If the wire is long enough just drill a small hole in the nearest structure to the tank (trunk floor or reinforcing member) and use a self-tapping screw to secure the ground wire. That's how a lot of the AMC fuel senders are grounded.

Joe

--- On Thu, 3/4/10, Bruce Griffis wrote:

> From: Bruce Griffis
> Subject: [AMC-list] Swapping out fuel sending unit - where do you connect ground?
> To: "AMC, Rambler, Nash, Jeep and family"
> Date: Thursday, March 4, 2010, 11:08 AM
> I thought I had fixed my old fuel
> sending unit, but no go. So - I have
> a new one. On the old one, I just ran a wire to the j bolt
> holding the
> gas tank up for a ground. Any recommendations for a good,
> snazzy
> ground I can rely on? I just connect power to the sending
> unit, and
> then the ground wire to the body somewhere, right?
> Re-connect the
> battery and cross my fingers?
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On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 11:08, Bruce Griffis wrote:

> I thought I had fixed my old fuel sending unit, but no go. So - I have
> a new one. On the old one, I just ran a wire to the j bolt holding the
> gas tank up for a ground.

That's probably not a good ground; Joe's suggestion of drilling a hole and
using a self-tapping screw is probably best. it needs to be connected
tightly to clean, bright metal. A squirt of spraypaint on the screw, wire
and metal when you're done will keep water and corrosion out later.

> I just connect power to the sending unit, and
> then the ground wire to the body somewhere, right? Re-connect the
> battery and cross my fingers?
>

By this I assume you mean connect the (yellow?) wire back onto the sender in
the tank, not some separate power wire... you'll likely start a quick and
serious fire i you wired 12V onto the sender. The sender is connected
(through the harness) to one of the terminals on the gauge, only. Just
double-checking.
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Yep - yellow wire. No new wires run. I should have been clear.

Car is on jack stands. Battery is disconnected. Wire to the fuel
sending unit is disconnected. Fuel line is disconnected. J-bolt is
loosened. Front-end of gas tank is on a jack stand, back is still on
the strap. Hopefully it will be warm tomorrow at lunch time - so I can
swap out the fuel sending unit (and pick up a sheet metal screw).

On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 5:38 PM, tom jennings wrote:
> That's probably not a good ground; Joe's suggestion of drilling a hole and
> using a self-tapping screw is probably best. it needs to be connected
> tightly to clean, bright metal. A squirt of spraypaint on the screw, wire
> and metal when you're done will keep water and corrosion out later.
>
>
>
>
>>   I just connect power to the sending unit, and
>> then the ground wire to the body somewhere, right? Re-connect the
>> battery and cross my fingers?
>>
>
> By this I assume you mean connect the (yellow?) wire back onto the sender in
> the tank, not some separate power wire... you'll likely start a quick and
> serious fire i you wired 12V onto the sender. The sender is connected
> (through the harness) to one of the terminals on the gauge, only. Just
> double-checking.
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A toothed washer (preferably one with teeth on both the inside and
outside) between the ground terminal and the the body will help with
contact as well. I'm about 90% sure they put one there to begin with. On
both my 67 and 68 Americans the screw goes into the same crossmember
that the J bolt goes into. Make sure to leave some slack in the wire so
you don't pull the wire out of the terminal from vibration.

Matt

On 3/4/2010 5:45 PM, Bruce Griffis spouted this sage advice:
> Yep - yellow wire. No new wires run. I should have been clear.
>
> Car is on jack stands. Battery is disconnected. Wire to the fuel
> sending unit is disconnected. Fuel line is disconnected. J-bolt is
> loosened. Front-end of gas tank is on a jack stand, back is still on
> the strap. Hopefully it will be warm tomorrow at lunch time - so I can
> swap out the fuel sending unit (and pick up a sheet metal screw).
>
> On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 5:38 PM, tom jennings wrote:
>> That's probably not a good ground; Joe's suggestion of drilling a hole and
>> using a self-tapping screw is probably best. it needs to be connected
>> tightly to clean, bright metal. A squirt of spraypaint on the screw, wire
>> and metal when you're done will keep water and corrosion out later.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> I just connect power to the sending unit, and
>>> then the ground wire to the body somewhere, right? Re-connect the
>>> battery and cross my fingers?
>>>
>> By this I assume you mean connect the (yellow?) wire back onto the sender in
>> the tank, not some separate power wire... you'll likely start a quick and
>> serious fire i you wired 12V onto the sender. The sender is connected
>> (through the harness) to one of the terminals on the gauge, only. Just
>> double-checking.

