What's this? Looks like a ground for the hood but that makes no since?? What does it do? (not my car, but is the pic I was looking for)
I just does...it's magic It keeps the speaker from poping along with the ignition by better grounding the hood. Notice it is mounted close to the antenna
By grounding the hood you are shielding the antenna from EMF sources such as ignition and charging systems which are located under it. Also, by grounding the hood you are including it in the grounded body circuit. The hinges and latch could ground the hood, but they are not a guaranteed connection since they move within each other. So the tab provides that connection.
Mine has a little braided wire there. Now I know what it's for! That's why trailers have a separate ground wire too. You'd think it would ground through the ball, but.......
Interesting, I’ve looked at thousands of old cars and never once really saw it. It’s all starting to make since, it is a ground after all! I had adjusted my hood about two weeks ago and developed a rattle at idle, I finally found it (the hood bond strap!). I also found a more detailed and technical article here http://www.worldwidedx.com/cb-antennas/24225-grounding-straps.html In case anybody wanted to ready more on it. I found it pretty interesting .
we were talking about this the other day...if it's for "grounding" the hood, wouldn't the hood hinges and hood latch be a better ground than a piece of tin rubbing on the paint...
I would agree Frank, but an even better solution would be a strap. I think the straps used little teeth to scratch through the paint... but I would bet that it does not work well. It is similar to towing a trailer and relying on the draw bar ball to provide the ground for the trailer. Sure it works... but a dedicated, wired connection is much better.
I removed mine years ago...no problems...:Handshake got tired of people asking...what it was or asking...don't that scratch the paint off the hood...