Hope these pics help someone.

I ran the wire from the alternator to the battery like this


I ran the cable behind the block and just zip tied it to the AIR tube on the pass side right by the firewall. Then the cable continues into the battery box entering where there is a cut out for the a/c piping. To get the extra cable to fit with the stock boot cover for the alternator I cut the bottom of the boot off. Once you unbolt the wire all you do is pull the boot off the stock wire. I then cut a bit off the end of the boot so that the bottom is wider. You basically cut enough off the bottom to get rid of the molded piece that makes it fit snug around the stock cable. Hard to explain. Should have taken a pic but I didn't want to take it apart again. Once you cut the boot you can fit both cables. Anything bigger than 4gauge won't fit in the stock boot with the stock cable. With the cover on you can barely tell.


The block to chassis cable I ran from the passenger side.

I used the existing chassis ground you can see in the pic where I ran it from and to. I used an open tapped hole in the pass head. Some catch can kits use these to mount their cans to the block.

I also used the same chassis ground to ground the battery to as well.


Hope this helps people out. I can probably take more pics of something more specific if you need. Excuse the dirty engine, it hasn't had its spring cleaning yet


Forgot one more thing. I covered all the wiring with either wire loom as you can see in the block to chassis ground or in this heat/abrasion resistant wire loom(used on the battery to chassis ground as well as the alt to battery wire).

 

nice pics.

a side note: on the last pic where the ground is on the frame, DO NOT overtighten this or the bolt will break off. Mine did and now i have mine grounded at the radiator shroud mount.

 

Nice pics I used the alternator's top bolt for the chassis ground and grounded it to the frame right under it. There is a bolt with a ground right there.

 

your right, there is a chassis ground on the same spot for the drivers side as well. I went with the pass side because there were less moving parts.

Thanks for the compliments. I know a few people have asked for more pics so figured might as well make a post.

 

so, the most important question, did it help??? I've read both positive experience and others that had no change....

 

ive only done it in one c5 and it help immensly, every other car i have done it in it was well worth it

 

It has definitely helped. My voltage is higher now while the car is running. I used to be at about 13.3-.13.8. now I'm around 13.7-14.3 I haven't had a chance to run it hard and look at lights dimming. It was too bright out last time the vette was out. I'll report back on that when I get a chance. I was getting bad dimming before the upgrade, so I hope this helps.

 

Thanks! These pics will help a lot when I attempt this. Should be this weekend. I'm getting some serious dimming from the lights now.

 

Another spare time project I will have to do soon!

 

OK guys I'm back to give an update on whether the big 3 helped my dimming. Simple answer is YES!! If you are having dimming issues, do this mod. My lights don't dim anymore. I'm not sure what wattage this works up to, but im running a PPI amp 1000.4 and the big 3 has gotten rid of my dimming. I used 4guage for mine. Hopes this is the info that people who are on the fence about doing this are looking for.

 

we put my 2 15s in my buddies WS-6 tonite since hes buyin em runnin off of 1200rms sub amp and a 75x4 4 channel we had the lights dancing like a **** even the tach was surgin

 

Thanks for the info

 

 

why isn't this in the c5 faq yet!

 

haha, there is a small blip about it, but i guess the search will have to do for now.

 

you can put it in anytime you want:-)

 

ill add it to where i talk about hte big 3

its already in there on the bottom of my big3 post on the page before the last

 

go ahead and add it Greg

 

This is a fantastic source of information, thank you so much!

I was actually going to get a higher voltage amp, probably a 220v amp, but I read that any higher voltage amp requires beefier gauge wiring, on a particular website it says that grounding using 5ft of wiring or less a 2-gauge wire is preferred, anything longer than 5 ft it should be 0 gauge, is that really necessary???

 

bumping up this old thread with a question.

are the big 3 wire upgrades strictly a DIY as far as making the wires themselves? or are there any premade kits that can be purchased already cut to the right lengths?