unreal_news

I was talking to some audio pros and they mentioned that theyve never needed to use more than 4 awg wire on their vehicles. I then bought some 4 awg wire and compared it to what I have in my 86 turbo. And the wire in my car is more comparable to 1 gauge (mabey 2). Does anybody know the actuall gauge? Do we need wire that thick, or will 4 awg do it just as well?

thx,
-john

Zero10

If memory serves me, the factory cables are pretty close to #2. I ran #0 for my starter positive cable, and my grounds, and a #2 from the alternator to the starter, although you will have some trouble getting it onto the studs, it should eliminate any perceivable voltage drop. Another thought, is to upgrade the positive lead going to the fuse box, it's rather small.

#4 is pretty small to feed your starter. I would use something bigger, as when it is being run, the starter pulls in excess of 100A. This will produce a noticeable heating of the positive lead during perlonged cranking, not to mention the voltage drop...

unreal_news

Thanks Zero10

you mean the 0 and 2 awg lugs, where the eyeholes too big? how did you secure them? washers?

also, forgot to ask... what is the difference between 0 gauge and 0/1 gauge wire?

Zero10

Yeah, #0 and #2 lugs are just too big. I cheated. I used some copper tubing, hammered the end flat, then crimped and soldered the round part onto the end of the wire. From there, I just dilled the appropriate-sized hole in it, and trimmed the end of the makeshift lug to fit within whatever constraints applied.
If this is not an option for you, which it most likely isn't, try some welding stores for large-wire-size lugs with small-stud-size holes in them. That's where I found one for my #0 wiring to the starter. The other end of it just had a normal battery terminal soldered onto it by me.

0/1 is #00 wire, the scale continues to 0/4 (#00000), from where wire is then sized in kcmil or mcm (thousands of circular mills). So, #0/1 is bigger than #0.