Notices

DIY Grounding Kit

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 05-20-2007, 03:09 PM
  #1  
gothchick
Registered User
Thread Starter
iTrader: (12)
 
gothchick's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: ATL
Posts: 3,300
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default DIY Grounding Kit

I've always wanted an engine grounding kit for my car, but didn’t want to pay $120+ for a couple of pre-fabbed cables/ connectors. After looking around, I thought maybe I could make one just as good as the name brands for less coinage.

So I went to HomeDepot and purchased some grounding connectors for less than $10 bucks.
Attached Thumbnails DIY Grounding Kit-dsc01917.jpg   DIY Grounding Kit-dsc01939.jpg  

Last edited by gothchick; 05-21-2007 at 08:38 AM.
Old 05-20-2007, 03:10 PM
  #2  
gothchick
Registered User
Thread Starter
iTrader: (12)
 
gothchick's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: ATL
Posts: 3,300
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default

I then went to BestBuy and purchased 10 feet (2 x 5 foot packs) of high quality 4 Gauge copper wire for $38 bucks.
Attached Thumbnails DIY Grounding Kit-dsc01937.jpg  

Last edited by gothchick; 05-20-2007 at 03:33 PM.
Old 05-20-2007, 03:12 PM
  #3  
gothchick
Registered User
Thread Starter
iTrader: (12)
 
gothchick's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: ATL
Posts: 3,300
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default

I was able to fabricate a high quality 6 point grounding kit for $48 total... :-)
Attached Thumbnails DIY Grounding Kit-dsc01948.jpg   DIY Grounding Kit-dsc01941.jpg   DIY Grounding Kit-dsc01947.jpg  

Last edited by gothchick; 05-20-2007 at 07:00 PM.
Old 05-20-2007, 07:20 PM
  #4  
bacalhau16
Registered User
iTrader: (32)
 
bacalhau16's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: dartmouth
Posts: 3,148
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Hey, pretty sweet. Im sure a few people may give that a try. Looks pretty clean. Good job!
Old 05-20-2007, 07:28 PM
  #5  
Steve-O Z33
New Member
iTrader: (10)
 
Steve-O Z33's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Creedmoor, NC
Posts: 1,128
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

For $10 more and a lot less pain in the butt, you can order 1 from Intense. Good job though!
Old 05-20-2007, 08:56 PM
  #6  
Mazinger Z
New Member
iTrader: (49)
 
Mazinger Z's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 6,712
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default

+1 on doing it DIY...do you like to...do it yourself?

LOL - jk, I noticed you have a JWT sticker on your strut bar, did you put the Popcharger into the stock box? If so, teach me how!
Old 05-20-2007, 11:21 PM
  #7  
bbs350z
Registered User
iTrader: (85)
 
bbs350z's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Scottsdale AZ
Posts: 6,662
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default

are grounding kits actually worth it?
Old 05-20-2007, 11:33 PM
  #8  
dkmesa350z
New Member
iTrader: (41)
 
dkmesa350z's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 3,828
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by gothchick
I then went to BestBuy and purchased 10 feet (2 x 5 foot packs) of high quality 4 Gauge copper wire for $38 bucks.
3.80 a foot for 4 ga...you got ripped the eff off. If you bought online you'd have gotten just as good a quality for <$1.50/ft shipped. Looks good though and still cheaper than a grounding kit
Old 05-21-2007, 03:43 PM
  #9  
gothchick
Registered User
Thread Starter
iTrader: (12)
 
gothchick's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: ATL
Posts: 3,300
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default

I thought I'd make another improvement to this DIY mod... A battery ground... HomeDepot sells heavy duty (it literally is heavy and quite hard to bend) 4 Gauge copper wire and connectors for about $7 bucks.
Attached Thumbnails DIY Grounding Kit-dsc01950.jpg   DIY Grounding Kit-dsc01956.jpg   DIY Grounding Kit-dsc01953.jpg  

