Battery relocation

[super red91]

i want to know everything that is involved with moving the battery to the trunk. Do i just have to run a positive and negative and im done or is there more involved? Alos does anyone make any kits to relocate the battery?

[kuhnga]

First off Summit sells a kit as cheap as $48, made by taylor that has everything you need. You can pay more if you want a box and cutoff switch.

You only have to run your positive wire, you coonect your ground(-) to the frame in the back. I mounted mine in the far corner of the driverside and it has a nice space to mount it. All you have to do is drill 4 holes for your plate, there is already a hole for your wire to go through. The only thing is the cable they send is 16ft and it barley reaches. When you get ready let me know and I will send Pics of mine to help.

Gary
www.supercoupekuhn.com

[tbirdsc357]

Gary, I am about to relocate my battery to the trunk next week. If you don't mind I would like to see those pictures. Thanks.

Steve.

[kuhnga]

I will post some pics here in a day or so

[pro street rich]

If you move it you should put it on the curb side as to off set the weight of the driver. If you ever plan on going to the race track, you will also have to put a kill switch in the rear as well. You must also run another wire to the rear and mount it to the awitch as well. This second wire is from the alt and it must be put on the batt side of the kill switch... This MUST be done otherwise you will not shut off the car when you push the awitch..Further more when you remove the battery from the system there is nothing to control your charging systen and your alt. could run wild and give you voltage spickes that can and WILL fry lots of your electrical sencor's not to mention your D.I.S. or your main brain box.... Be careful and if you got and ???? you can either call me at 414-425-4710 or e-mail me at bruhn@execpc.com and I will walk you thru this, as I have done a few of these relocates.....Rich

[super red91]

what guage wire should be run for the power and for the wire from the alt?

[tbirdsc357]

At least 2 gauge.

[gldiii]

M.A.D. Enterprises makes an interesting kit that I am considering:

http://www.2xtreme.net/~madmark/documents/batteryhelperkitinstructions.html

They only run a big gauge wire for the starter and it is only "hot" during cranking.

http://www.2xtreme.net/~madmark/webimages/trunkmountedbatterydiagramcombopix72.gif

They have a nice battery box as well. Someone else posted this kit quite some time ago, but I do not know anyone that actually has it installed on their SC.

[gldiii]

This page describes the shutoff switch needed at most tracks for a rear mounted battery and addresses some of the alternator issues Rich was talking about

http://www.2xtreme.net/~madmark/documents/maindisconnectswitch.html

http://www.2xtreme.net/~madmark/webimages/maindisconnectv2.gif

[Nettlesd]

George,

I was the one who actually bought the M.A.D kit some 2 years ago. The shop doing the work on my car was suppose to install the M.A.D kit when they moved the battery to the trunk but instead didn't use the kit. I ended up selling the kit to William O. Mullen in Georgia. Do you remember him?

I still believe the M.A.D kit is the way to go if you are going to relocate the battery to the trunk.

[gldiii]

I knew it was you! (Gotta be like Duane!!!)

The kit (or least using their concept) seems like the best way to go. I'll probably use this kit this winter when I move the battery to the trunkto make way for the Vortech water box (Who else has that?). I like the idea of the big 'ol wire only being hot while cranking the car. (I do remember Bill Mullen, haven't seen him for a while after all his woes with the TCCoA. Even his email address that I have no longer works.)

[super red91]

WOW!!! Im really confused now. looking at this wiring diagram i have almost no idea whats going on. I still dont understand why i can just run the + cable and then ground the - in the trunk.

[gldiii]

No one has said you can't run the positive to the front and just ground it in the back. I'm just saying that may not be the best way. I'm sure a lot of cars are done that way. You'll have to make a final decision based on your abilities and budget.

What I do not like about running the positive back all the way to the front is that there is no really good way to put a fused protection on that line. It is also HOT all the time. If for some reason it were to short out along the way, it would be almost like an arc welder and represent a real fire danger. Do you run it through the passenger compartment (better protection, more fire danger) or outside (less protected)? It also must be of higher gauge than regular battery cables, since it is carrying it's load for a much longer distance.

The MAD solution is just to run a big cable for the starter and to have it run through a relay so it is only hot while starting the car. The other power wires can then be of smaller guage and more easily fused protected.

[pro street rich]

Maybe I can help clear some of this up. The best case is to put a extra cover over the cable,I use old garden hose,cheap, but it works. Now looking at what George D. has posted is a Very good way to do the job. Safe and just a bit hard to do. The way Super 91 wants to do is O.K. BUT and this is the important point if you do it that way, you better get that garden hose and to be extra safe you can get from Summit a circuit breaker that is rated for 300 or 500 amps. Putting this at the battery will help to save the car in a melt down....The less you expose the battery cable to is the better... The only thing that I would change on George D.'s plan is to increase the size of that cable to a "O" and use welding cable. This will move more amps to the starter and on some cars this is a must....As for running those other wires to the back, I would get a 12/3 or better yet 10/3, 25 foot extension cord and use that. This will give you some extra covering and yet keep it all neat..As for the relay, this is a old Ford relay from the 80's....Make sure that you use fuses or circuit breakers on all the wires and everything will be great...I hope that this helps and if needed you can call me and I will try to walk you thru this...414-425-4710....Rich Good luck and remember to fuse everything.....

[Nettlesd]

Hum, I wonder. LOL

Copy Cat (Like George, got to be like George. Tony Also. )