BIG 3 upgrade / 200 amp alternator
 

BIG 3 =
Alternator to battery positive
Engine to chassis ground
Battery - to chassis ground


Stock 105amp vs 200amp {tested output sheet reads 220.4amps }

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture159.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture160.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture165.jpg


Some comparison shots

Factory alternator power lead vs 7/16'' Craftsman wrench
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture161.jpg


Factory vs Kicker 4 gauge {Note : this would be a good upgrade on a smaller amp alternator stock 105amp / 130amp / 160amp etc .}
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture162.jpg


1/0 gauge vs 4 gauge vs stock

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture163.jpg


I went ahead and bought 20' of red for power leads / 4' black for grounds of Knukoncepts Fleks 1/0 gauge since I am using a higher amperage alternator .
Also bought [7] 1/0 gauge ring terminals { used 2 from alternator to battery , 2 for engine to chassis ground , 2 for battery - to chassis ground . I used the other one to go to my amps . }

1/0 gauge vs Kicker 4 gauge

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture164.jpg

Wire count inside insulation , crappy pic but you can see the difference ,
1/0 gauge vs stock alternator power lead

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture166.jpg

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 :bang: . 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 ..

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 .

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture167.jpg

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 .

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture170.jpg

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 http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture168.jpg

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

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture181.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture182.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture187.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture180.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture179.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture178.jpg

Next was the Battery negative to body/chassis ground , self explanitory .

Battery Negative to Body/Chassis ground upgrade complete

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture177.jpg


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

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture140.jpg

After

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture195.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture172.jpg

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 .

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture173.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture175.jpg


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 .

Where's the fuse between alt and battery?

Stock it doesn't have one , so I didn't see the need for one .

I was going to put one in though , have 2 extra Kicker ANL fuse holders , 2 100amps / 60amp fuses . Factory is 50amp fuse at the distribution block . Once I seen the factory didnt use one I just went with it , no smoke yet .

never seen that on a car:confused:

no pic of the pwr thru the firewall?:(

nice work

his power wire goes through with the pcm wires not much to see

Nice this is something I'd like to do eventually. Probably when I put in a new motor to have a better electrical system for the high performance engine. I guess you wouldn't really need it now, but are you running a capacitor?

thats some sick wires dude

im surprised you didnt get a red top to go with all that major wiring

No fluxcapacitor .

1.21 gigawats:D

I always wanted to do the big three in my Honda but never did. Still running the stock alternator too which amazes me considering it is 70 Amps and I run the following:

MB Quart QAA1000... 1000 Watt 4-channel to CDT M-6's, 5.25's, tweets and Focal 6x9's.

Hifonics 2006D... 2000 Watt Mono D to two FI-Q 12" subs.


That's 3000 watts and all I have is a Stinger cap and a Kinetics 1400 series battery. The battery was well worth it. I am amazed that nothing has happened and it actually will flex the roof :D

how do you like that wire? i used the same thing in my firebird. i was very happy with it and it is so easy to work with it at the size that is it. cant beat it for the price either.

that's a sweet install. Now you need a kickass battery, you could even relocate it to the trunk now that you already have the 1/0 cable run back there.

Actually, you could leave your stock battery under the hood and just add a small suplemental battery to the trunk.

Don't do any capacitors, they are a waste of money.

IMO with my own eyes a good deep cycle gel battery >cap or big wires. That first before anything. I know some say wires pick things up but never saw the proof on a meter or Amp probe to prove it.

I've done the big 3 on three of my vehicles and seen before and after on half a dozen more. Only one did it not make a dramatic difference. It's JUST as important as the battery. Battery is a source/storage - the BIG 3 upgrades the entire circuit. Only as good as the weakest link kinda thing...

Ive seen big3 make huge improvments more then once

Would it be worth my time and money to do it on a system that doesn't make the volts go down? I only have a couple 10" Comp VRs. The stock system seems fine..

If your lights arent fluctuating at all then the big3 prly wont do much for you, but it wont hurt to do it

nice work

nice writeup dude..... i need to do this really bad, all my lights flicker at night and i can also hear my electric rear mount oil pump fluctuating with the lights!