--
mhaas@one.net
Cincinnati, OH
http://www.mattsoldcars.com
1967 Rambler American wagon
1968 Rambler American sedan
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by UCLA's Center for Communication Policy, people cite
not having a computer as the No. 1 reason they won't go online.
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What I do on all my Ramblers and later AMCs when I am messing around with that part of the car is I reroute the wire coming into the trunk, to put it out of the way.
You don't want to snag a nice new wire this summer when you toss all your camping gear in the trunk, right.
Why they ran the sending unit wire to come out the middle of the trunk area is beyond me, and they kept doing it for years...Russ

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That must have been one of the longest fuel sending unit jobs done!

Thursday during lunch break I jacked it up and put it on jack stands.

Friday during lunch I pulled the fuel line and let the fuel drain into
a plastic gas can.

Friday after work and before frying up catfish for dinner I pulled the
old sending unit and put the new one on (with new filter and new
gasket).

Saturday after my morning Costco meat, dairy and produce run I drilled
a small hole for the self-tapping sheet metal screw - then attached
the ground wire and the fuel line.

After my Saturday afternoon Publix run for the smaller stuff (some
things you just don't want in bulk, no matter what!) - I lowered the
car, put fuel back in the tank and connected the battery cables.
Checked the fuel gauge - and it read about an eigth!

I then headed to the gas station with the clean two gallon container
and picked up more fuel. Put it in the Rambler. Checked the gauge -
and it was higher! Then I started it up and idled it for a while
before backing it up and hosing off the top of the driveway.

I should have rerun that yellow wire - Russ - you are right. That's in
a bad spot, and I'll probably hit it when doing a Costco run or a
camping trip. I need to move up getting a trunk mat or something just
to get that wire covered up.
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Add another day to that, lol. I went and filled it up today, then
headed home. Noticed a widening pool under the car. Pulled the battery
cables, grabbed a small empty gas container and put it under, then
poked around. Jacked it up and pulled off the passenger side tire.
Man! That made it a lot easier to get at the fuel sending unit - I
should have done that to begin with!

Tightened the sending unit a bit and tightened the fuel hose. It isn't
leaking any more - but I'm keeping an eye on it. Decided to paint the
rear drums while it's up on jack stands again. Thinking of cleaning up
the rear wheels and hitting them with some paint as well. (I gotta
save up for a compressor and touch-up gun - the aerosol cans are kinda
lame!).

Anyway - hope I got the leak. Nothing caught on fire. I might call my
insurance company and get better coverage now that it's running and
driving. It's no longer a big, cool lego project.

On Sat, Mar 6, 2010 at 4:03 PM, Bruce Griffis wrote:
> That must have been one of the longest fuel sending unit jobs done!
>
> Thursday during lunch break I jacked it up and put it on jack stands.
>
> Friday during lunch I pulled the fuel line and let the fuel drain into
> a plastic gas can.
>
> Friday after work and before frying up catfish for dinner I pulled the
> old sending unit and put the new one on (with new filter and new
> gasket).
>
> Saturday after my morning Costco meat, dairy and produce run I drilled
> a small hole for the self-tapping sheet metal screw - then attached
> the ground wire and the fuel line.
>
> After my Saturday afternoon Publix run for the smaller stuff (some
> things you just don't want in bulk, no matter what!) - I lowered the
> car, put fuel back in the tank and connected the battery cables.
> Checked the fuel gauge - and it read about an eigth!
>
> I then headed to the gas station with the clean two gallon container
> and picked up more fuel. Put it in the Rambler. Checked the gauge -
> and it was higher! Then I started it up and idled it for a while
> before backing it up and hosing off the top of the driveway.
>
> I should have rerun that yellow wire - Russ - you are right. That's in
> a bad spot, and I'll probably hit it when doing a Costco run or a
> camping trip. I need to move up getting a trunk mat or something just
> to get that wire covered up.
>
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Bruce, my 58's sending unit wire came right out the trunk floor and my 83 does. Every AMC I have ever owned came right out the middle of the trunk floor. Somewhere in the span between 58 and 83, didn't someone grab someone else at the factory and say, "hey.....".......Russ

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