Battery relocation [Merged 3-8]

[BeatupVR4]

Your right about the whole, But i would rather have a hole, then have a cluttered looking engine compartment. Everyone is going to have a different opinion on this.

Youre also rocking 3 spoke rims......

On a 2g it help outs a lot! I still have mine in the stock location, i am thinking about putting it where the charcoal canister is right now and use a smaller battery.

You mean exactly like I have done?

Just an idea I had before

Has anyone considered using a set of jumper cables for the wire? Obviously not the clamps, but seems like it'd work.

That would be perfect as long as it's not a cheapy 10 gauge set.

 

[GSX4BangR]

Well i'mma def. have to look in the rules about battery relocating at my local track because i do wanna make some room in my engione bay to make it look cleaner. I know they got some threads in here bout it, time to do some studying!

 

[kittay]

Also, if you re-locate the battery to the rear, you have to ensure there is a shut off switch (for racing purposes)

 

[jw_55_55]

I have mine relocated to the trunk...i know for racing safety that as long as its a street car the entire battery needs to be covered and bolted down to the frame somewhere! And as for wiring. All i did was get some 4 gauge wire and 100 watt fuse from walmart! works great!!!

 

[GSX4BangR]

It really works well? Do you think you could explain to me how you did it? I really want to relocate mines while my cars being stripped down. I heard about it needing to be covered and have a cut-off switch so I know im goin to do that now

 

[AndrewD5418]

Unless you're swapping to a smaller battery (Odyssey, Braille, Honda 51 series) and relocating it to the subframe below the stock battery location then it's a bad idea.

Placing the battery farther away from the starter/alternator is never a good thing. Also to be safe and do any sort of racing you need to spend a bunch of money on a SEALED (read air-tight) battery box, then have it vented out of the car (Drilling holes in your body FTL!), THEN install HEAVY and expensive wire all the way to the front of the car, then come up with a way to solidly connect the wire to the stock wiring that doesn't look like complete crap. (Usually ends up being a ghetto looking nut/bolt combo wrapped in electrical tape)

Way too many then's if you ask me. Plus the only reason for doing this is for weight transfer to the rear wheels for drag racing, but unless your GSX is rear wheel drive then it is more beneficial to traction to keep the weight in the front of the car. Down low and close to the firewall just help for handling and braking as well.

The body already has holes in the hatch. Have you ever even looked underneath the carpet back there? There are rubber plugs. Theres also a rubber plug next to the fender inside if you take off the side rear interior panels.

 

[jshuman]

I have a 2g with the a red top relocated to the rear. It definitely cleaned up the engine bay, but it does have a few disadvantages you may want to consider. First, it does take a few extra bucks if you want it done properly. The former owner of my car did the relocation, and did not securely mount the battery. It was only held down with 3m velcro. While this did hold well for a while, it did not last. My battery has rolled over a few times, once pulling off the positive cable. - not a fun time. But in my OPINION, this is a good idea only if done right. Make sure you find a way to securely mount the battery for safety and to save yourself the hassle later on. Oh, side note, I see you are also from WV... not a whole lot of us on here .

 

[subie22]

it looks like i will be doing this since my batt box is all fudge up, and i would like the extra room in the engine bay. I think it looks nicer, and i have awd so it wont hurt much having it back there. Now i just have to find a box..

 

[subie22]

cutlessjim, actually i started this one before that one was started. I've been here long engough to know how this search feature works. I just wanted to make sure on a few things..

 

[Dave532]

This has worked for me for years when relocating the battery to the rear for racing purposes:


Location: I believe the passenger side rear seat area is the most efficient placement considering cross-weight settings and weight of the battery cables.
Battery: Any automotive battery will do, but the Gel cells are the best for obvious reasons. If you can afford it (and the rules allow it) specialized light weight racing batteries are also a good choice.
Battery box: You can purchase a very cheap ($20) battery box at your local tractor supply or uber-Home Depot-type store. It does not have to be sealed. Bolt it down well. In a wreck, this battery can easily kill you if airborne.
Cabling: You can use jumper cables but they should not be any smaller than 8 gauge, preferably larger. The ground cable from the battery box can go for a couple feet to a clean ground on the frame...cheaper and less weight if all the pre-existing ground straps are good.
Kill switch: The simple ones can be found at any racing supply for around $10. Just remember the purpose of the switch is to shut down the car. Switching only the battery cable will allow the car to continue to run. You need run the fuel pump wire through this switch as well so the engine dies.
Fuses: Place the 100 amp fuse (or a bit bigger if you rally) as close to the positive terminal as you can. Any shorting to ground between the fuse and the positive terminal has potential to cause a fire.

 

[BoostedTalonTS]

Your right about the whole, But i would rather have a hole, then have a cluttered looking engine compartment. Everyone is going to have a different opinion on this. On a 2g it help outs a lot! I still have mine in the stock location, i am thinking about putting it where the charcoal canister is right now and use a smaller battery. If your car is a daily driver i don't really see any reason to do it, other then just to do it .

