Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Before wasting your money just get a multimeter and test resistance between points, its not required.

+1

Best way to do it is to have someone crank the car (lots of load on the wiring) with fuel pump or injectors disconnected. Anything over 0.1 volts under these conditions can cause trouble later on.

And if you're going to, don't buy a "grounding kit" off Ebay. good 8 or 4ga wire, which is available in all kinds of pretty colours, a few eye terminals, solder and heat-shrink, and you can make up some nice looking items for less money and that are the proper length...

Jaycar also sell ready-made ground straps which will be a LOT less fiddling around than 4G/8G, and cheaper by the time you add up connectors etc.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=WE3102&keywords=we31&form=KEYWORD

WE-3102: 40 Amp 250mm length with 36 x 26 strands @ 0.15 (Dia.)mm

WE-3104: 100 Amp 250mm length with 48 x 20 strands @ 0.15 (Dia.)mm

I'd be surprised if you couldn't get similar from an auto store.

Side note, solder is NOT the best way of making these connections. Solder's a poor conductor, and better reserved for building circuit boards. If you're going to go the 4G/8G route, crimp your connections. You can solder afterwards (NOT before!!) if you want but crimping provides a much stronger join mechanically, and lower resistance electrically.

Jaycar also sell ready-made ground straps which will be a LOT less fiddling around than 4G/8G, and cheaper by the time you add up connectors etc.

http://www.jaycar.co...31&form=KEYWORD

WE-3102: 40 Amp 250mm length with 36 x 26 strands @ 0.15 (Dia.)mm

WE-3104: 100 Amp 250mm length with 48 x 20 strands @ 0.15 (Dia.)mm

I'd be surprised if you couldn't get similar from an auto store.

Side note, solder is NOT the best way of making these connections. Solder's a poor conductor, and better reserved for building circuit boards. If you're going to go the 4G/8G route, crimp your connections. You can solder afterwards (NOT before!!) if you want but crimping provides a much stronger join mechanically, and lower resistance electrically.

+1

My bad. Definitely crimp the connections, then solder and heat-shrink. The solder is more there to help prevent the connection getting coroded, coming loose, or burning out...

There was an article in a street commonwhores mag I read a while ago comparing the before and after of a "Hot Earth" kit, ironic name...

Gave about 12kw peak gain and moved the power left, there was literally about 20-25 8ga cables running to all the primary bits, such as coils, fuel pump, ECU earth, MAF sensor etc...

+1

My bad. Definitely crimp the connections, then solder and heat-shrink. The solder is more there to help prevent the connection getting coroded, coming loose, or burning out...

Well.. a proper crimp is gas-tight and mechanically sound. If you have properly crimped the terminal there's no reason to solder at all, but if you've done 90% of the job then a bit of added strength from the solder might help.

Soldering certainly doesn't hurt and I've soldered after crimping myself because the gold connectors Jaycar sells for 4G/8G cable need all the mechanical help they can get. They're very soft. Better off using some stronger ones from Supercheap/Whitworths to begin with but I was lazy :P

Well.. a proper crimp is gas-tight and mechanically sound. If you have properly crimped the terminal there's no reason to solder at all, but if you've done 90% of the job then a bit of added strength from the solder might help.

Soldering certainly doesn't hurt and I've soldered after crimping myself because the gold connectors Jaycar sells for 4G/8G cable need all the mechanical help they can get. They're very soft. Better off using some stronger ones from Supercheap/Whitworths to begin with but I was lazy :P

Personally, on my own car where time/cost isn't a big issue, I cut off the plastic covers, crimp the terminals (usually narva items, seem to do the job), solder the joint, quick spray with battery-terminal protector, then heat-shrink. Not only do you get a good looking connection (compared to the tacky plastic covers), but it's also rock-solid, can't corrode, come loose, or burn out....

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Sounds good.  I don't 100% understand what your getting at here. When you say, "I keep seeing YouTube videos where people have new paint and primer land on the old clearcoat that isn't even dulled down" do you mean this - there is a panel with factory paint, without any prep work, they paint the entire panel with primer, then colour then clear?  If that's what you mean, sure it will "stick" for a year, 2 years, maybe 3 years? Who knows. But at some stage it will flake off and when it does it's going to come off in huge chunks and look horrific.  Of course read your technical data sheet for your paint, but generally speaking, you can apply primer to a scuffed/prepped clear coat. Generally speaking, I wouldn't do this. I would scuff/prep the clear and then lay colour then clear. Adding the primer to these steps just adds cost and time. It will stick to the clear coat provided it has been appropriately scuffed/prepped first.  When you say, "but the new paint is landing on the old clearcoat" I am imagining someone not masking up the car and just letting overspray go wherever it wants. Surely this isn't what you mean?  So I'll assume the following scenario - there is a small scratch. The person manages to somehow fill the scratch and now has a perfectly flat surface. They then spray colour and clear over this small masked off section of the car. Is this what you mean? If this is the case, yes the new paint will eventually flake off in X number of years time.  The easy solution is to scuff/prep all of the paint that hasn't been masked off in the repair area then lay the paint.  So you want to prep the surface, lay primer, then lay filler, then lay primer, then colour, then clear?  Life seems so much simpler if you prep, fill, primer, colour then clear.  There are very few reasons to go to bare metal. Chasing rust is a good example of why you'd go to bare metal.  A simple dent, there is no way in hell I'm going to bare metal for that repair. I've got enough on my plate without creating extra work for myself lol. 
    • Hi, Got the membership renewal email but haven't acted yet.  I need to change my address first. So if somebody can email me so I can change it that would be good.    
    • Bit of a similar question, apprently with epoxy primer you can just sand the panel to 240 grit then apply it and put body filler on top. So does that basically mean you almost never have to go to bare metal for simple dents?
    • Good to hear. Hopefully you're happy enough not to notice when driving and just enjoy yourself.
    • I mean, most of us just love cars. Doesnt necessarily have to be a skyline.
×
×
  • Create New...