Another forum member (Reallybig) posted a few images back in May of 2012 of the battery cables that he had recently scored from his local Pick N Pull bone yard. Pick n Pull only charges $2.99/cable so it only cost me $6.94 for a pair including tax. I am in the process of gathering the parts needed to relocate the battery to the front of my 1986 Fiero GT. I will be ordering a battery box, but haven't decided yet which vendor to use ... any suggestion would be appreciated. A major component of this relocate is the battery cables. They can be made, but I didn't want to go through the hassle of purchasing and assembling them. All Oldsmobile Auroras, and the last series of Buick Rivieras, had batteries that were mounted under the rear seat. The positve battery cable is routed from the battery to the right rocker panel area, up to the firewall and then along the passenger side of the engine compartment to the electrical distribution center. I figure that if these cables were good enough for GM engineering then they should work in my Fiero. The problem is locating an Aurora or Riviera in the bone yard that has uncut cables. Instead of just unbolting the cable at the battery many of the yards also cut the cable at the distribution center. Doesn't make any sense as disconnecting it at the battery does the same thing, but oh well. At one yard all the cables had been cut. I went to another yard in the same city and found a couple that had not been cut. It is easy to remove the cable from the battery to the firewall and from the distribution center, but the rest is more work. Need to remove the coolant overflow jug ... I used a pry bar. Where it is more difficult is cutting the locking posiitioning clamp in the engine bay by the firewall and getting access to the firewall grommet. There are two Auroras ... a first generation and a second generation (starting in 2000 or 2001). It is easier to remove the cable from the first gen car. There are two modules under the glove box area (you need to remove the glovebox components), but they are only held in with either plastic clips or a few bolts. The cable can then be pulled through after removing these modules. The second gen car is set up differently under the glove box. You need to remove the blower motor and it is not easy to remove ... even with the repair manual. I used my trusty pry bar and a hammer. After smashing and removing the motor you can pull the cable through the fire wall. The first gen car also has a nice lead from the terminal that goes to the distribition center on the Aurora. I may use that end of the cable to attach to the starter and the extension lead to go to C500 ... I'll decide that after I jack up the car and start taking measurements. I also grabbed the rubber covers from the battery end of the negative battery cables. I will remove the red cover and replace it with the black cover for the cable that I use to attach to the negative battery terminal. For ease of removal and to also score the extra power lead, I recommend grabbing battery cables from the first gen car. There were more first gen cars sold than second gen cars so they should also be easier to locate.
Here are the two cables that I pulled. Note that they extend from about the leading edge of the front tires to the trailing edge of the rear tires.. Should be long enough. You can see my car in the background. It looks like a patch work quilt right now due to various body color panels. It had been hit in the LF (yellow fender), the driver's door is from a Formula so I have marked the aero panel bracket holes. The passenger door is also red. The previous skin had been glued on and broke while I was removing it replace a window motor. Maybe I can find a silver hood, black deck lid and white roof. Might as well make it look totally hideous prior to it being painted all one color.
This image shows the battery end of the cables. Note that the older series Aurora has a slightly longer positive extension.
This last image shows the end of the cable where it was bolted to the underhood distribution center. Note that the cable on the left (from the earlier model Aurora) has a positive lead extension.
