electrical smoke when starting

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@forango have you found out where the magical electrical smoke was from?
Not yet..I am doing an oil change this weekend so while under the car I will check for ground wires etc...the chassis ground looks like it could be "scuffed" up and adjusted but no burn marks or anything of that sort. All the wiring looks good from top side...I have just been so swamped I haven't had time to get under the car.
 
Sorry for the delay on this, work has been a bitch....So while under the car this weekend the only issue I saw at all wiring-wise was that they had the frame ground bolted in to where the sway bar would mount and the connecting spot under the ground was painted. I took it off and scuffed up the frame and the connecting lead and re-attached it. Drove car for a while and got it good and hot and it started every time after that no dragging or anything else. I already ordered a mini starter that I likely will still install however.

On to my my next question. I have a sway bar that I am going to be installing soon. Where is the "correct" mounting spot for the frame ground? Or is that sway bar mount location actually correct?
 
I installed long tube headers and a Powermaster high torque mini starter at the same time, got a nice heat shield off ebay and it has worked great. The PMGR style mini starters are less susceptible to heat soak in addition to having more physical clearance. I would definitely recommend a heat shield and not a wrap as they can hold in heat, whereas a shield allows air to flow around the starter.
Can you take a picture of the heatshield installed?
 
Where is the "correct" mounting spot for the frame ground? Or is that sway bar mount location actually correct?

Which wire are you referring to as the "frame ground"

Negative off the battery comes of and goes under the engine and grounds to a specific boss on the timing cover. There's also a small ground that comes off the back of the cylinder head and connects to the firewall.

1710430932293.png
 
Took me a while to find a good picture of what I am referring to and it is not on the timing chain cover. This is not a picture of the motor in either of my cars but this is where the ground wire is connected. This boss is on the stock blocks as well but this is the only picture I could find really quick that showed the location.

Block Ground Location.jpg
 
Took me a while to find a good picture of what I am referring to and it is not on the timing chain cover. This is not a picture of the motor in either of my cars but this is where the ground wire is connected. This boss is on the stock blocks as well but this is the only picture I could find really quick that showed the location.

Block Ground Location.jpg
Is it possible the picture is reversed? My ‘86 is in TN so I can’t look, but my ground is on the drivers side.

Bill
 
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Nope. Verified on the 351 in my T-Bird and the 331 in my Coupe. If you use the factory bracket to hold the cables then it verifies the boss is there. I am not saying this is factory correct but it’s where I ground my cars. It goes from there over to the k-member the up to the battery. This grounds the motor and chassis to the battery. On my Coupe there are a couple more ground but that is all due to the fuel injection.
 
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