I have been running the battery under the headlight for over a year and decided to redo my battery box and document this conversion.

Here is what the passenger headlight area looks like stock (from DrCPU headlight rebuild thread):


To make room for the battery, you need to cut along the rear seam and then along the other bends in the sheetmetal until you have an opening like this:



The material for the new battery tray is an 8"x24" and a 6"x24" sheet of 16ga steel ($10.78 and $9.24). These can be picked up at Lowes or other hardware store. Here is the 8"x24":


Next the battery tray needs to be bent from the 8" x 24". The first 90 degree bend needs to be about 3/4" from the edge to make the rear lip that will rest on the rear seam in the headlight area. The 2nd bend needs to be about 1/4" more than the height of your battery. The 3rd should be the lenght of the battery from the 2nd bend. I used the 6x24 to make some 3" tall sides mounted about 1/4" from the bottom and left about 1/8" of combined clearance to the battery between the sides.



Once the tray is set in place, drill the holes to bolt it to the chassis:



The battery hold down is another piece of 16ga from the 6"x24" sheet. It is bent to press down on the top of the battery and is attached in place with the rear bolts that hold the tray in place.


The negative cable grounds to a front cradle bolt and then continues under the fuel tank to the engine.
The positive cable crosses to the driver side along the sway bar to the master disconnect behind the driver side headlight. This provides a good point to jumpstart from if needed (I have used it a couple of times):



From there is passed through the firewall and travels down the center console to a firewall terminal and then to the engine bay.


I am waiting for the paint to dry. It probably will not go back in until Sunday, so if you want a pic of something just ask and I will do my best to get it before I put it all back together.

Very nice. I tried to give you a +, but apparently it isn't the first time I have seen reason to do that. I have known I wanted to do this with mine during my restoration....but have been putting off doing the research on it. If I had realized you had it under there, I would have taken a closer look at it in Alabama.

Couple questions: How much clearance is there between the battery and the headlight (would I be asking for trouble with a top mount battery)? For comparison reasons, how tall is your battery?

A few years ago I changed to fixed headlights rather than popups. At the same time I put the battery under the passenger side. The battery is right underneath the headlight tray. If you want to see what I did, take a look here http://www.v8-fiero.us/fier...es/battery_moved.htm

I'm curious how it handles before and after the mod. Any different? I would guess a heavy weight on one side would be noticable, or perhaps it offsets a lone driver. Looks real good!

-Michael

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"A guy know's he's in love when he loses interest in his car for a few days." -Tim Allen

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quote Originally posted by Fierology: I'm curious how it handles before and after the mod. Any different? I would guess a heavy weight on one side would be noticable, or perhaps it offsets a lone driver. Looks real good! -Michael

But the weight was on that side to begin with....he is just moving it forward and lower.

Here are a bunch more pictures to show rough dimensions:








Here is a shot of the battery installed and a depth measurement from the frame rail flange. The headlight will come down in the left side notch in the flange, so the battery must be lower than that notch (or use non-flipup lights).



Cables hooked up. Call me paranoid, but I always run the positive cable through hose as a 2nd level of protection...

quote Originally posted by fieroguru: I do not notice the battery up front at all - and the battery has been up there over a year.

very cool. Do you think this is better than putting it below the plastic spare tire container? I've seen that kit on the Fiero Store

-Michael

[This message has been edited by Fierology (edited 07-05-2008).]

Of all the ways to relocate the battery this is the way the factory should have done it from the start, I think this will be my next mod.
Bump, because this is too good of an idea to get buried.

quote Originally posted by OH10fiero: Of all the ways to relocate the battery this is the way the factory should have done it from the start, I think this will be my next mod. Bump, because this is too good of an idea to get buried.

I looked into doing this with my bumperpad 85 but the lower facia (or whatever that part is called) is too shallow. There's no way this will work with a standard size battery on our cars with the shallow nose. The GTs and aeros etc are fine.

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Dave

www.ltlfrari.com

quote Originally posted by Fierology: very cool. Do you think this is better than putting it below the plastic spare tire container? I've seen that kit on the Fiero Store -Michael

I ran the battery in front mounted to the front crossmember for 3 years before moving it under the headlight. I rarely travel with a spare, but I use the front area for storage and the battery just took up too much of it. The space under the headlight is not used for anything else, so it makes perfect sense to put the battery there.

This is potentially a BAD place to put it because if your coolant reserve overflows or your rad bursts, it will be all over your battery.

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1986 GT Fiero Owner & Enthusiast
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