Front end project Phase 1
Relocating the battery
Moving the battery has a few useful reasons. Not only does it free up lots of space under the hood. It also takes 40-50lbs from in front of the wheels (worst place!) and moves it between them. Moving the battery to the pass side also helps the left to right balance once the driver gets in.
The first thing to do first is check your local racing rules if you plan to do any. For example for auto x, you need a sealed and vented box, for an NHRA drag track, you also need to make a kill switch on the rear of the car.
For safety on the street, I would defiantly make a sealed and vented box anyway. As for the switch, I REALLY did not want to put one on a street car. Not only could someone simply walk up to the car and turn your battery off any time (off goes the alarm!). It also means you need to run a wire from the alternator to the back switch, then another one back up to the fuse box (so the switch would turn the car off). So now while your car is running. The power is going through 30' of wire, instead of 2'. The stock alternator is barely good enough with normal wiring. I can't even think what that would add to the charging system strain.
The other option was to use a mini battery in the front. But with a good stereo, and lots of added electronics ( e-fan, ign box, etc.) I didn't want to use one. In the future I'll make one fit so I can go drag racing. I can just swap the battery for that day, and unplug the stereo if needed. Therefore no longer needing the switch.
I wanted to put mine in the rear bin. The pass side would have been best, but it was already full of "other stuff" :) So I went with the driver side bin. I also already had 4 gauge wire ran from the battery to the driver bin, so that was taken care of. (although I would recommand bigger)
Seaching online for premade boxes, they were all to big to fit into the bins (summit racing etc.) For some reason the boxes were much bigger then a normal battery. So the next step is to make one!. I had a local metal shop cut me out some 1/8" alum to my specs, then had a local guy tig weld them together. which left me with a box that would hold my red top battery, and fit in the bin (just!)
Next I had to make a battery tie down, lid hold down, and holes for the wires to come out. Below left you can see the dual hold downs. It's 3/8" threaded rod that is nuted on the bottom of the box. 2 pieces of angle iron are then nutted down onto the battery. The rod also goes through the lid, and the lid is nutted down as well. (middle). On the right, you can see the holes for the wires. I later made them bigger for a rubber gromat, as well as made another hole for a vent tube.
Next I did the wiring. I picked up some 1 gauge battery wires from a local store. They came with termanals on one end, and rings on the other, and around 20" or so. I pulled out one of the rubber plugs to find a threaded hole. I got a bolt to fit it and that's where the ground went (after some sanding). I also picked up a Phexix Gold 200amp fuse breaker. You must use something here. Big fuses would be ok too (and cheaper), but would leave you stranded if it ever blew. The 4 gauge wire going down goes to the fuse box and starter in the front. The one going to the right goes to the stereo bypassing the PG breaker, since it has it's own fuse. (didn't want a stereo problem to kill the car power!) You can also notice the holes in the bottom that I drilled for mounting the box.
I drilled 4 holes though the bottom of the battery box, and into the bin bottom. I mounted it with 4 3/8" think bolts. I really wanted one at each corner, but with everything underneith (subframe) I settled for 3 on one side, and one one the front. WATCH THE BREAK LINES!!! also leave room for moving parts. I think the rear sway bar gets in the way of one area.
here is the battery in and wired. (the blue strap is my handle to get the battery in and out). Now you can see the vent tube in the middle. the other end goes through a hole in the bottom of the bin, venting any battery gases out of the car (yes even the red tops can vent gases, it's also a auto-x, drag law to have one). I have since made the wire holes bigger and added rubber around the wires. I didn't like it like that.
Now that's a fit!! I had to remove the lock on the bin lid, 2 screws, as the bin wouldn't close.
Front wiring.
I used a stereo block in the front. 4 gauge from the battery goes in, The 2 stock black battery wires out the other. (one for starter, one for fuse block) as well as another red 8 gauge. which then splits into my ign box, fuel pump wire, and E-fan.
