Another thing, not just corrosion at the battery connector. It can go down inside the cable covering. You clean every thing up with baking Soda etc.... and you don`t see the real problem.
When we got the 86, the Pos. battery connections were pretty rough, beat up and corroded.
Replaced the section across the Core support, cut it at the Pass side battery and crimped on Ring terminals. Changed the Batt. clamp to one with a bolt. Section to the Starter I didn`t change, but pulled it and washed off all the oil and grime. Then noticed all the checks (cracks) in the insulation.
Never seen that before. So put on a piece of heat shrink tubing and called it good.
That was probably 7 yr ago.
Couple years ago I replaced both Ground Cables because they were like that also. Most likely that way 7 years ago, just didn`t pay any attention.
Had NAPA make up both with Ring terminals.
Amazing how much more plyable the new one`s are compared to the original 36 yr old originals were.
There are some models of BMW`s that have the Battery in the trunk. Saw one at PNP one day and removed it. From the trunk, goes through the back wall, runs along inside Rocker, then through the Fire Wall to a connection on the Engine side.
It about 12ft long, and at the time was $5.
This is what I used as the Positive between the 2 batteries. used the Battery clamp end on the drivers side. It`s the same size as the original Ford Cable.
Also was a good time to change to a larger size, the wire that goes to the Starter & GP Relay, they were pretty iffy.
Goat