I just bought a 96 Impreza L. When I bought it, all the grounds and main 12v wires were significantly corroded and for the most part shitty. I decided to take voltage measurements as I changed things. At the end of this thread will be pictures of my DIY grounding kit mod.
All voltages were recorded at low idle with the car warmed up, lights/radio/heater turned OFF.
When I say "cleaning" I mean CLEANING. I take a dremel and bring the whole thing down to bare metal with a die grinder attachment. This is no sissy wire wheel or sandpaper job.
Before any attention: 13.2v
After Cleaning stock 12v wires: 13.5v (+0.3)
After Cleaning stock grounds: 13.8v (+0.3)
After DIY 8g grounding kit: 14.2v (+0.4)
Now for the grounding kit:
The kit cost $14. It would have been $10 except I got too much wire. I bought 15 feet and ended up using 7 feet. I would buy between 8-10 feet if you want to do this mod. The wire was $0.47 a foot which to me is CHEAP. If you go with 10 gauge it's about $0.35 a foot which would make this insanely cheap. I went with 8g because for me it's go big or go home! (Within reason)
Also, in my pictures, I show 8g ring terminals and 6g. This is a MISTAKE. Get TWO packets of 8g ring terminals if you want to do this. They will work on all 10mm bolts and 12mm (with a little bit of coaxing).
All wire was 8g stranded copper wire from Home Depot. The insulation is gas and oil resistant, or so it states. I had heat-shrink laying around so figure this in for your cost.
The grounds:
Alternator > Chassis
Intake Manifold > Chassis
Block > Chassis
Battery > Chassis
extended washer reservoir bolts and metal spacers
FINISHED (stealthy eh? :naughty
Diagram showing where I went with the wires
Alternator ground:
Battery ground & hidden alternator ground:
Each of those fasteners have a ground behind them (intake mani + battery):
Block ground:
VOLTAGE BEFORE
WARMED UP @ LOW IDLE WITH LIGHTS/RADIO OFF
13.83v
VOLTAGE AFTER
WARMED UP @ LOW IDLE WITH LIGHTS/RADIO OFF
14.13v
:naughty::naughty::naughty:
All voltages were recorded at low idle with the car warmed up, lights/radio/heater turned OFF.
When I say "cleaning" I mean CLEANING. I take a dremel and bring the whole thing down to bare metal with a die grinder attachment. This is no sissy wire wheel or sandpaper job.
Before any attention: 13.2v
After Cleaning stock 12v wires: 13.5v (+0.3)
After Cleaning stock grounds: 13.8v (+0.3)
After DIY 8g grounding kit: 14.2v (+0.4)
Now for the grounding kit:
The kit cost $14. It would have been $10 except I got too much wire. I bought 15 feet and ended up using 7 feet. I would buy between 8-10 feet if you want to do this mod. The wire was $0.47 a foot which to me is CHEAP. If you go with 10 gauge it's about $0.35 a foot which would make this insanely cheap. I went with 8g because for me it's go big or go home! (Within reason)
Also, in my pictures, I show 8g ring terminals and 6g. This is a MISTAKE. Get TWO packets of 8g ring terminals if you want to do this. They will work on all 10mm bolts and 12mm (with a little bit of coaxing).
All wire was 8g stranded copper wire from Home Depot. The insulation is gas and oil resistant, or so it states. I had heat-shrink laying around so figure this in for your cost.
The grounds:
Alternator > Chassis
Intake Manifold > Chassis
Block > Chassis
Battery > Chassis




extended washer reservoir bolts and metal spacers


FINISHED (stealthy eh? :naughty

Diagram showing where I went with the wires

Alternator ground:

Battery ground & hidden alternator ground:

Each of those fasteners have a ground behind them (intake mani + battery):

Block ground:

VOLTAGE BEFORE
WARMED UP @ LOW IDLE WITH LIGHTS/RADIO OFF
13.83v

VOLTAGE AFTER
WARMED UP @ LOW IDLE WITH LIGHTS/RADIO OFF
14.13v

:naughty::naughty::naughty: