Thanks for the enjoyable report.. it is fun to read...
as to the short ground strap, been there. done that.  The solution is to
drill a hole at the top of the battery holder metal bracket, and move
the base of the ground strap to the top of the battery holder bracket.
It's been doing the job flawlessly on the '87 weekender.
Cetin

Steve Maher writes:
[snip...]

 > We get back, and the battery is too tall. Ordinarily no big deal-- I
 > always put oversized batteries in old cars-- but this van has the world's
 > shortest ground strap. Only by leaning the battery forward about 45
 > degrees, can we get the strap onto the terminal. Flip on the amber
 > ignition switch, hit the key, and it fires on the first crank and
 > settles down to that sweet, smooth idle it had before. It's now about
 > 2:30 AM.
 >