When I put my engine in, the grounding strap was either missing or lost, so I rigged up this. It lasted and didn't seem to cause any problems.




I got an actual grounding strap to replace this with, but once I got the bolt out of the head, I could not get it back in. I think I need to take off the intake plenum and that rocker cover to get it in there. Is it ok if I move the ground to the intake plenum instead?

 

Should be no problem.

 

…or it will be.

Remember that you made this change. If you start having inexplicable issues with spurious codes and dash lights, then move it back where it belongs. But, it should be no problem.

 

Isn't there a non-conductive gasket between the intake plenum and the rest of the engine?

 

There is, but the bolts create a path. The problem is that fasteners make notoriously poor, unreliable conductors. That’s why I warned to remember that this was done. This could crop up as an issue years down the road.

 

Since the ground was originally on the head, the head gasket is also non conductive, so I think this would work.

 

Besides the intake bolts (12) you have the compressor bracket and waterneck bolted to it. It will be fine.