Hole? Reason to do it? -It's all about real-estate man! -I decided to relocate my battery, as I wanted to install my H2O Injection system in the engine bay. The spot where the battery was more then enough room for it

And for those that are considering just running the positive wire, don't forget that the SPOT WELDS would then be your ONLY form of an electrical ground connection! -I can't tell you how many times I've encountered faulty ground issues in unibody-designed cars that are older and usually laying down good numbers (most of them being V8s though). -Lets face it the spot welds have enough to do already. -There job is holding the car together. In high HP applications, they can barely do that, much less provide a consistent chassis ground. As a precaution, I recommend running another separate ground wire, the same size as the power wire: IMO, nothing less then 2 AWG (I chose 1/0 for my battery relocation). Feel free to ground the negative calbe as often as you like along the run as your onboard electronics will appreciate it.

Here's my battery-relocated engine bay:

 

[turbolarry]

Any hints on where to get 2 gauge wire. I stopped by two stereo shops and the local Best Buy with no luck. All they had was 4 gauge.

 

[boostedinaz]

Most have already posted the location, but I will say that the JMFab small battery kits are super nice. I put one in my buddies 1G and after seeing it I went and bought one myself. It is small and out of the way, but since it hasn't moved from the engine bay it doesn't require cutoff switches or other extra parts.

 

[BoostedTalonTS]

Any hints on where to get 2 gauge wire. I stopped by two stereo shops and the local Best Buy with no luck. All they had was 4 gauge.

THE BEST place I found for larger guaged wires was a local welding supply store... I actually picked up "half" of my 1/0 wire (ground side) from them... They charged me like $20 for a ~12" run. -Check around man... I'd avoid the stereo shops as the mark up on that stuff is CRRRAZZZYYY!!!!

 

[housegsx]

I ordered welding cable from here. Wire & Cable For Solar and Battery Systems
It's good high strand count flexible stuff. Solder and crimp your lugs.

 

[tyger1]

all i did was pul the harness and relocated a optima battery to my front passenger side bumper. it is not to hard. I made a battery tray and took some threaded rods to bolt it into place. i also bought some remote battery terminal post in case i need to jump start my car and a master kill switch so disconnect the ground when i need to work on my car.

here is a pic of how my engine bay looks with the battery relocation

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

pic of the battery relocation

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

pic of kill switch

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

pic of remote battery terminals

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

front shot without the bumper skin

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

front shot with everything in place

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[dnhieu]

how are you 1g guys figuring out what to do with the 3 fuses in the front of the car? i cant seem to think of anyway to get a distrabution block to work with them

thanks
david

 

[RipperXX]

I wanted to reply to this thread again, since I had mounted my battery in the hatch. Everything whas NHRA compliant EXCEPT the fact that I did not nore was I going to install a kill switch. Hell with cutting a whole in my freshly painted car to put a (IMO for my car) a silly kill switch.

I did not have any issues starting the car, however I did notice the Altinator was not charging as much and that it did have to turn over longer to fire up.


So since I still wanted to run at the drag strip I decided screw it I am going to actually reduce weight not just relocate it and actually add weight. I put the battery back in stock config, but I will be getting a light weight racing battery and JMF mounting kit and mount it as low in the engine bay as I can.

 

[BoostedTalonTS]

how are you 1g guys figuring out what to do with the 3 fuses in the front of the car? i cant seem to think of anyway to get a distrabution block to work with them

thanks
david

It's not too hard actually... Just unbolt the OEM metal battery terminal by opening up the side cover to expose the 10mm bolts that the bracket and a few of the fuses are held in with... Using a longer 10mm, just add in a ring terminal and some sufficiently gauged wire (I used 4 AWG) to connect it to your distribution block. Just BE SURE to hook up the wire & ring terminal to the 12v+ input side.
Now that it is wired up you can use some double-sided tape to mount it practically anywhere... I adhered mine to the OEM fuse block's cover to keep it out of the way:

 

[H82lose91]

Just wondering why some of you arent considering the JMF Small Battery kit vs relocating to the rear unless its a full race car. Also a Miata battery works nicely down in the same spot. Had that setup on my old laser. My current car has the JMF battery kit. Being my car was hacked up when i bought it, it was missing the 3 fuses, So i hit up the local stereo shop.

The power distribution i used has 3 fuses on one side going to the 3 original fused wire. The other side has the battery + connected, the starter, and the wires from the alt wired direct no fuses. My only issue is the AC is very close to the battery hold down which in my opinion doesnt need to be quite so thick.

 

[dnhieu]

i currently have the jm fab batter relocation kit and i hate it. i was always leaving my fans on which would drain my battery. i was also have some starting issues because my car wouldnt like to idle in the morning times due to bad blowby from my rings. i think for a daily driver i didnt want to deal with the crap any more and ill just mount an optima in the back. i plan on stalling alot with some bc 280 cams with my new setup and i would hate to be stranded due to a dead battery thats only good for 1 start up...

edit: thanks for the detailed pics guys! hopefully mine will look as clean as yours turned out...

 

[H82lose91]

Uh, wow thats all i can say.

 

[dnhieu]

alot of the problem was my motor but still you couldnt start your car and shut it off more then 2-4 times without the battery being dead. great for a race car and in my own opinion (we all know what thoes are like) its not very good for a daily driven car...

 

[H82lose91]

If i cant go fire my car up more than 4 times in a row on this battery i will video tape me setting my entire car on fire!

Matter of fact i just went out and did this, and actually fired it off 5 times with less than 5seconds of run time between starts. Fired right up. My car is a daily driver. I think all your other chaos was the problem and you managed to just kill the battery itself by draining it to death with leaving the fans running.

 

[dnhieu]

this could be true. maybe i just have a bad battery. it could also be from a weak alternator too i supose...