Quick Battery Relocate Question

[Cornbreadxd]

I bought an optima battery and have had it under the hood for a while but the fit is kind of weird so I made a spacer to put in my tray to get a better fit but it's not the best solution so I want to relocate to the trunk.

I looked online at kits and everything, but am I correct that to do the relocation I just need 2ga welding wire to go from the starter through the firewall and into the rear, splice(extend) the fusible link plug from under the hood through the same area and onto the battery, and a ground going to the trunk floor?

I am going to have a simple box welded out of spare aluminum and bolt it to the trunk floor also. I figure with the weight in the back it would help a bit with the COG as well as solving my fitment problem.

Edited December 28, 2009 by Cornbreadxd

[zKars]

I see no reason to run the fusible link wire all the way to the trunk to get to the battery. Under the hood, just pretend the starter terminal where the battery line connects, is the +side of the 'battery' and connect the fusible link there.

Other than that, be sure to get an EXCELLENT secure, clean (paint and dirt free) ground point in the trunk to frame steel and use the same gauge wire as the +cable going up front. Protect it against corrosion so it keeps working well for you.

Others have fit an optima in the stock position and been pleased with the result, there are posts about how they did it here somewhere, do a little searching.

Jim

[Jeff G 78]

I used an Optima in the stock location with my own hold down bracket. It works great. Search my name and optima and you will find pics and a dimentioned CAD drawing.

[Cornbreadxd]

Ok, i'll see what your talking about but I figure I can get it out of the hood and then work on the rust in that area while the battery is in the back, along with a new hold down and battery tray, and it'll give me a better angle to kill all the spiders that have been living under the hood

[Walter Moore]

Ok, i'll see what your talking about but I figure I can get it out of the hood and then work on the rust in that area while the battery is in the back, along with a new hold down and battery tray, and it'll give me a better angle to kill all the spiders that have been living under the hood

Heh! Unless your garage is really well heated spiders should be the least of your worries right now.

Brrrrr it is cold!

[e_racer1999]

As a side note, if you plan on doing any track racing, most sanctioning bodies require a well-marked, rear mounted cut off switch be installed. Run a line from the alternator feed to the switch to make it so the car shuts off when disconnected

[=Enigma=]

FYI, Summit offers a number of battery relocation kits, or just the boxes:

I actually used this custom mount in the stock location to bolt down my Optima battery.

Here's a pic of it installed and the paper template I created to figure out where to drill the mounting holes for it. I had to drill 3 new mounting holes in the aluminum base due to the configuration of the battery tray in the car. I also did a little grinding on one edge of the base near the wheel well hump to get it to fit snugly into the corner. I'm very happy with the results. You can see all the pics at the following URL:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/techn0freq/sets/72157618972508410/

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Edited December 29, 2009 by =Enigma=

[crazyoctopus]

this may be way too late, but why not put it in the rear seat bin like this...

i haven't taken pictures of it with it all connected, but it fits perfectly. and with some rubber sheets to protect it from metal contact you are more than safe