moving battery ideas on the hatch .

[lostforawhile]

hey who has moved the battery on the hatch before? I would like to hear some ideas here. I have to move my battery because the oil cooler and overflow tank,have to occupy it's location. I was thinking of using the summit sealed battery box, since i have the wooden hatch floor. in other words mounting it where the spare tire is. has anyone ever thought of fabricating a steel box,maby just four inches or so deep,to lower the battery box just a little bit? i mean cut out an area in the hatch floor,and weld in the box. that would maintain structural strength. it only has to come down a small amount. another thing,i'm going to mount a maxi fuse,right next to the battery. this will protect the entire positive cable run,all the way to the underhood. I can't remember off the top of my head,is the alternator line fused? it would have to be for a remote battery. lets say you had a short mid way in the cable, the battery fuse would blow right away, but if the alternator isn't fused, it will continue to supply high current to that short circuit. since you have power supplied at both ends, both ends need to be fused. i've seen someone selling a remote battery shut down switch, it turns off the battery,but supplies a small amount of current,for your radio,alarm,etc. this would be a really good idea for a remote battery. also it seems the best location to tie in your cable from your battery, would be at the starter lug. then it's just a short wire to the fuse box lug, nice and simple,and neat. so lets hear some feed back and ideas.

[cygnus x-1]

I don't have a 3g hatch (2g Prelude) but I did move the battery to the trunk. First I picked up one of those cheap plastic boxes from Autozone, but then decided it sucked. So I bought an Optima sealed battery and just strapped it down with strap anchors bolted to the trunk floor. The battery is sealed so there is no need for a box really.

For the wire I just used some 4ga. jumper cables. Negative goes to the frame rail just below where the battery used to be, and then to the engine with another 4ga. cable. Positive goes directly to the starter and then to the engine bay fuse box. The positive wire is fused in the trunk with a (120A I think, maybe 140A) resettable circuit breaker. This way I can switch power on and off whenever I work on the car.

The alternator isn't fused and it didn't occur to me to put one in. But I see what you mean though with power being supplied at both ends. It wouldn't be as bad though because the alternator won't be able to supply nearly as much current as the battery could, but still a concern. You would use a smaller fuse/breaker too; maybe 80A.

C|

[xvok]

heres where I put mine
its not optimal but it works and it keeps the stock wight ofset

[Bglad420]

I moved my battery to the rear right of my hatch it cost a pretty penny to do it right I think I spent $90 just on cable 1-O welding cable for positive, and 4 gauge welding cable for the starter to fuse box. Theres pics somewhere around gere of what I did.

[xvok]

wow i think that i spent maby 15 $ total and that inculding that wrap stuff and a cut off switch

[Demon1024]

Where do you get cable like that for 15?

[A18A]

thats cool xvok, outta sight, outta mind

[Bglad420]

wow i think that i spent maby 15 $ total and that inculding that wrap stuff and a cut off switch

Yeah you can go buy those cheap cables from WalMart, but they aren't as effective because you loose power the longer the cable is, so you need a better flowing cable to compensate.

[2oodoor]

heres where I put mine
its not optimal but it works and it keeps the stock wight ofset

Innovative idea, but not too safe in many aspects.
here's a clue,, kuh















booom

might consider a gel battery in that location with a proper holddown mount, vent in the door jam maybe

Use fuseable link wire for the alternator situation

[86AccordLxi]

If you wanna go drag racing, I think you have to have either some sort of certified box for the battery, or a firewall between you and the battery.

I just picked up a miata battery for my car (not a 3g) since I needed the space but didn't want to relocate.

Alex

[lostforawhile]

heres where I put mine
its not optimal but it works and it keeps the stock wight ofset

thats not a bad idea,but you need to do a couple of things, first since the battery is basically inaccesible ,you need a battery cut off switch for an emergency. second,that wood holding up the battery has to go. if you were to weld in some steel plate,with holes for the tie downs,excellent location. you also need a steel or aluminum plate to cover the hole behind the cardboard and upholstery there now. at least 1/8 inch thick. you could attach it with 1/2 turn
fasteners. you also need a maxi fuse or a circuit breaker there.also why is there a bolt stuck through the seat belt like that?

[79cord]

Like the location... but where do you put the Frt Right seat-belt retractor?
Can't say I like the thought of Battery acid ever finding its way into sills either, you'd want a sealed battery -expensive, or an almost sealed box which might need venting tube to outside of car?

[bobafett]

I will take a picture of my setup tonight tim...

I bought the summit aluminum sealed box, and mounted it through the floor of the chassis. It is a massive box, and kind of annoying, but it looks pretty clean overall.

I also have an external kill switch which I believe they require at my race track when you have a battery relocation setup.

