Do our cars need the earth strap from cylinder head to firewall?

[UKPlymouth]

Guys, i'm chasing an ignition stumble and noted that my 73 'Runner has no braided earth strap from cylinder head to firewall. It has the usual strap from drivers side cylinder head to battery negative.
Should I add the extra strap?

 

[roadrunnerman]

Don't remember if those cars came with one but it probably wouldn't hurt anyways as a extra bonus for peace of mind.Don't know if that would fix your ignition stumble.

 

[Powerflite]

Yes, it should have a strap from the motor to the firewall. This is the only real place that the battery grounds to the chassis. My Barracuda didn't have one and there was 45 ohms impedance between the battery ground to the chassis. After connecting it up, there was only 2 ohms (probably due to local surface impedance). If your chassis is not well grounded it can cause problems with your gauges, taillights, headlights, etc.

 

[WP29440SE]

you can never have too many grounds. you need at the very least , battery to block to body grounds. this is especially critical with electronic ignition.

 

[Moparlar]

On a 73 you should have a cable from the battery to the engine and a strap going from the same cable to the Core support. That grounds the frame on later cars

 

[UKPlymouth]

Thanks for that info. I do have the battery to engine to chassis earth, but I'm going to add the braided addition too. After all, my 74 Dart had that and few if any electrical problems.