you could strip the paint like he did in the DIY, outline the terminal with a pencil, then lay some touch up paint around where you outlined.

 

Well, the way I do it is get a bolt with a SPLIT lock washer. Put the washer on backwards than you normally would. Tighten it down and it'll scrape the paint off as it goes in. YOu may have to do it a few times but it'll be perfect.

OR, you could just outline where to remove the paint with a pen around the washer, loosen the bolt, and use a dremel to clean the paint out of the way.

 

Right on, I like the lock washer idea. Thanks

 

I would like to point out that when buying the battery terminals DO NOT BUY PLATINUM COATED!!

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audiop...ble_Silver.html

Use this web site as reference and you will be shocked.


Get the gold plated ones which ae cheaper. Sorry to those that already shelled out for the platinum plated ones. :roll: :x

 

Well, you are right that platinum is a worse conductor than copper or gold.... however! The resistance of a 3 foot piece of 0-gauge wire is 0.0003 ohms. If you look at the chart on the link you provided, the resistances are in micro-ohms per centimeter. The electroplating on most battery terminals is extremely thin, much less than 1mm. So the total increase in resistance would be less than 1%. Overall the size and length of the wire is much more important for determining overall resistance.

 

If you haven't heard of the big 3 wire upgrade before, it involves replacing some of your car's wires with a much larger size, which decreases the overall resistance of your electrical system. This can help with voltage drops and dimming if you have a powerful amp, and it also provides more stable voltage and a better current flow throughout your whole car. Maybe it even helps with our car's tendency to blow headlights, who knows.

The big 3 wires are: battery negative to chassis ground, engine block to chassis ground, and alternator to battery positive. I decided to do all 3 of these with 0 gauge wire. You can use 2 or 4 gauge if you want, but obviously bigger is better. I also decided to replace my battery terminals, since the ones Hyundai uses are crappy stamped aluminum, and mine were corroding like crazy. You can do the whole thing in about 2 hours, for less than $50.

<u>Stuff needed:</u>
10 and 12mm socket or wrench
Bench vice or some big-ass pliers
Utility knife
2 1/4" bolts and nuts, with 4 washers
4 feet of negative wire and 6 feet of positive, 0 gauge
4 0 gauge ring terminals
2 new battery terminals
Your choice of beer

I got all of my wires and terminals from ebay seller bag-boy. Before you get started, make sure to disconnect the negative terminal from your battery. I found it easier to just take the battery out altogether.

Ok, so let's start with the easiest of the three, the engine block to chassis ground. If you look right in the middle of your engine block you will see a bolt which holds on a metal tab. I have no idea what this tab does, but it makes a great grounding point. Take about 30 inches of your negative wire and cut 3/4" of insulation off both ends. Crimp a ring terminal onto each end. You can try this using pliers, but for 0 gauge wire it's much easier to use a bench vise. Squeeze each side a little bit, and then squeeze the whole thing until it's nice and tight. Then wrap it up in electrical tape.

Here is what it should look like:


Unscrew the 12mm metal bolt which holds the tab on, and then fasten the wire underneath it. This is what it should look like:


Now we need to find a good ground point. Over against the fender, you will notice some holes which Hyundai has drilled for us. A 1/4" bolt will fit perfectly through these holes, so go ahead and sand away the paint and primer around the hole. Then use your bolt to secure the wire, with a washer on each side. Put some silicone sealer or paint over any exposed bare metal, so it won't rust.


Here is how I have the cable routed. It goes along the coolant reservoir tube, then bends around and follows the power steering tube. Make sure the cable won't get near the power steering pulley or belt, and make sure it's not too close to the exhaust.


Now let's do the chassis ground to negative. Unless you can figure out a way to attach 0 gauge wire to the stock terminals, you'll need to get new ones. Here are the ones I got, they have ports for 0, 2, and 2x8 gauge wires:


Simply cut off the old terminals, and then attach the wires to your new ones. The negative terminal has 2 wires going to it, one small and one large. The positive terminal also has a big and a small wire going to it. Make sure to cut off the wires as close as you can to the terminal, some of them don't have much slack.

On the driver's side you'll see a hole just like we used for the ground on the other side. Sand away the paint, and attach the rest of your negative wire, with a ring terminal crimped on the end. Then hook the other end into your battery terminal. See the tiny wire running parallel to the big one? That is the original chassis ground. Pathetic!


Ok, only one wire left to run. Looking down at your alternator, right next to the catalytic converter you will see several wires running into it. There is a little cap which covers the positive terminal. Flip this cap open, and remove the 10mm nut. Now take your positive wire, and crimp a ring terminal onto the end. Bolt this end onto the terminal on the alternator. You will probably need to jack up your car and get at it from underneath.

Once you put the bolt back on, the cover most likely won't close. I covered the whole thing with electrical tape to shield it.


Now run the wire up and over to the positive terminal on your battery. I ran mine across the radiator support, underneath where the hood support goes. You can adjust the foam pads on the hood support so that it doesn't pinch the wire.


Now hook the wire into the positive terminal, and you are finished!


I'm still a little bit concerned about clearance issues with the alternator wire, so I will be keeping a close eye on that. If you are really paranoid, you might want to fuse the wire near the battery.

As for the results... at my amp's power terminals I was getting 14.4V at idle, which would drop to 13.6 when the bass hit. Now I get a steady 14.4V at all times. If you have dimming, I would recommend this upgrade before getting a cap, a second battery, or anything else.

WHEN YOU ARE DONE, DO NOT REMOVE THE ORIGINAL WIRES. DOING SO WILL PROVIDE LESS PATH FOR THE ELECTRICITY TO FLOW THROUGH, AND MAY POSSIBLY DAMAGE YOUR CAR'S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

 

Thanks man. Add one more post with the suggestions others added on the old site mang.

 

I just did this today, a few things different though. While hunting down 4 guage ring terminals I noticed that my local pep boys has ground cable pre crimped real cheap at different guages and different lengths. After I grinded off the paint where I grounded the wires and attatched them I then took some RTV and covered the terminal ends and bare metal to keep them from rusting, paint would work fine too. I then attatched a ground cable from the bracket that holds the coil pack to the body also. Since the coil pack uses alot of power I figured that this would help too.

 

Thanks... that is what I really want to do to my car, since a long time ago....

one question.... what did you do with the original positive wire from the alternator?!.... did you get rid of it? of you just let the wire without conect?!...

 

I left all of the original wires in place. Electricity always takes the path of least resistance, so leaving the wires in place won't hurt at all.