0k what do i need to get now?

[oxbow]

ok what do I need to do to hook up say a sweet 16 in a 4cyl cavalier as far as new alternator and what kind of battery, motor maul? and where do I find these kinds of things? I was told that I would probably need 200 amp alt. and a 1000cc battery whatever that is. any help would be awsome also will these item even fit or work in my little car? I have no ac either. thanks!!!

[Bulldog68]

I have no idea if the alt you will need is even available to mount up in your car. But on the battery I believe they meant 1000 CCA(Cold Cranking Amps).

[oxbow]

can i put in a 1000cca battery with my stock alternator ( believe its 13.5 mps). will that help. or if I rev the engine when I transmit? yes I am a newby

[North Texas Mudduck]

you would be better off going with a 2x6 Class C amp 2-2290s driving 6-2879s
a sweet16 will pull alot of amps
and wont show you the numbers your want
and might add a retop in the back where you plan on putting the amp

on your alternator leave the existing charge wire add a 8 guage or 4guage cable from charge post to the pos post on the battery.
and do the same run a 4 guage ground from alternator case to the neg side of battery
then from neg post to the frame

then run some 2 guage from battery to the redtop battery then connect amp to redtop
then at redtop battery on neg post run 2guage to frame
and ground out the amp as well

may be a little more than what you want but it will talk alot better
if mounting on trunk lid add ground flat strap to frame

[PONY EXPRESS]

ok what do I need to do to hook up say a sweet 16 in a 4cyl cavalier as far as new alternator and what kind of battery, motor maul? and where do I find these kinds of things? I was told that I would probably need 200 amp alt. and a 1000cc battery whatever that is. any help would be awsome also will these item even fit or work in my little car? I have no ac either. thanks!!!

My thoughts would be to improve your antenna 1st .What type antenna are you using and can it handle a 16 pill amplifier.

Than I would wonder is it worth all that expense to run so much power in your little 4 banger.......

My 1st question since you are a newbie on high power is are you running an amplifier now . If your not you will find a 200-500 watt unit will work just fine 2-4 pills . I run about 4 pill 450 watts max ssb and about deadkey 3 watts swinging 250-250 watts with forward swing on am with my little 4 banger and it runs great with only 4 gauge wire running from the battery .I do have an extra 4 gauge power cable running from negative side of battery to the frame of the vehicle. No modification to my electrical system at all. 95 amp alternator and standard battery 625 cca .The battery is 5 years old and when it dies I will put in the largest CCA battery I can .
I talk anywhere we want with those power levels .... I create Pileups on the way home from work when skip is rolling.
So before you jump in with something you know so little about pay attention to the input you are getting on this forum.

[Lost Sheep]

Pony Express is right!! Try something a little smaller to start with. The charging system on that car IS NOT designed to handle that type of draw. I doubt you can even get a large aftermarket alternator for that car.

You can get a smaller 4 pill amp and a good antenna that can handle the power, all for a good price and talk ALL OVER THE U.S.A. without having to modify the electrical system in you car AT ALL. You should always go with a good battery when you run any type of amp, something like an Optima Red Top would be sufficient.

In your case..being a newbie..BIGGER is not always better. I personally think you should get a feel for everything with some smaller less expensive stuff. Just work your way up.
See, you really have NO IDEA what you're getting into when you start buying HUGE amps, motor mauls and modifying you vehicle. You're talking BIG BUCKS$$$$ and lots of time spent......all to do what you could with a smaller and cheaper setup.

Hey, it's your choice. Just take our advice for what you will. Good luck and HAVE FUN!!!

[PONY EXPRESS]

can i put in a 1000cca battery with my stock alternator ( believe its 13.5 mps). will that help. or if I rev the engine when I transmit? yes I am a newby

I did see you have a Wilson 5000 antenna so antenna will not be an issue. I have 1 of those mounted on my trunk lid of my small car and with 200-400+ watts depending on am or ssb it does a very nice job. It is broadbanded as well approx 150 channels wide 1.5-1 or less if you use channels above and below the regular 40 channels.



