Can you post some photos and show it installed? I've been wondering about this for awhile; I was tempted, to make my own harness. Do you think, it is the particular wire is the problem or the gauge is so thick, is makes it hard to bend? We have heard, about complaints; about stiffness before.Thoughts?

 

The total cable thickness will make bending it relatively hard, another and more important factor is A) the sheathing material, and B) the amount of strands in the cable. The more strands the more flexible the cable. The best cable for these mods is welding cable since it had significantly more strands and the sheathing is very flexible.

 

pics of the installed wires. 1st one is the ground, had to bend the 1 gauge wire to get it attached to post. 2nd pic is attachment to alternator. luckily it doesn't replace wire just attaches on top of factory wire and zip tie to existing. 3rd is new 2 gauge to battery top fuse box, new 1 gauge to starter and 150 amp in-line fuse box (mounts to battery box). had to bend them a little to get on positive battery post. all in all im satisfied with it, just pain in the butt in tight quarters. getting 14.3 volts throughout with meter while car is running.

 

1 gauge wire

Looks good. How many strans is that? & where did you buy?

 

http://innovativewiring.com/?page_id=5332

 

The innovative kit is nice BUT is very expensive. I hobbled my own kit for about 1/3 of the price. The cables I purchased are from WindyNation (on Amazon) and come in different gauges, and lengths, you can also select the lug size. What I did was to measure the various distances from the alt to battery, grounds, etc the bought the already made cables. I also got an inline 120A fuse (my alt is 90 amps) new battery clamps and wire sleeves. I rewired the alt to battery, both the under battery grounds (which were a joke) and the eng block to chassis grounds. I also completely redid the above battery fuse box from this link https://www.newbeetle.org/forums/1-8-liter-turbo/136562-melted-fusebox-findings-fix.html. I wish I could take pics for you guys but I was rear ended on the highway and my car is currently at the shop.

 

I was thinking, about doing something similar; there are a number of sites, that sell bulk cable or sell kits, for the "big three" type upgrades, for those installing large draw devices (stereos, big amps, lights, 4X4 accessories, etc) but have not done it yet. So, many other problems crop up on my new beetle; that I keep fixing other things, to keep it on the road. If you ever get a chance, photos would be great! What gauge wire did you go with and did you purchase; one of the special hydraluic crimpers; to install the different large cable ends, etc?

 

I went with 2 AWG welding cable from WindyNation. They sell tons of different lengths AND gauges. What I liked about them was that they sold the cable with your choice of either 3/8 or 5/15 in lugs that where attached and had the adhesive lined tubing added. I bought 2 48 in, 2 18 in and 2 9 in all with 3/8 in lugs. I didn't need to get the crimpers or buy any heat shrink tubing, since buying them with the terminals was cheaper. Also make sure you measure the cable length properly i.e. how you are going to route the cable, and maybe order it a bit longer. Routing the cable properly is the hardest thing. I also did not remove the existing cables, basically what I did was double up on the connections. When I measured my batt voltage at idle I was at 14.1-14.2 volts. Another thing that this "cured" was the random DTCs with short to ground faults, my A/C ran tons better, and my headlamps where significantly brighter. The under battery ground on this car is terrible and the cable thickness is a joke.This was one of the best "mods" for this car. I just can't believe that a major automotive company would build such junk electrical systems.