Pics tonight.

[bobafett]

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

way overpriced, but it works well enough.

[lostforawhile]

look for the moroso box on ebay i keep losing auctions on them,it's the blue sealed box that almost everyone runs. they run around a hundred new, but on ebay they usually end up going for around 40 bucks. with a plywood hatch floor that is at least a half inch thick,you can do a cutout,and it will fit in the spare tire well. then you can bolt the plywood to the steel in the hatch,and make a holder for the spare tire that holds it in the hatch area over the top of the battery box. nice and neat. this is what i plan on doing just as soon as i win one.

[prototype]

Sorry no pics, but I put my battery in that little cuby in the back of my hatch just above the spare tire well all the way to left. I used the factory holder, bolted it down to the body, and strapped it down with awesome blue bungees..

Kidding on the bungees. Using aftermarket el cheapo battery clamp things from advance auto parts.

[lostforawhile]

Sorry no pics, but I put my battery in that little cuby in the back of my hatch just above the spare tire well all the way to left. I used the factory holder, bolted it down to the body, and strapped it down with awesome blue bungees..

Kidding on the bungees. Using aftermarket el cheapo battery clamp things from advance auto parts.

don't want to do that.no joke. about to post up something i had in the other post. that battery can eaisily kill you in a wreck.

[lostforawhile]

this is from the other post,this ought to be a sticky,as far as safety
this is from east nissan tuning, read this and look at the rest of the article after reading this,then you will understand that a battery held in with j bolts,or bungee cords,or tie down straps etc. isn't safe.

TRUNK BATTERY WARNING!!! 3:49 PM 11/5/2006

I know everyone in this section has a trunk mounted battery.

Just wanted to take a minute and make sure everybody knows how much force a 40lb car battery will create in an accident and make sure everybody has theirs adequatly bolted down.

To give you an idea - my bus partned rear ended someone in our cargo van ~ 30MPH. We had a steel bulk head that seperated him from the cargo. In this case the cargo is 5 gal bag in box syrup for soda fountains ~ 55lbs.

The bulk head is bolted to the body all around and managed to stop the flying box of syrup but was absolutely mangled as if it was hit by cannon fire. Had it not been bolted, I have no doubt it would have folded in half and killed the driver.

Trust me when I tell you that it boggles the mind how much force a 40lb car battery will create in an accident. If you think the back seat will stop it, you are not even close.

Some thing to consider.

The original goal with mine,was to put it inside of the spare tire well,in a moroso box,surrounded by a steel enclosure,then the top of the spare tire covered with a welded in steel plate,with a bolt down cover. this way would be safe,this is close to what modern factory rear moundted batteries do.
now read the REST of the article......
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread/207593

[EricW]

As long as the battery is in a box that is bolted down or has a strap securing it the the body of the car it cannot achieve the necessary force to go through the back seat. The box of syrup was able to bend the steel bulk head was because it was probably just sitting in the back of the van near the rear door and kept traveling at the same speed as the van was going when it rear ended the other vehicle. If the box of syrup had been up against the bulk head it would not have bent it at all. Its all simple physics.

So just make sure your battery is strapped down where ever you put it. It doesn't even have to be inside of a box(preferably gel cell or dry cell if no box is used).

[lostforawhile]

As long as the battery is in a box that is bolted down or has a strap securing it the the body of the car it cannot achieve the necessary force to go through the back seat. The box of syrup was able to bend the steel bulk head was because it was probably just sitting in the back of the van near the rear door and kept traveling at the same speed as the van was going when it rear ended the other vehicle. If the box of syrup had been up against the bulk head it would not have bent it at all. Its all simple physics.

So just make sure your battery is strapped down where ever you put it. It doesn't even have to be inside of a box(preferably gel cell or dry cell if no box is used).

the other advantage of the box and one of the reasons the moroso box is so important,is in a crash there could be a lot of things that cause a battery short,and a fire,the heavy plastic box helps protect against shorts. if you run a maxi fuse right off of the positive cable, the entire cable run is protected. as far as physics, the box is already traveling at the speed of the vechicle and if the device securing it is not good enough, it wants to remain in motion when the vechicle stops,this is why your seatbelts stretch in a wreck. your body has a tremendous amount of force to stop in a colision and if they didn't stretch,they would snap. if whats holding down your battery has a lower tensile sterength then the amount of force generated in that object during a sudden stop,they will break plain and simple. are you going to trust your life to some walmart non hardened J bolts made of soft steel? get the NHRA guidlines to securing a battery in a vechicle,follow then as if you had to pass tech,and you will be fine. they have been tested in many high speed crashes during races and found to be effective.

