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request: pics of "big-3" upgrade

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Old Mar 24, 2005
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request: pics of "big-3" upgrade

im attemping the big 3 upgrade but still need to decide if i should go with 1/0 awg or 4awg?
if anyone here has done it in there honda civic, please post up some pics. i really dont know which alternator post i should be using to the positive battery terminal
cant even find it!
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Old Mar 24, 2005
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Im not even aware of this big-3 upgrade
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Old Mar 24, 2005
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Larger grounds
Better Battery
H.O. Alt are the big 3 iirc
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Old Mar 24, 2005
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DO NOT use 0 gauge wire for grounding. You will have serious problems due to higher resistance. 4 gauge is the thickest I'd use. I've done ground wire upgrade replacing stock ground wires, and optima battery. Noticed no difference. Added hyper voltage system to battery and noticed better response.
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Old Mar 24, 2005
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Originally Posted by gearbox
DO NOT use 0 gauge wire for grounding. You will have serious problems due to higher resistance. 4 gauge is the thickest I'd use. I've done ground wire upgrade replacing stock ground wires, and optima battery. Noticed no difference. Added hyper voltage system to battery and noticed better response.
haha, i actually tried "downgrading" my stock ground wires and the car actually felt its faster . seriously this grounding thing is all in your head.
i have yet to try the hyper voltage system, but gearbox seems to love it, haha.
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Old Mar 24, 2005
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Umm. so why shouldn't I use 0 gauge? Thats what I currently use. I would think 0 gauge would have less resistance than say 4 gauge.
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Old Mar 24, 2005
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Originally Posted by diskreet
Larger grounds
Better Battery
H.O. Alt are the big 3 iirc
H.O.???? whats that?
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Old Mar 24, 2005
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Well with that thick cable the electrons can't move as fast or something. I remember reading something about it, and that's why no aftermarket grounding kit uses less than 4 gauge. In fact most use stock gauge.
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Old Mar 24, 2005
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Originally Posted by gearbox
DO NOT use 0 gauge wire for grounding. You will have serious problems due to higher resistance. 4 gauge is the thickest I'd use. I've done ground wire upgrade replacing stock ground wires, and optima battery. Noticed no difference. Added hyper voltage system to battery and noticed better response.

i got the HVS hooked up too stil havent done the grounding kit/big-3 yet though

did you use ring style terminals for your factory wires on the battery or kept the factory thick rings? i ask because im going to be adding a battery terminal that takes ring style terminals only. i was thinking crimping on ring terminals on the factory battery wires but i dont know what size guage ring terminals i need or what size awg the factory battery wires are? anyone know?
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Old Mar 24, 2005
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Hmm not sure but the stock wires look like 8 gauge maybe. I used ring terminals and a larger negative terminal to connect all the wires. Like 3 I think total plus the hvs.
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Old Mar 24, 2005
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what about the positive cable from the alternator to the battery? is that neccessary for a system under 600 watts or is it just a good idea to upgrade it?
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Old Mar 24, 2005
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H.O. alternator = High Output sorry i am lazy!
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Old Mar 24, 2005
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If I remember correctly from my electronics classes....and also from my car audio experience...the rule is what goes in must come out...meaning you want your ground to be the same gauge/awg as the power wire.
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Old Mar 25, 2005
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still need to know where is the positive post of the alternator and mounting post as well!!
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Old Mar 25, 2005
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big 3:

battery to chassis

battery to engine block - OR - chassis to engine block

alt to battery

in my car I also did the engine block to upper rad support where there is normally a strap

you will see a post on your alternator with a rubber grommet with a wire and bolt on it. That's your bad boy.
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Old Mar 25, 2005
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[QUOTE=MegaHurtz]big 3:

battery to chassis

battery to engine block - OR - chassis to engine block

alt to battery

in my car I also did the engine block to upper rad support where there is normally a strap

you will see a post on your alternator with a rubber grommet with a wire and bolt on it. That's your bad boy.[/QUOTE]


you have any pics? its nighttime right now, but ill try looking for it tmorrow morning.

