DIY ENGINE GROUND & BIG THREE UPGRADE:
ENGINE GROUND UPGRADE:
Many articles have been written on the benefits of adding a HyperGround System. Most of them point to improvements that include easier starting, smoother engine idle, brighter headlights, and even better sounding sound systems. But the HyperGround System is an add-on upgrade, which is meant to complement the existing OEM, engine ground wires. While it is a passive upgrade, it also makes more sense to just plainly upgrade the existing OEM wires.
Why you ask? Primarily, its because the OEM wires used by most car manufacturers are of a substandard kind. If you�d take time out to look at your car�s engine ground wires, you�d notice that while they are of a suitable gauge, but the wires used use few, thick copper strands within the wire jacket. This translates to high resistance for the current. With this, upgrading to a higher-grade wire would mean lesser resistance thus a current could pass through more efficiently. Higher grade wires could be defined as follows: 1) thinner copper wires which are more in quantity given the same wire AWG (i.e. 600 strands for 8AWG or 12mm wire and 1000 strands for 4AWG or 16mm wire), 2) Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) for corrosion resistance (the higher end would be the silver-coated copper variety which cost $$$), and, 3) heat insulated/resistant wire jackets to withstand the extreme conditions in the engine bay.
Likewise, OEM Grounds use plain metal round terminals that, like the wires, are not very efficient for conducting currents. This is not helped by the fact that they are usually bolted on to painted surfaces. The paint restricts current flow thus further lessening the efficiency of the ground system.
Secondly, the stock wires look drabby (black). Changing them to wires with the color of your choice looks way cool when you pop the hood. Vain!
With this, the objective is to replace the OEM grounding system with 1) higher quality wires, and 2) better round terminals/crimp ends which promote/enhance conduction. Likewise, we�d like to help the current flow by stripping paint where the round terminals meet with the chassis. Note, we�re replacing the OEM grounding wires� this is due to that there are currently no aftermarket Hyper Ground kits for the PDM EE100 with a carbureted 2E engine. So which wires are we replacing? These are the:
1. Battery negative terminal to body (10mm bolt).
2. Battery negative terminal to driver side tranny (14mm bolt)
3. Driver side tranny to body (10mm bolt)
4. Passenger side engine mount (10mm bolt) to body (10mmm bolt)
While posting this in the Grupo Toyota board, someone directed me to a similar topic on the www.sounddomain.com board (thanks flipboy9!) The topic talked about upgrading THE BIG THREE . Intrigued by the idea, i decided to add it along as a 2nd phase to my DIY grounding project. As such, the project now has 2 phases:
PHASE I: Upgrade OEM Engine Grounds
PHASE II: Upgrade The BIG THREE.
So here goes...
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here are some other interesting articles/websites on "grounding"
www.k2bj.com
www.sigmaautomotive.com
this one i found the most useful...
www.pfm101.com
especially these diagrams:
taken from the related article in www.pfm101.com
my friend emailed this diagram to me.
