to deal with.

Has anyone experienced this before? Appreciate all the help!

I think if you used a star washer on the t/s stud it would dig into the paint on the under side of the hood and will give you the ground.

 

[69 M-CODE CUDA]

I think if you used a star washer on the t/s stud it would dig into the paint on the under side of the hood and will give you the ground.

I tried that at first, but the weird thing about these indicators is that there are two projections through two holes in the hood. One for the mounting stud and one for the knurled connection for the signal wire. But the mounting stud is not electrically connected to the knurled barrel where the wire mounts. This barrel seems to be the only place that the ground is needed in order to work. So a star washer under the mounting stud doesn't do the trick.

 

[A56]

I tried that at first, but the weird thing about these indicators is that there are two projections through two holes in the hood. One for the mounting stud and one for the knurled connection for the signal wire. But the mounting stud is not electrically connected to the knurled barrel where the wire mounts. This barrel seems to be the only place that the ground is needed in order to work. So a star washer under the mounting stud doesn't do the trick.

and I thought that the mounting stud would be the ground like my aftermarket t/s on my old Harley.

 

[A56]

I tried that at first, but the weird thing about these indicators is that there are two projections through two holes in the hood. One for the mounting stud and one for the knurled connection for the signal wire. But the mounting stud is not electrically connected to the knurled barrel where the wire mounts. This barrel seems to be the only place that the ground is needed in order to work. So a star washer under the mounting stud doesn't do the trick.

I'm looking at the diagram in my FSM and it looks like the ground goes to the head lamp ground

 

[RogerRamRod]

Once the hood has opened and closed a few times you might get enough of a ground on the latch, sprain, and hinge. Short of that, you might need to run a ground wire hugging tight to the hinge so it’s not so noticeable. Maybe do that short term until some of the paint is worn off the contact points

 

[moparmat2000]

Isnt there a flat sheetmetal tab that holds the orange signal lens in place that's also peened over where its held into the chromed housing? Should be. That's your ground path to the body mounting stud. The knurled socket that threads in makes contact with that plate.

You can start by using the ohmmeter side of your volt meter and check from the knurled nut to the ground stud and see if you have continuity between the 2. If that's a yes, then check from the mounting stud to the hood sheetmetal and continue on from there. Your answer if bulb socket to mounting stud and stud to hood is good continuity wise may be to open and close the hood about 20-30 times to wear off enough paint on those spots to create a ground return path.

 

[69 M-CODE CUDA]

Isnt there a flat sheetmetal tab that holds the orange signal lens in place that's also peened over where its held into the chromed housing? Should be. That's your ground path to the body mounting stud. The knurled socket that threads in makes contact with that plate.

You can start by using the ohmmeter side of your volt meter and check from the knurled nut to the ground stud and see if you have continuity between the 2. If that's a yes, then check from the mounting stud to the hood sheetmetal and continue on from there. Your answer if bulb socket to mounting stud and stud to hood is good continuity wise may be to open and close the hood about 20-30 times to wear off enough paint on those spots to create a ground return path.

When checking continuity between the knurled nut where the wire connects and the mounting stud in the indicator casting...there is NONE. So I made a small ground wire to connect these two features, and using a star washer when mounting the whole works to the hood, everything works fine now. So I guess my ground path through the hinges is okay.

Apparently those castings are of a non conductive pot metal or something. They look like zinc castings, but I don't really know what they're made of. The threaded connection where the knurled nut goes and the mounting stud are right next to each other, but clearly no continuity between them.

What I can't figure out is how did it work before? I suppose the knurled nut must have touched ground somewhere, like through the side of the hole through the hood. Weird...

 

[67Dart273]

There is no reason to think the hood itself is grounded, and "in fact" not being grounded causes noise in radios. There used to be aftermarket grounding contact fingers, but the "easy" way is to take small ground braid or even regular wire--no. 14 or whatever, and make a "U" loop, screwed to the hood and firewall.