So...... I have been saving some money to pay cash to a real Honda Mechanic.... He is going to pull the head and have the valves all replaced and have the head machined... maybe we can queeze a few more HP out of it... How? I dunno, that is just what I was told.... LOL! I am NOT a mechanic... sheesh! :loco:
Since the hood was off, I decided to go ahead and do the big three and run some new 1/0 to the trunk. Here is where the old 4AWG was run:
That ALL came out and we get this in it's place!
SEXY Aint it? B)
I THOUGHT I could run the 1/0 in the same path.. you know, wire and tape the ends together and pull it through?? Ya .. no...... I ended up taking the fender off and following another wire harness through the fender and up in front of where the old breather box was. Gotta Find a Grommet to fit that hole.
it comes into the cabin in the upper right hand passenger foot well in a perfect, pre existing grommet.
and runs right down the right side--- yep, need two more grommets before final run to the tunk--
So, now we have a path for juice to flow from the battery to the trunk, now lets do the big three: First thing I did was take off the + and -(ground) wire on the starter:
Can you believe this little car even started????? I cut new lengths of my big ass 1/0 and grab my crimp connectors and my crimper.... CRAP! :anger: I find out I dont have a crimper big enough... I ran all over town yesterday, ready to drop $100 for a very valuable tool. Guess what I can't find for sale or rent in Boise, Id.???? ya... That SUX! I ordered one and it is on its way here sometime mid week, As soon as I can get the wiring done it will go to the shop. I was really hoping to have it towed down today... Dammit!!!
Oh, I almost forgot...Don't you LOVE how accessible the starter is? But, do you see what's wrong with this picture?
for the Non-Honda guy, it is missing the PRIMARY bolt on the engine mount... that stupid ass never put it in when he re-installed the engine!!!! :wtf:
Soooooo..... what else am I doing to it??? this MAY give you an idea:
GUTTED!
first, the small box,
and you know what is in the bigg boxes.....
and of course it is powered by none other than: (x2)
Thats sexy right thar!!!!
and signal from an Alpine HU (cant remember the model#)
But check this out.... it has it's own built in FAN!!!! LOL!
I wont be using the internal Amp at all on this, thank you to Alpine they give you the control to shut it off.
Finally got some more work done on the lude today.
The tool I ordered finally came in the mail on Friday!
I would rather have the "plier" type, but I can't afford the $150 this lil guy did the trick tho!
I started by laying out the parts/pieces I needed to start assembling.
I didn't have any tech-flex, I may do that later, as well as some better heat shrink.. this stuff was just ok.. it didn't tighten up around the fitting itself quite like I would have preferred. It was free with those MONDO 1/0 fitting so I am not going to complain.
Assembly:
Put your heat shrink and Jacket on first and strip JUST enough back to fit in the barrel,
Place it in the Crimper,
And SMACK the heck out of it... LOL! and this is what you get....
Fire up the torch and SLOWLY heat the shrink tube to prevent blistering and burning.
The next thing to do is take off the Battery rack so I can get my Dremel down into the Ground Mount:
And the new starter wire:
Not sure why I missed taking a picture of the final assembly-- the top hole on the ground mount is for the bracket that holds the two wires together and away from any moving parts.
Since I had the Dremel in hand... I took off one of the strut/shock mounting nuts and took it down to bare metal:
Next, the alternator.... Honda does this rather Odd thing and runs the primary from the alt through a sensor of some type... for the computer to monitor the output I 'spose.. but anyways, it runs over the top of the valve cover, goes somewhere down against the firewall the re-surfaces up at the strut tower and into the fuse box under the hood. It is "paralleled" and sent to the battery from there.
This factory wiring is 4AWG, so I just added another run of 4 AWG around the front. I will be replacing it with some better wire in the future. I didn't have enough of the good stuff left.. lol.. so I ran some of the 4AWG i pulled out from the previous install. It's not the prettiest, but it will get the juice there!
I used the stock flex tube and just pulled some more 4 AWG through it to go to the battery... the factory wire was full of corrosion!
