2015 Chevy Sonic/Wall/4 15's/10K/Lithium/Large Case Hairpin US Alts

[WalledSonic]

Gonna start this post by saying that the Chevy Sonic was NOT designed to have 4/0 cable installed in the engine bay and it was most certainly not designed for a large case hairpin alternator!  Now, on to some updates:

Had to thin out a 4/0 lug so that it could double as a 1.5mm shim while being mounted against the alternator mounting bolt.  Flipped my crimp dies so that I could flatten the lug out a bit.

Before and after

This is the only location I was able to slip the alt into the engine bay.  Literally a couple millimeters in every direction.

The alt ground cable (with the funny lug)

Then tech flex and heat shrink.  All cables under hood look like this and some have loom also.

Here's my custom alt bracket (that I designed, had waterjet cut, and welded myself) mounted in the engine bay sans alt.

Had to extend the alternator PCM plug a few inches to reach the new plug location

All mounted up!  The shimming I planned worked flawlessly, the alt is perfectly inline with the belt and squared up to the block.  Notice the 90 degree bends in the lugs.  Those lugs are beef cake rigid, even after bending them.

Perfect belt size, as proven by the tensioner marks

View of the bracket and alt from the fenderwell.  Notice the funny lug at the bottom being used as one of the shims.  

View from above the engine bay, against the firewall on the passenger side

Jacked the car up like this to check for clearance when the wheel is in full heave.  It could still go another inch or two at most...

...But I have another 2+ inches before the CV boot would even touch the ground lug, let alone the alt case.

Here's some ground cables under the block.  Had to bend the lugs to get everything to fit properly

World's first Sonic with a large case hairpin?  I hope so!

 

[8ten8]

Yeah, I think it's safe to say that's the first large hairpin in a sonic. What a pain in the knuckle...worth it thoe I'm sure. MacGyver'd that shim...love it! Always tuned 

[Wishuponasub]

Wow. That's some insane ingenuity.

[Karkov]

Crazy man, I would have given up on that project before it even started, lol

[WalledSonic]

Had to make a new ECU bus under the hood for all the fat 4/0 lugs.  New one on the left, old one on the right.  Yes I broke a drill bit in it lol.  It'll come out when I run cable to the rear.

Made a stand for the fuse block.  It also secures the battery in place

Wiring isnt done, so here's a shot of the block in place.  

[YukonXL04]

Man this is coming along great! Excellent work! I'm in La Porte  working again. If I get a heads up on when I'm leaving. I'll see if I can't come check this out. Maybe give you a hand

[Wishuponasub]

Wish this thing was bangin already haha. Taking the kids to the Houston zoo in the morning.

[mbdblue]

very cool stuff man! love the alternator bracket and the stain.

[WalledSonic]

On 10/14/2017 at 8:33 PM, Wishuponasub said:

Wish this thing was bangin already haha. 

Haha, me too. 

Ran the 4/0 power and ground from front to rear

Techflex is niceee

My trunk didnt open all the way due to the placement of the gas struts, so I installed another set of press nuts to get the trunk to open more

[WalledSonic]

I installed this Axxess module to retain stock functions like door chimes, blinker chimes, steering wheel volume controls, etc.  Well, sometimes the steering wheel control goes to full volume when I press 'up' and this box takes up a ton of room in the dash.  On top of that, I dont have satellite or OnStar installed in my car anymore, so the module is only worth the warning chimes (so not very worth having since the music is louder than the chimes).  The box receives a complex set of signals from the BCMs and processes that into a variety of functions such as the 'dimming' function for the head unit, decyphering which chime should be going off, signalling the head unit to start up, etc.  Without the module, I'd have to find a new source for the dimmer signal and the turn on signal, but thats easy, soooooo...

BYE

Running new RCAs and reconnecting the head unit later today.