Anyone relocate battery to trunk?

[Jcrow]

If so...
What gauge cable did you use?
How did you ground it?
Do you have a sealed box?
Did you notice any differences (voltage, ease of starting)

I need to move my battery to make the turbo fit
I noticed all the kits have 1 to 2 gauge wire, some have sealed boxes and some are not so sealed.
I know hydrogen comes out of batteries when they are charging. (dont grind steel next to a charging battery LOL)

[X11_STE]

On my '84 X-11 STE I moved the battery to the back. I used AUT gage cable (ZERO gage in laymans terms). Stuff can be rather hard to find as well as expensive, especially when you need 25 feet of wire, but its worth it. As for the ground, I just hooked the wire up to the rear shock tower. No, I didnt use a sealed box because I run an optima battery so why bother? Unfortunately I have to put the project on hold why I left the state so the cars never been started. Dont see any problems though, besides drilling a new hole in the firewall.

[Guest]

You can get 1/0AWG power wire from any car audio shop.

A sealed battery box is best, even with an Optima, then vent it to the outside. Moroso, Mr.Gasket, Taylor and other companies have NHRA appproved components for this purpose. Also keep in mind that any NHRA sanctioned track will require a rear battery cut off switch, that when shutoff will also kill the engine.

[Ja[M]z]

i already did that with my sunbird , for temporary use tho , and i used my sub woofer cables , 8 gauges . One to the positive pole , and the other to the body . That was cool . It can be a setup for 2 battery too .

[hamondale]

Yeah, mine's in the trunk. If you go to http://ntahc.org/modifiedhealeys/Pho...157Hammond.htm
and scroll down about 1/3 way, there is a picture. I bought a 10" piece of arc welder cable (any welding supply store) and some heavy copper lugs that are soldered on. It is made with really fine wire, so it is very flexible, can bend in a tight radius without much stress. I just went out and measured it - 1/2" diameter, so allowing for about 1/16" insulation, it is probably 00 gauge, rated for 150A according to my Hdbk of Chem and Phys. (Might be 000 guage if insulation is only 0.05" thick.)
I have it in a marine box (any marina) and it is held down with an early 70's GM seat belt bolted to the trunk floor, so it's east to crack open. The box is not sealed, but I vented it into the fenderwell with a short stub of tubing and a Swagelok bulkhead fitting. The seat belt holds it down fine - it's really tight when latched, and it doesn't budge - and I can jerk it around pretty good hitting 2nd gear.
It is grounded to my unibody frame with a short stub if cable right back in the trunk. Have no before and after to compare though - the battery has always been in the trunk since the 660 was put in. I have never had any problems, always plenty of juice up front. I also have a Moroso switch and a 100A breaker on the hot side.
Chow

[hamondale]

I bought a 10" piece of arc welder cable

Make that a 10' piece. Which probably ended up 6' - 7' installed.
Screw spell check. I need dimension check.

[bszopi]

I know Ben used to have some starting issues when his was mounted in the trunk. I think he had pretty decent sized wire going back there too. Not sure if he ever figured out what the problem was or not. I once had a battery in the trunk, but it was my 2nd battery for my stereo. It was isolated via an Orion MBR-70 isolator. But its been quite sometime since is was installed...

[Jcrow]

Wow nice car hamondale! I like all the swagelok! So I guess your trunk didn't explode with the non-sealed marine box LOL.
Question - What type of fuse is that? I think that would be important! Is it just a regular AC type fuse? Like the big ones at home depot? Or is it made for 12VDC?

[paulo57509]

Battery Cable

Go here:

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Search for "battery cable" or "welding cable".

[RednBlack]

I need dimension check.

Dimension check! That's funny! Get to work on that Ben and Brad! Actually you can get sealed marine battery boxes that are equipped with a vent. Coast Guard regs require this on all closed battery compartments. Attach a 3/8" ID hose to it and run it down through the bottom of the trunk. And relocating the battery to the trunk is a good idea. You don't have to buy that long ass cable to reach your amp!

[hamondale]

What type of fuse is that? I think that would be important! Is it just a regular AC type fuse? Like the big ones at home depot? Or is it made for 12VDC?

The one fuse clearly visible on the driver's side of the engine bay is an inline 60A fuse made for 12V applications. There is another one on the other side. I also replaced the old Lucas crap with a Painless Wiring breaker with 10 circuits of various capacity 5 - 30A. But I learned from a couple of sparky mishaps that at a couple of locations upstream from the Painless box (e.g. near the alternator) that extra fuses were a good idea. Not wearing rings when you work is another. The actual 60A fuses are about 3/8" dia x 2" long, and they come in higher ratings, at least 100A.
I bought the fuses and the holders at a car stereo shop where they have all sorts of wiring products, circuit breakers, etc. up to 100A or more. I don't recall the brand, but I'm sure they are common. I guess some of you guys with wump wump stereos actually need dedicated power feeds that big. 60A is more than enough to run everything I have, although if I have everything on and hit the starter, I can pop the 100A breaker.

[Jcrow]

Thanks everybody!
-Where did you get a 100 amp circuit breaker?

[bszopi]

I was running a 250A fuse when I had the 2 batteries...

[hamondale]

Thanks everybody!
-Where did you get a 100 amp circuit breaker?

Here is exactly what I bought:

http://wholesalestore.itcstore.com/store/product.aspx?prdId=61177

Instead of mounting it in the trunk, I modified it by hand and attached it directly to my + terminal on the battery so it totally kills everything at the battery. I know they also come in 200A.
There is a 100A one on eBay, item number 5748092333 at

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=32813&item=5748092333&rd=1

[Jcrow]

nice! thanks