onebadmonte

Ah, yes, the infamous forgings.

Now for the final step in my front grounds. I got all the cable crimped and ready for installation. I last left off with some grommets in triangle configuration. This is what I came up with. Here is the bracket formed and the grommets installed. Here I've got the bracket and alternator assembly on the workbench. I've installed and oriented the ground cables allowing me to place my hold-down. I've got the mounting points drilled and tapped for the hold-downs. I have also spot faced both sides of the rear bracket where the alternators mount for my grounds. Here is a close up of the triangle hold-down bracket installed in the rear alternator bracket. Here is the final assembly ready for installation. With the bracket and alternators installed I can start attaching the ground cables to the frame ground locations. Here is a shot looking up at the installed grounds. I used some steel spacers to stack the ring terminals without having to go around the bolt in a flower pedal pattern. Here is a straight shot as the grounds. Now time for some power cables. Better get back to work.

Thanks. Thought I'd give it a shot and see if I could pull it off.

Today is the day I start crimping the ring terminals on to the cables. Before I do, I need the right tool for the job. I picked up one of those hydraulic crimpers from Harbor Freight, the one with the undersized die set. I decided to modify on of the die sets for a better crimp. I stated off by putting some tape on the die set so I can draw my crimp design on it. Here is what I got. The white area is what will be removed. I'll cut out an "M" shape on the plunging die, and a saddle on the fixed die. I'll be using my trusty jig saw to cut the "M" shape on the plunging die. After a bit if filing this is what I ended up with. Now on to the fixed die. I'll be working that one with a Dremel and small sanding drum. Here is an action shot for all my cavemen homies. Here's a shot of the final die set. Before we get to how the die set worked here is a little trick I came across to get all the wires into the ring terminal to avoid this from happening. We start off with a piece of paper about 3/8" longer than the barrel of the ring terminal, about 2" long. Roll it up nice and tight. Then wrap it around the exposed wire of the cable. Now the ring terminal slips over the wires without any fraying. Now just pull out the paper with some needle nose plies. Look ma' no fraying. Back to the crimping. I set up the hydraulic crimper in a vise to make is easier to hold the cable in place and I worked the crimper. This is how the crimp is looking so far. With the cable out of the crimper, this is what the back side of the crimp looked like. Here is a shot of the front side. It came out looking good. I tried to pull the ring terminal off using a long bolt through the ring terminal and holding the cable with the other hand. It stayed together. Sorry, I don't have a pull scale to say how much force it will take before it comes a part. :| With everything looking good so far I followed up by adding some shrink wrap over the crimp. Lastly, the colored cable end the ring terminal came with to designate polarity. Not to worry, I've got red ones too. One down many more to go. o_o

Yes and no. The parts were purchased with a plan in mind, and even that is questionable. You'd laugh at how many subs were bought and sold before I settled on these, and even now I am already eying an upgrade. :\ As for the installation details, those are the ones that are made up as I go along. I mean we all know what we need to get the job done. Amps, wires, mounting locations, but it's not till I get to that step that I actually figure out how I'm going to do it. Like the ground points on the frame. I knew I was going to ground directly to the frame when I started this build, but not till earlier this week did I know I was going to do what I did. The reason being is first I had to get the alts in. From there I can review the area I can work in to achieve the desired goal. From there it's a little bit of creativity splashed with some ingenuity and finished off with little elbow grease and a git'er done attitude. It's been like this the whole way through, from mounting the speaker box to making and routing the RCAs. Then there are the opportunities that arise, like installing the quad alt bracket. Stuff like that keep me on my toes.

Just an inch of progress today guys and gals. I started working on making the ground cables. First things first, I made a mock up cable about 24" long with a single ring terminal. I compressed the cable end of the terminal just tight enough to hold but still removable. I lucked out that my cable has a teflon type sheathing over the actual wire, making it easy to install and remove the ring terminal as necessary. A single winding of electrical tape would suffice if the cable didn't have the sheathing. I started looking around for a good area to make my frame to block ground. I decided on the point where the rear power steering bracket mounts onto the block. This is how I'll be orienting the ring terminal at the block. It's a bit of a trick getting to this location since it's at the bottom of the engine block. I've taken out the inner fender well to get into this area. If you're willing to take the extra effort of removing the inner fender and the front wheel of the car you'll be rewarded with better access and less frustrations through out the project. Now the only limitation is having tools to be able to reach. This is what I used to be able to sand down the block for my ground point. The extension is actually for screw driver bits. Roaming the aisles of a family owned hardware store I came across this wire brush cup with a hex just like a screw driver bit. Problem solved. I followed up the sanding of the block by sanding both the front and backside of the power steering bracket. Here is a shot of everything back in place with the modified ring terminal. Here is the mock up cable in place to give you an idea of how the cable will be routed to the ground on the frame. With the cable in place I am able to mark off the length required to make the cable. I did this for all my ground cables. To make things go a bit faster I'm one to take notes. The ol' memory bank isn't what it used to be. Here is my notes sheet. To keep the cables in order I'll be making some small brackets. Here is a little preview of that.

