Alright , heres some install shots , didnt have access to the camera during installation but I did try my best to capture a few and the end result .
Started by removing the old alternator , be carefull not to rip out the small wire going to it like I did
. All's well though as I bought a new terminal with what looks to be a little better gauge wire . No pics of removal but here is a nice removal guide I found from WhiteBird00 ..
Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiteBird00 
1. Disconnect the negative battery cable
2. Remove the accessory drive belt
3. Raise the vehicle
4. Remove the positive cable from the alternator by sliding the boot back and removing the nut. 
5. Remove the alternator rear bracket 
6. Remove the transmission oil cooler lines from the oil cooler clip.
7. Remove the front alternator mounting bolts and oil cooler clip. 
8. Disconnect the alternator electrical connector 
9. Remove the alternator
The larger replacement alternator will not use the rear mounting bracket or the cooling duct that was on the original. |
Next to come since I had more free room to work was the Engine to Chassis ground . The stock ground is very small , I just left it inplace and run another one . I went off the factory engine mount stud and found a nut to fit it . Its a small fine thread nut .
Bolted to the Chassis I found the factory ABS mount to have a bolt in the right place so I removed it . Had to slightly wallow out my ring terminal end to get the bolt through .
I run the ground away from the header tube and the steering linkage , also left some slack for engine movement .
Engine to Chassis ground upgrade complete 
Next I installed the new alternator , run the power lead . Used the factory mounting holders . Here is some shots from the alternator to battery positive .
Alternator to Battery power lead upgrade complete 
Next was the Battery negative to body/chassis ground , self explanitory .
Battery Negative to Body/Chassis ground upgrade complete 
Now with the extra 14.5' of power wire left and the extra 1/0 gauge ring terminal I wanted to upgrade to my amps . Went from dual 4 gauge { each one runs to its own amp } to a single 1/0 gauge .
The small 4 channel amp was fine with 4 gauge at only 300watts rms or so , but the sub amp I was pushing it with that long of a run running over 1,000 watts rms through a single 4 gauge power lead .
I also like how it cleaned up the under hood look .
Before 
After 
Amps input won't accept a 1/0 gauge so I boought a 1/0gauge input / dual 4 gauge output fused distribution block . Have less than 2' of 4 gauge now going to the sub amp instead of 13' which should make a slight difference .
Got it from Knukonceptz , its there Konfused block , has 2 100 amp mini ANL fuses , small 4 channel has built into it 2 20amp blade fuses .
Well before the upgrades with the car running the voltage would drop into the 12's and stay there until I turned the volume back down . Obviously if the voltage is dropping I wasn't getting the full output from the sub amp to the sub .
Now after the upgrades the voltage only has dropped to 13.9volts playing it full tilt . Made a big difference in the way it hits also . That was with the car idling .
So there it is , the BIG 3 upgrade on a '2000 F -body . If you were to do the same I think you could order about 6' of power wire / 3' of ground wire .
Out of the 24' I had about 3-4' left over .
BIG 3 upgrade / 200 amp alternator 
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