Last edited by gothchick; 05-21-2007 at 04:19 PM.
Old 05-21-2007, 04:37 PM
  #10  
jdmeg21
Registered User
iTrader: (1)
 
jdmeg21's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Covina
Posts: 124
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

nice job
Old 05-21-2007, 07:16 PM
  #11  
bacalhau16
Registered User
iTrader: (32)
 
bacalhau16's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: dartmouth
Posts: 3,148
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Hey gotchick, that looks pretty cool. Nice idea. I live very much!
Old 05-22-2007, 08:10 PM
  #12  
Steve-O Z33
New Member
iTrader: (10)
 
Steve-O Z33's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Creedmoor, NC
Posts: 1,128
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by drift_projekt_Z
are grounding kits actually worth it?
Any differences are from disconnecting the battery imo. I did it to find out. Not really any difference.
Old 05-24-2007, 10:25 PM
  #13  
FORZWIN
New Member
iTrader: (4)
 
FORZWIN's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Clayton, NC
Posts: 541
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

I have this planned for the Z. I did it on my mazdaspeed protege and noticed that it stabilazed the idle and there was less draw when turning on lights or using windows, etc. Honestly most of the factory grounding and power wire is junk, and not up to par in most cases. Especially considering the amount of electronic gadgetry we throw into them.
Old 05-25-2007, 01:45 PM
  #14  
StifflerHB
Registered User
 
StifflerHB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: germany
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

what is the effect of this grounding kit ? More hp ?
Old 05-25-2007, 02:55 PM
  #15  
shinkuu
Registered User
iTrader: (4)
 
shinkuu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 664
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

only difference i've ever felt before were in my audio system. night and day difference in sound quality and even radio reception.

i also did a wire from the battery positive post to the positive on the alternator. my subs kicked a lot harder after that. on the Z, i haven't noticed any real gains cept a lighter wallet.
Old 06-20-2007, 05:46 PM
  #16  
blainer
Registered User
 
blainer's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: San Diego
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by gothchick
I thought I'd make another improvement to this DIY mod... A battery ground... HomeDepot sells heavy duty (it literally is heavy and quite hard to bend) 4 Gauge copper wire and connectors for about $7 bucks.

The only problem I see here is what's called dissimilar metal corrosion. You get it from using steel or aluminum connectors with copper cables.
Old 06-20-2007, 05:52 PM
  #17  
JasonZ-YA
350Z-holic
iTrader: (60)
 
JasonZ-YA's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: San Antonio/I miss DFW, TX
Posts: 11,204
Likes: 0
Received 28 Likes on 19 Posts
Default

here is the one i did myself...

good job by the way, i like your connectors more...

https://my350z.com/forum/engine-and-drivetrain/242367-my-own-engine-grounding-kit.html

-j
Old 06-20-2007, 05:53 PM
  #18  
jadaniya
Banned
iTrader: (22)
 
jadaniya's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 1,462
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Do you think since this is in the DIY section that you could maybe show pics of the different points you used to connect the kit? I only say his because I'm pretty sure most people know you can do this. Its not too hard to figure out, especially if you know what a grounding kit is and that most descriptions of them use 4 gauge wire. The only difference is that each brand has a set of different wire lengths and a place to route each wire.
Old 06-21-2007, 11:58 AM
  #19  
sibble
New Member
 
sibble's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: NJ
Posts: 279
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by jadaniya
Do you think since this is in the DIY section that you could maybe show pics of the different points you used to connect the kit? I only say his because I'm pretty sure most people know you can do this. Its not too hard to figure out, especially if you know what a grounding kit is and that most descriptions of them use 4 gauge wire. The only difference is that each brand has a set of different wire lengths and a place to route each wire.
+1

lengths should be mandatory information for a DIY for grounding kit
Old 06-22-2007, 08:22 AM
  #20  
cellude
Registered User
iTrader: (3)
 
cellude's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: OK, USA
Posts: 158
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Does anyone know which points specifically are needed to achieve better lighting? I would like the brighter headlight benefits without wires running everywhere.


Quick Reply: DIY Grounding Kit



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 04:54 PM.