[2oodoor]

Here are some ideas from my experience with upfittled vehicles (police cars, ADA vans, buses etc.)
You can find these battery boxes in places like marine applications, farm equipment etc.maybe Northern Catalog...
You should just use a 50amp circut breaker for protection, we use those on tommylifts, wheelchaiir lifts, anything that requires a 4 guage or 1 aught guage size wire run throughout the vehicle.
You can use a constant duty solenoid, the popular choice now days with emergency veh. and shuttle buses, etc.. it is powered by small amp circut via ign on switch or separate toggle, then activates full battery. It remains energized untill you switch off the signal. In other words it is a remote battery disconnect.

[bobafett]

after reading up in this thread I will probably take the time to use a metal plate underneath the car where I have the posts installed into the chassis.

but i think ericw is right, if the battery was loose in the back of the car it might be a dangerous weapon, but if it is properly secured I belive the risks will be significantly reduced.

even still, i'm sure its a good idea to use a backing plate on the bottom of the car just to decrease the likely hood that anything would ever happen to the box/batttery.

ps, I have found that using a 250amp circuit breaker (friend with stereo shop sold me this) on my positive (might install one on the negative for when i have to 'disconnect the negative battery terminal....') battery cable.

i have tripped this breaker a few times and it works GREAT, and has protected my car every time.

as a matter of fact, here is the exact part that I have...
http://cgi.ebay.com/250-AMP-CAR-RADI...QQcmdZViewItem

it is super convenient to just press the button to trip this thing and quickly disconnect my battery line without having to mess with the battery box.

[lostforawhile]

after reading up in this thread I will probably take the time to use a metal plate underneath the car where I have the posts installed into the chassis.

but i think ericw is right, if the battery was loose in the back of the car it might be a dangerous weapon, but if it is properly secured I belive the risks will be significantly reduced.

even still, i'm sure its a good idea to use a backing plate on the bottom of the car just to decrease the likely hood that anything would ever happen to the box/batttery.

ps, I have found that using a 250amp circuit breaker (friend with stereo shop sold me this) on my positive (might install one on the negative for when i have to 'disconnect the negative battery terminal....') battery cable.

i have tripped this breaker a few times and it works GREAT, and has protected my car every time.

as a matter of fact, here is the exact part that I have...
http://cgi.ebay.com/250-AMP-CAR-RADI...QQcmdZViewItem

it is super convenient to just press the button to trip this thing and quickly disconnect my battery line without having to mess with the battery box.

yea thats what i was thinking ,50 amps seems a bit small for the starter circuit. the entire cable has to be protected, remember to make sure the alternator output has a breaker or fuse,it's feeding high current from a second source to that same cable. if the battery cable should short it would pop the breaker but the alternator would continue to feed high current to the short, without it's own breaker in line,eventually that would take out the alternator diodes but maby not before starting a fire.

[2oodoor]

yeah, oops, I think I posted the wrong amperage.. yes you would need at least a 200-250 for starter draw. That reminded me of a fellow worker who installed one on a bumper jumper , needless to say every time he attempted to jump off somebody it tripped... we just wire them streight albiet it is dangerous in a collision.
I was thinking of an alternative to maxi fuse, what is the largest available? I think I have seen up to 60 on oem domestic applications. That would not be big enough for starter draw. I dunno, what is the spec for these starters, they dont really take as much as a big USDM boat anchor do they?

[EricW]

after reading up in this thread I will probably take the time to use a metal plate underneath the car where I have the posts installed into the chassis.

but i think ericw is right, if the battery was loose in the back of the car it might be a dangerous weapon, but if it is properly secured I belive the risks will be significantly reduced.

even still, i'm sure its a good idea to use a backing plate on the bottom of the car just to decrease the likely hood that anything would ever happen to the box/batttery.

ps, I have found that using a 250amp circuit breaker (friend with stereo shop sold me this) on my positive (might install one on the negative for when i have to 'disconnect the negative battery terminal....') battery cable.

i have tripped this breaker a few times and it works GREAT, and has protected my car every time.

as a matter of fact, here is the exact part that I have...
http://cgi.ebay.com/250-AMP-CAR-RADI...QQcmdZViewItem

it is super convenient to just press the button to trip this thing and quickly disconnect my battery line without having to mess with the battery box.

One of my legs for the battery box is run through a hole in the sub-frame with a rubber washer to seal the hole and two washers large washers with a lock nut. The other one I mounted I had to make a bracket out of 1/8 inch steel to support the other side of the box and where the bracket bolts to the body in the spare tire well I used a 2" x 2" piece of the steel to reinforce the body.

I'm also running one of those 250A (maybe 200A) breakers mounted to the outside of the battery box. I need to get some pics of my set up to post.