i have 50 bizillion questions! help!

i am in the middle of rewiring under my hood because of old car nightmares. it is a 79 camaro. i want to know a couple things. here is what i want.
1. efficient electrical system
2. about 800 watts total system (i think) nothin real serious
3. not breakin the bank.

my wiring underhood is as follows. battery cable to starter solenoid. 10 gauge wire to main junction. 10 gauge wire from alternator to main junction. 10 gauge from junction to fuse panel.

should i make any wires bigger? do i have to run my amp power wire to the battery or can i tie it into that main junction if i beef up wires. how much do i need to beef up?

i want to run a 400 watt amp for main speakers and a 500 watt amp for the subs. 4 gauge back to trunk dist block. 8 gauge to each amp.

i dont get this:
alternator runs amps. run wire to battery tho? seems better path would be from alternator output wire to main junction to amp power wire. help!

any info or reads u all can suggest would help. this is first time i have run across this board. usually i stick to the motor end of the car. but i want my audio to perform as well as the car does. help!

 

Best way to get the electrical system to run at its best would be to run 4gu wire from the battery to chasis/engine block to help ground, battery to alternator to help charging, and engine block to chasis for grounding. Good, clean connections are a must.

4gu power wire should suffice for the amps. Hook it directly to the battery and run to the rear distribution. 8gu into the amps as long as the run is short. Otherwise use 4gu.

Do this and you're set.
Also, cheapest place for power wire is to use welder's cable. It's basically the same but without the flashy colours. It's also a fraction of the price literally.

 

to make a long concept short...Your alternator produces rectified AC, so it has "ripples". The battery is like a pool, and calms the ripples. Think of a river flowing into a lake. Thats why you go to the battery, not the alternator.

 

4 gauge charging wire for the battery?!?! its only about 3-4 ft of wire. seems shouldnt be that many amps to require 4 gauge. wouldnt 8 gauge get the job done just as well?

i understand the ripples idea. i took basic electronics in high school. i just dont want that amp wire running to my battery. looks so horrible. its a 79 camaro, want a pretty engine bay. how about hookin the wire at the startin solenoid? i have a ford startin solenoid mounted on the fender. battery cable runs to solenoid and charging wire from alt connects at same terminal. would the "ripples" from the alt be that bad at this point? any inline filters i can install to fix this? would just look cleaner to mount amp wire at this point rather than at battery.

thank you all for puttin up with me.