Its pretty easy to do yourself . . . the big 3 are:
1. Chassis to Battery negative
2. Alternator + to Battery +
3. Alternator - to Chassis.

Upgrade those wires to a least 4, 2, 0 awg or bigger and you will have no problems.

It is just a matter of finding the current wires - disconnecting them and installing BIGGER ones - Start with the Battery Negative to the Chassis, then you will see how easy it is. After successfully doing that, you'll feel adventurous enough to trace which wire attached to the + terminal runs to the alt.

 

Not as easy for someone who knows nothing of electronics The bf does all mine and even he's new to some of the things I throw at 'em. lol Don't even know how he'd understand this one or if he would. I dunno. Just easier for me to ask someone who's done it already to give a hand. Currently using 4 awg wire.

 

Terri this one really is a easy job. Between this site and the J-body page you can find out everything you need to know including how to take the alternator off which is the only "difficult" part.
Take a look at your engine compartment and you'll see where the negative on the battery grounds. It takes about 2min to change that.
Looking at the alternator you will see the bolts that need to be undone. Pop the belt off first and it's easy breezy from there. Once that's off you can finish up your other two connections and voila, you're done!

 

If you're using a stock alternator don't even bother doing the alt to battery positive wire, just the 2 grounds will make a big difference.

 

I ran a higher powered system than that in my old cavalier. I had the grounds upgraded but never did the Alt wire.
Lights dimmed with only a 1 F cap, so I added another 2 F. That worked fine.

Went through 3 alternators & 3 batterys in 8 years.

 

Yeah but that's nothing unusual for any GM car..



I agree that with a stock alternator, there is little reason to upgrade the charge cable between it and the battery.

 

Save yourself like $15 in wire and don't do alt as I said earlier, just grounds.

 

Blinddemonz , how could you have 4633 posts and not know anything?

 

Unless you're gonna post something that actually contributes to the thread get out. Not everyone can pick up on things as easily as others, hence the questions/request for help. Not to mention the forum title "General discussion about all things car audio"

 

By the same token, wouldn't there be little reason to upgrade the negative from alt to chassis?

Reason: If the alt can only produce so much for the positive feed, why or how would a larger negatvie feed offset that?

So then, wouldn't she only have to upgrade the battery - to chassis if she is running a stock alt?