also, is it ok to use "alternator mounting post to chassis" as 'chassis to engine block' since the alternator is mounted onto the engine block?
pics of this would be helpful too
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Old Mar 25, 2005
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dont hcange the alternator ground

IMO it is unncessary to upgrade the wire from the alt to battery...

the wire is sufficient as it will have more than enough over head to carry the current to the battery over that short distance. just becuse you have a bigger amp does not mean your alt will draw more juice. it will draw a max and that is that, no more after that. It was explained to me very well on here before and I am now a believer

DO do your grounds however, you may notice a difference.... leave your alternator ground, just do battery to chassis and chassis to engine block, then the engine to rad support. when you do the one from the battery you will follow it down and see where it is and then how it goes to the engine, it's super easy... I do have a pic of the other one however (the rad support one) i'll paste it up in a sec
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Old Mar 25, 2005
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Old Mar 25, 2005
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so on my civic:
1) negative battery terminal to chassis (preferably a ground point?)
2) chassis to engine (idk where, can u show me example?)
3) radiator support to engine


isnt radiator support to engine & chassis to engine the same thing?

heres the big-3 im referring to: http://forum.sounddomain.com/forum/u...=5;t=007801;p=
which includes the following:
1) Battery negative to chassis
2) Alternator to battery positive
3) Chassis to engine
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Old Mar 25, 2005
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how many exmaples do you need??????? just go try it

its impossible to not know where once you get started

thats the same big 3 i listed
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Old Mar 25, 2005
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just run a separate cable to each stock ground point and tie it back to the battery. You should only have one chassis ground.

MegaHurtz, what's that plug you have near the ground point under the airbox. Mine is just an empty hole.
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Old Mar 25, 2005
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someone clearify:
1) neg batt terminal > chassis
2) alternator post > positive batt termnal (w/fuse?)
3) radiator support > engine block (this counts as chassis to engine?). so replacing the wires thats already on th radiator support to engine block with 4awg would be a good enough ground eh?
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Old Mar 25, 2005
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negative bat to chassis near intake inlet
negative bat to tranny
negative bat to engine block

That's all you need. Those are all stock ground points.
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Old Mar 25, 2005
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^isnt that considered "grounding" though?
im trying to do the big-3



i was confused cause megahurtz stated "IMO it is unncessary to upgrade the wire from the alt to battery... "

then he later on said "thats the same big 3 i listed"
where he was replying to my post above^:

"heres the big-3 im referring to: http://forum.sounddomain.com/forum/...f=5;t=007801;p=
which includes the following:
1) Battery negative to chassis
2) Alternator to battery positive <--------
3) Chassis to engine"
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Old Mar 25, 2005
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there is no need for a chassis to engine, if you ground the engine directly to the battery. The alternator power wire upgrade helps the most, but that's a big pain and prolly not worth it.
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Old Mar 26, 2005
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megahurtz, that pic you posted above, can that be considered chassis to engine as well? or would i be better off leaving the factory wire there and add on to it elsewhere?
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Old Mar 26, 2005
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replace it

replace what i told you and leave what I told you not to do (alternator wire)
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Old Mar 26, 2005
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Originally Posted by MegaHurtz
replace it

replace what i told you and leave what I told you not to do (alternator wire)
not to ground the alternator any more since it has enough ground as is, right?

im still going to ground the positive alternator post to battery positive though w/fuse.
i got negative batt terminal to chassis, positive battery terminal to positive alternator post, and replacing that radiator support factory ground with 4awg.
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Old Apr 6, 2005
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is it ok to do the "chassis to engine" wire as shown in this photo? (leaving the factory grounding but using the ground points though). i dont have my airbox in so thats empty space.
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Old Apr 9, 2005
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bump, want to know as wel
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