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[coondog]

can i put in a 1000cca battery with my stock alternator ( believe its 13.5 mps). will that help. or if I rev the engine when I transmit? yes I am a newby

oxbow,this will defiantly not work,even if you crammed in 4 brand spanking new of them size batts your stock alt.will not be able to keep up the charge with a big sweet 16.sure you could talk at first for maybe just a sentence but then you"d have to drive for quite some time before you could even give or ask a radio check with the modulation and yours and theres location asking.and each word you say your batts will die down fast and then it"ll start heating up your alt. to where you"ll be dead in the water real quick.

if you can get 4 of those batts (i"d find the highest reserved batts you can find) and get ahold of MotorCity Reman (there a sponsor here) and see if maybe they can set you up with a 200 amp alt. or higher that will work on your car.if they can"t or no one can do like these fellow members say and go with a smaller amp until you get alot more experience.

do the alt. thing first before you spend money on anything else.you won"t be sorry

[slydog]

ok what do I need to do to hook up say a sweet 16 in a 4cyl cavalier as far as new alternator and what kind of battery, motor maul? and where do I find these kinds of things? I was told that I would probably need 200 amp alt. and a 1000cc battery whatever that is. any help would be awsome also will these item even fit or work in my little car? I have no ac either. thanks!!!

A motor maul and 2-4 batteries in a Cavalier would be hysterical.
2x4 amp.........Wilson 5000 would be realistic.
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Your performance is severely limited by the lack of ground plane of the vehicle.

[oxbow]

yea I ran a 450 palomar hd and it worked like a dream I'll take your guys advice and go with that, but what about a texas star 500, is that a better amp , and would the s980 work well with it, it appears that the 667 is also out of the question.

[PONY EXPRESS]

yea I ran a 450 palomar hd and it worked like a dream I'll take your guys advice and go with that, but what about a texas star 500, is that a better amp , and would the s980 work well with it, it appears that the 667 is also out of the question.

Well we have run the Texas Star DX 500V a few times in the car just to play with it in our 2003 ZX2 Escort . Purchased it new about 4 months ago now but we run our Cobra XL450 as we like its preamp better. I now have it installed in the 2006 Escape for Vacation trips .
Hope to catch you on the air sometime .. 358 mo mobile 38 lsb

[Trouble]

Oxbow, good info from the members so far. My input on this is, if you are not very familiar with amps and radio setups you should get a professional to install something that big. Even a 2x4 is a whole lot of amperage and power to harness. If you add an amp to your setup, everything HAS to be absolutely perfect or very bad (and expensive) disappointments are sure to find you. You can put as big a battery in your car as you can fit as long as it's 12v. I cannot see a 200a alternator going in without significant modification (custom mount, wiring upgrades). Also, make sure you connect directly to the pos/neg of your battery for power. Use any additional batteries as backup/reserve. Quite a project, I could go on for pages as I am sure the others could too.
As I said before, you have good info from well seasoned radio/amp veterans so far. Good luck, keep us posted...oh and put up some pics too!!

73's

Trouble

[Grump]

I owned one of those cavaliers and i wouldn't try to much with them as if your atenator craps out you are dead in the water so I would watch what you do with that car i have ran 100 amp stereo power with everything stock so a bigger alt. and smaller amp may be the best

[North Texas Mudduck]

did i miss something??
did he say a sweet 16 or a 16 pill

[North Texas Mudduck]

what year and model is this car
and you got any pics

[cowboy 221]

me too N.T. Mudduck, I thought he said a sweet 16,,, I have ran a texas star sweet 16, in a ford ranger pickup, with a 4 cylinder, on 1 ,, 1000 cca battery and stock alt. it did not like it but as long as I was up around 2500 rpm, I could talk but still could see the lights dim a bit,, lol,, thank goodness i am not long winded on the key.. 221

[127]

The Cavalier has a 105A alternator so a 2x4 pill or less. With the very small amount of ground plane on that car, you will waste your money if you are expecting a big mobile. Texas Star 500 and leave it at that.

[treetall]

well the first thing i would think is if your gonna be running ssb a lot or maybe just everyonce in a great while. if your gonna be running ssb a lot then stay with the ts boxes but if not i would go to the class c boxes and get one with a ssb. with that alt and batt setup im gonna say get you a good 2x4 class c comp box and leave it like that. i would even go as far as saying the numbers you will be seeing with that class c 2x4 wouldnt be that far off from that ts sweet 16. im back quiet

[ny221 8pill]

hay you prob already fig out what you were going to do but if not, you can call powermaster alternator to see what they have avalibale, or call dell electronics in Hamburg NY camp rd 14075.. i dont have eather of there phone numbers on hand but, powermaster might have one, or dell can make you what you want.. they make them to your specs..