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Homemade 4-gauge Grounding Wire Kit
Materials needed:
-15 feet of 4-gauge power or ground wire. Available in many color options from car audio suppliers. Any color but red is okay. Red is universally used for the positive side battery connections so be very careful if you want to use red wire.
-8 pair of gold plated ring connector ends for 4-gauge wire from same place.
-Rosin core solder.
-Wire ties (optional)
Tools Needed:
-Metric wrench. Socket wrench is good for most connections but you will need a flat wrench for the alternator connection.
-Heat source for soldering. A small torch is good.
-Wire cutters
-Knife
Procedure:
1. Cut eight lengths of cable:
1 Battery to firewall. 9
2 Battery to R strut. 13
3 Battery to throttle body. 12
4 Throttle body to head. 12
5 Head to exhaust. 12
6 Battery to L strut. 42
7 L strut to alternator. 40
8 L strut to distributor. 16
2. Strip about ½ inch of insulation from each end of each cable.
3. Slide an end on a cable and rig something to hold in so the end is lower than the cable.
4. Heat the end with a torch, unroll several inches of solder wire and keep it in contact with the copper cable just above the end piece. When its hot enough the solder will melt. The cable will absorb solder like a sponge. Get plenty of it in there to saturate the end and for a complete bond.
5. Attach all the ends to all the cables in the same manner.
6. Slide the little black and red junction covers over each end; black on one end and red on the other.
7. Attach the black end of cables 1,2,3, and 6 to the battery ground connector. Its tight but they should all fit. If not you may need to get a new battery connector with a longer bolt. Remove the existing firewall cable but leave the block cable unless you intend to make a new one. USE CAUTION. Do not let the cables contact the positive battery terminal!
8. Attach all the wires to the points listed above. The throttle body, and left strut tower are used as junction points to extend to other areas. There are three total connections on the left strut. I dont think the ring connectors are big enough to use the actual strut mounting studs. I used the mounting bolt for an air conditioner hose. I had to replace the bolt (6mm I think) with a slightly longer one to hold all three connections and the bracket. Clean, scrape or sand each ground location to assure good contact.
9. Tighten all nuts to specified torque.
10. Start it up and feel the power!
Ron Tew
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Ron
Last edited by wret : 05-05-2006 at 10:57 AM.
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