No soup 4 u! Word on the streets is the neo is no more for the SSD. With all the whispering of forgings going around. I'm guessing a one piece forged back plate and single slug ferrite setup as before. Think mini ufo blt. You didn't hear it from me.

You kicks, kick ass, and I'm not talking about those ass kicking boots you wear. Loving that sculpted look to them. Interesting choice of gauges. Air/Fuel Ratio meter? In an 80 Caddy? Planning a turbo upgrade? Just messing. Keep up the good progress.

Yeah, that alt install was a little bittersweet. It was a bish to get it in, but it looks awesome. Thanks for those kind words. With the level of equipment I've purchased I figure I'd better bring my "A" game to the install.

Yep, will be painting the area. The pics look clearer before painting. The flat black paint washes out all the depth and contrast in a photo. Glad you like the grounds. Feel free and have at it, no patent pending. Lol! Thanks bro. The wife said as long as I could find a good paying job to go for it. A little separation between me and her would be good for us she said. o_o

With the alternators in place its time to get the power wiring in. I'm starting off with some heavy duty grounds on the frame. I made some simple steel spacers to weld onto the frame. I want to make sure I got some solid grounds in place. I made a little template to get the locations spot on. Here is what I started off with. A handful of steel spacers my template and precision measuring and drawing tools. I located a convenient spot on the frame near the alternators and the front battery to use. I've prepped the area and will be laying out the hole locations with my template and high tech marking device. Holes are drilled and now I am following up by tapping the holes. I have tapped the spacers and have located them tightly against the frame with a bolt. Before I start welding the spacers in place I wrapped all the heat sensitive areas with multiple layers of premium heat shielding foil paper. o_o Tah-dah! Spacers welded, and I still have a suburban. Here is a sneak preview of how it's all going to work.

Thanks. It was something else getting the alts in the end it was worth the effort. Nothing says I mean business like four alts. The MS-8 is something else. It's hard to admit that I won't be using it to its full potential right now, but I need to get the project done before I get ahead of myself with upgrades.

:| Bummer.

Thread resurrect! What's happening? I'm back from Easter holiday and making progress over here. It's electrical work from here on out. I'm working my way from to from front towards the rear on this one. Up first installing the tejcurrent quad alternator bracket and my four 200amp Tuff Stuff Alternators. The bracket install was far from smooth. For all those interested in the details of the bracket install I've started a thread in the product review section. Check it out HERE I do have some pics to share here. Up first is the pre-assembled bracket just before it went in the vehicle. The backside. The whole sheabang ready to rock.

Thanks. I figure it's time someone sheds a little light on what a takes to do things at this level, and not just show off their purchasing power (or hook up ablilities. )

Make it a good one. Remember what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

That's what I'm talkin' about. Thanks. Well said my friend. Thanks.

Loooookeen goooooood! (That was my best Freddy Prince impersonation. )

Thanks bro. Slow goings but soon we'll be able to shake the ground. Right now I've got the Suburban running the front stage only. I'm not too impressed with what the MS8 did for centering the image. Since I have no subs I'm crossing everything pretty low. Also you can't really tell the Logic7 processing is doing anything at all since I don't have any rear speakers. Right now the MS8 is an over glorified crossover with meh time delay. o_o I need to get some rear speakers in and the subs to take advantage of the magic the processor is capable of creating. I've got faith. In the creampuff it worked wonders. Let me know when you want to take a listen.

Oh you poor, poor bastard. Fun to put the FM radio in seek mode and watch it spin over there by Sonora and Ozona, though. Well I least I can watch movies while I drive. Opps, I mean listen to movies while I drive.

Not too shabby. I like it.

Ha, the link finally worked. Looks effing cool. Thanks for sharing to he who did the sharing.

Lol! I know the feeling. I was pleased as punch with my doors till I saw yours. Once we are done with our projects we should meet somewhere and mash our trucks together for the ultimate uber suburban/yukon xl groundpounder.