(sorry for the bad picture... but it was so white the camera just wouldn't focus/differentiate)
And it all ends right here!
Compared to what USED to be there...
Slight improvement..... no?
of course the wire for the stereo is not hooked up yet... I still need to get some grommets for it.... the hole itself is 3/4" and the wire measures 1/2" I believe...
the token is about the same size as a quarter:
I'm gonna take the head unit out of the dash and tow her down to the shop!!! tomorrow or Monday!!!
thank you for splitting the post Artifex... I wasnt sure the best place to put em.
as for speakers... I am running the Phoenix gold 6.25's for now... not sure if I will keep em for the final install tho... I want to upgrade to MB Quart, but time will tell. May just get by with the PG's. I want to repair the interior, new carpet, replace/repair broken dash parts and panels... the previous owner was NOT very nice to this poor lil car.
yep-- I know it does not stick out, but in my post I stated I needed a grommet for that and two for the seat rail inside the car... that is why that wire is NOT hooked up.
yep-- I know it does not stick out, but in my post I stated I needed a grommet for that and two for the seat rail inside the car... that is why that wire is NOT hooked up.
Why do you have what looks like a power wire for your amp comming from both positive and negative terminals? I hope this is NOT the case. The ground wire is supposed to be no longer than 1.5 feet and connected to the chassis. If you really have a ground wire comming all the way from the battery you will put more stress on your alternator because your pulling watts(amps actually I think) directly from the battery rather than AFTER it has had its chance to charge...
Plz... let me know. If you just put another ground from the battery to the chassis in the front, it is also supposed to be as short as possible, up to 2 feet.
Edit:
Looking back... you have one wire from the ground to a bolt on the strut.. but I can't tell where you have the other going. Like I said before, hope not all the way to the amp.
Also.. that ground point(strut bolt) is not a very good spot to ground to. The stock spot is on the actual motor(I am pretty sure, at least it was on every other car I owned).. and you want a spot that doesn't recieve any wear and tear.. something that stays perfectly still, that has no paint(that bolt is used in the suspension, so it isn't a very good spot... plus it had paint under it, so it will only recieve juice thru the actual bolt, instead of also recieving power thru the surface it is bolted to.)..
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Last edited by DaytonaPrelude; 07-07-2008 at 08:47 AM.
Why do you have what looks like a power wire for your amp comming from both positive and negative terminals? I hope this is NOT the case. The ground wire is supposed to be no longer than 1.5 feet and connected to the chassis. If you really have a ground wire comming all the way from the battery you will put more stress on your alternator because your pulling watts(amps actually I think) directly from the battery rather than AFTER it has had its chance to charge...
Plz... let me know. If you just put another ground from the battery to the chassis in the front, it is also supposed to be as short as possible, up to 2 feet.
Edit:
Looking back... you have one wire from the ground to a bolt on the strut.. but I can't tell where you have the other going. Like I said before, hope not all the way to the amp.
Also.. that ground point(strut bolt) is not a very good spot to ground to. The stock spot is on the actual motor(I am pretty sure, at least it was on every other car I owned).. and you want a spot that doesn't recieve any wear and tear.. something that stays perfectly still, that has no paint(that bolt is used in the suspension, so it isn't a very good spot... plus it had paint under it, so it will only recieve juice thru the actual bolt, instead of also recieving power thru the surface it is bolted to.)..
thank you for the questions.... if you research the pics in order you will see that I had to replace the battery to Chassis battery to Engine Ground AND the Battery to Alternator Ground due to sever corrosion. I also ran a "less than two feet" ground wire to the strut retention ring mount bolt.. also which was clearly pictured as being ground down to BARE metal. This spot is MUCH better than Honda's stock battery to chassis ground (the front rail that the radiator is mounted to) and there is NOT any movement on that bolt... at all.... How can this NOT be an adequate ground... I beg to differ sir, it is a MUCH better grounding location than Honda chose AND it is further away from moisture and wear than the original location. See the second to last picture-- the "before" pic.
