DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

Im looking for a DIY Big 3 upgrade for a 2004 civic lx coupe. Im relatively a noob to locating things under the hood and dont want to risk Fing things up.

If anyone can link me a diy with pictures and all. I would really appreciated it :).

Thanks,

ttt0649

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

ive seen a few on the web google big 3.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

Ive searched but nothing came up. :(

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

i don't have a DIY written up, but i sell the kits.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

how much for 2 gauge set?

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

i've only got 1 2ga set right now. ironically, someone has just PM'd me about it before you. i'm selling it for $40. if they back out, i'll sell it for $40 to you. if they buy it, i've got a 1/0ga kit i'll sell for about the same if you're interested.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

noob question wat is a big 3?

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

3 grounds:
battery to chassis
tranny to chassis
engine to chassis

the stock grounds are 6ga or smaller. replace with 4ga or bigger for better electrical performance. especially if you have an amp of any sort

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

so it's mostly for systems?

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

mostly, but I'm sure it will help with everything else too. Think of as creating less strain almost.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

no, every car should have this, system or not. the stock wires are just too small and often get corroded quickly. it helps your whole car, which is almost entirely computer controled. i made a 4 gauge kit for mine with ring terminals. just replace the stock wires.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...u/grounds2.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...u/grounds3.jpg

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

u made it? it's probly better than buying a kit right cuz it's easy

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

to tell you the truth doing the "big 3" on the civic really won't show you much of any improvement.
i have this done and i'm a big audio nut. initially when i did this "upgrade" i found no true gain in voltage stabilization. if you want better voltage then just get a second battery and mount it in the rear/trunk. or upgrade your basic battery up front with a deep cycle battery or a power cell. i'd recommend a kinetik HC1400 if you replace the front.
our gen civics have shitty electrical systems when it comes to aftermarket equipment that can consume lots of power.
another thing. if you really want to do the big 3, then just go to http://www.knukonceptz.com and pick up some 1/0ga wire, then look for COPPER ring terminals. don't pick up those crappy gold ring terminals.
if you are unsure as to how much you need then get one of those fabric like tape measures and measure the distance from your battery pos to alt and how you would run the wire, engine ground to chassis, and neg battery to chassis.
overall, the engine to chassis is like 1.5ft
the battery neg to chassis is about 1.5ft
the battery pos to alt is like 5-6ft. i don't remember really.

good luck on your choice.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

Thanks everyone for posting.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

i did see a gain of 1dB when i ran new 14 gauge power and ground wires for my alpine deck straight to the battery + and ground. the factory harness is way too small for any aftermarket deck over 10w rms per channel.

the engine grounds are to maintain good performance, not improve it.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

Increasing grounds may allow for some more power but in all cases I have heard of it alleviates electrical stress on the main components of your car, bat, tranny, engine. This is no Miracle worker but I did it on my 98 civic with 140k miles on it and what I have noticed is my tranny is an auto and shifts like it is almost brand new, waiting on a flush to see if that makes it all but new, the engine and throttle is very responsive as I used to have a hesitating response when I pressed the gas in. I have also notice a slight improvement in fuel economy and better volt stabalization. This isn't for just cars with systems but it helps the engine perform better and if you have a system, maybe it will benefit as well.

1/0 awg may be considered overkill to some people but I say why not? For it being close to what 2 awg would be, I would say buy it and electric knows what he is doin and I would highly recommend him.

Was there anything specific you wanted out of the big 3? or just want it?

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

Does this include the alternator at all? I see battery, engine and transmission but nothing about grounding the alternator or the battery to the alternator.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

No because the big 3 are just the battery, transmission, and engine. Sure, if you wanted to you could upgrade them as well but on some cars, it is very hard to get to the alternator. You can esentially replace any wire in the car but the big 3 are easy, simple, and fast. The factory wires for the alternator are fine unless you want to kill it faster. If you upgrade you alt as well, you SHOULD upgrade the wires.

The big 3 is a general kit designed for any car. Some cars, like my buddies 95 accord, have two cables coming off the bat but it depends on the designer of the kit if they include both. You can find just about any kind of kit online but big 3 is most common and you can always diy anything else. Cables aren't hard to make.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

i noticed our 92 accord comes from the factory with 4 gauge ground wires.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

the OEM ground from the battery to chassis on the 7th gen's is 15mm^2. that's somewhere between 6ga and 7ga.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

Are you sure the battery - chassis is only 1.5 feet? I'm going to pick up some 4 gauge copper wire at $2.5 per foot and don't really want to be wrong. Plus some ring terminals I suppose. Probably an aftermarket battery post as well.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

for 7th gen,
batt to chassis - 9.5"
tranny to chassis - 8"
engine to chassis - 11"

those are the measurements i use for the big 3 kits i sell.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

Wow 4awg at $2.50/ft. I get my 0awg for that price and gold terminals for 0awg for $.99. I did mainly 4awg for mine and it costs me around $20 with 22" of 4awg and 3' of 0awg, 5 terminals and and a battery terminal which all of the stuff used was show quality finished. I wish I had some smaller pics to post up.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

I just installed my 4ga Big 3 kit in Translucent Red. I think I noticed a lil more throttle response, could jus be me tho.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

electric how much is your kit shipped 32907?
seems like a good upgrade to do, might buy some like red/blue wire covers and put them on there also =D

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

I think every color is $40 along with 2awg. I think 0awg is $50 unless the prices have changed. All prices include shipping and I think he only has black for 2awg and 0awg

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

yep. and i've only got 1 of each of the 2ga and 1/0. i won't have those any more after they sell. there's just not enough demand to keep the materials around. i'll be making the 4ga for awhile though.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

hmm what colors are available?
which gauge should i get for best performance

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

Depends on what you want. If you are trying to keep weight down then get 4awg but if weight isn't a problem and color doesn't matter get the 0awg. for the price 0awg is the best and if $50 is too much for you then get the last 2awg he has. it's the same price and better just you have no color choice.

Re: DIY Big 3 upgrade??
 

0awg is colored and 50$ shippped then correct?