I use the Chassis ground for my amplifier grounds in the trunk. This car is solid when it comes to having a METAL chassis to ground to. You do NOT see the power wire for the stereo attached to the battery because I have NOT hooked it up yet... I still have to find a grommet for the exit out of the fender and also where it goes through the seat rail. I assure you that what I am doing is beneficial to my vehicle and my stereo system. It just isnt finished yet... I had to get just enough done so the mechanic will be able to start it when he gets the Head repaired.
for the other posts.... I am going front stage only-- there will not be any rear fill in this car... Just a sub system back there.
No probs on the tool.. I consider it a worthy investment. I help others with their electrical problems (I used to be a licensed electrician) so it will come in useful MANY MANY Times I am sure...and not just for CA besides...I still have a LOT to do in my car:
two more crimps for the amp power lead, another one in the trunk, and two more for alt to batt when I get some more of this wire. Not to mention the 2AWG I will be running to each of my amps, that is four more..lol.
besides.. who doesnt want to take advantage of a good reason to buy another tool?
1. Do you still need a fuse at the battery even with the upgraded wires?
2. What is the 3rd big three? I see you have alternator directly tied to battery + and shock nut to battery -. Is the last one engine to chassis or alternator to chassis?
BTW if you don't have crimp tool, a vise grip worked really well for me.
1. Do you still need a fuse at the battery even with the upgraded wires?
2. What is the 3rd big three? I see you have alternator directly tied to battery + and shock nut to battery -. Is the last one engine to chassis or alternator to chassis?
BTW if you don't have crimp tool, a vise grip worked really well for me.
good questions and I am HAppy to Answer.
1) YES! A resounding and ABSOLUTE YES! Because the wires for the stereo/amplifier are usually running the length of your vehicle AND going through at least two or three metal structures, there is a greater chance of it being pinched, rubbed or otherwise shorted. This is specifically why one of the first sanctioned competition bodies, IASCA, made it an absolute rule that the fuse be NO MORE than 18 inches (of wire length) from the positive terminal of the battery.
2) The official Big Three is as follows:
- Alternator Positive to Battery Positive (optional fuse)
- Battery Negative to Chassis
- Chassis to Engine Block
the last one is questionable in my install, as you noticed I ABSOLUTELY did the ALT to Batt plus(+) and Batt Neg (-) to Chassis, but the chassis to engine block...well, I HAD to replace the (Honda stock) Batt Neg(-) to engine Block which terminates at the same terminal as the previous Batt to Chassis. Will I be adding an additional wire? Probably. After the car returns to me. What I did was replace the original wiring with Much larger, and corrosion free, wiring. Which is a PLUS No Matter How you look at it. I also upgraded/replaced the Positive(+) to Starter lead.
So I have what my friends call the BIG 5-- LOL:
1-Alt to Pos Bat
2-Starter to Pos Bat
3-Chassis to Neg
4-Engine Block to Neg
5-Engine to Chassis grnd (not finished)
EDIT: I forgot.. I also replaced the positive from the Under-hood fuse panel to Battery Positive-- so that would be 6! LOL!
One last thought.... there is ENDLESS arguments floating around the web forums about whether you are supposed to Fuse the ALT to Battery or any other line under the hood. I, and my proffesional installer boyfriend say no. It is a questionable safety issue, and if you feel it is necessary, then please do. I find securing the wire and avoiding sharp metal edges and "pinches" works just as well. And if I am ever in a collision, the wiring is going to be the least of my worries... LOL!
Last edited by lilmsprelude; 07-09-2008 at 01:45 PM.
Unfortunately the pictures have been deleted, BUT you will understand the VERY well written article. Just ignore the stupidity and childishness that is sooooo prevalent over there.
How did you route the wiring from your alternator? Did you run it through the top or the bottom near the radiator?
I was planning to do the big 3 as well after I get a new alternator, so this thread is a big help. I moved my battery to my trunk where it is fused and on the other end I have it connected to a distribution block with the stock battery wire (+) connected to it. When I connect the alternator (+) wire to the distribution block I guess I won't need a fuse since it is already fused at the battery?
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