Yeah, I plan on using pop rivets with washers behind them... makes it fast and easy as far as securing it goes

Today I got to play with the car a little bit. So we have another update!

Instead of re-using the original negative battery cable, I bought a new one (35" long) from the parts store. I also bought a 5ft piece of 3/4" CPVC pipe and 10ft of 8-gauge wire. The 8-gauge wire will be a direct ground from the starter casing to the battery. I figured since the chassis will be part of the ground circuit, a fat ground wire shouldn't be necessary (knock on wood). The 5ft piece of pipe was just the right length to reach from the bottom of the spare tire boot to the heat shield behind the firewall. This means the ground circuit has to go through less sheetmetal to get to the battery.

In order to get the cables through the holes in the battery box, I had to grind the holes a little. See photo below.

I decided to run the PVC pipe along the passenger side of the fuel tank, alongside the A/C and heater pipes. There's just barely enough room in there for the 3/4" pipe. The brace under the center of the fuel tank needs to be loosened up a little so the pipe can go through. I only needed to loosen 2 of the bolts (passenger side, closer to the camera). When I tightened them, the brace squished the pipe a little bit, but not enough to make me worry.

The next photo shows the front end of the pipe. The perspective is a bit off... makes the pipe look longer than it really is. The end of the pipe is directly under the spare tire boot. The positive battery cable should go straight down the boot and directly into the pipe.

If you look closely, you can also see where I attached the negative battery cable (green arrow). It's attached to one of the mounting bolts for the round crossbeam that's behind the main crossmember. This puts the end of the cable about 1.5ft closer to the engine than the suggested sway bar mount.

And finally, here's the rear end of the pipe. The end is just a few inches away from the heat shield. You'll notice there's no positive cable in there yet. The sun went down before I could install it.

Looks like I'll be having some more fun tomorrow.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 03-24-2005).]

quote Originally posted by topcat: Yeah, I plan on using pop rivets with washers behind them... makes it fast and easy as far as securing it goes

i used self drilling/tapping screws - fast and strong

I did the install today, and it took a little longer than I anticipated. It all went together pretty smooth. I used garden hose as a sheath to protect the postive battery cable, and ran the neg cable to a bolt on the radiator support, and I added another ground cable between the cradle and the engine. I did use pop rivets with washers on both sides, and it was pretty fast. I used super glue to hold the washer on the backside of the rivet while I worked the tool from the top, so I did not need a second hand.

I removed my steering dampner. When I took it off, I pushed it in and out real fast to see how much "shock" it would absorb... my findings? The thing was dead weight, and did not provided any real dampning. When new it might have made a difference, but it looked to be original. Removing the dampner did give more room for the tray.

I did have to trim the shelf under the A/C accumulator to aid in getting the spare in and out of the compartment a little easier. All in all I am really pleased with the tray, and the service Norm provided.

Just out of curiosity, where did you route the positive cable?

I finished mine today, also. That is, I got everything done except for clearancing/installing the spare tire.

I decided that since my new positive cable runs right next to the A/C lines, I'd just run it up the A/C lines to the compressor and over to the starter. As it turns out, the cable was just the right length for this. Plus, the A/C lines support the cable.

Instead of attaching the extra ground wire (8-gauge) to the starter casing, I instead attached it to the original ground point on the battery tray. The red wire to the power distro block runs alongside it.

All the wire/cable that I installed in the engine compartment is covered in split wire loom.

I didn't take any photos because:
1) Working in the engine compartment got grease and gunk all over me (bad for cameras)
2) By the time I finished, it was dark outside.
3) I wanted to finish ASAP.

After I finished, I started the engine and turned on the lights and stuff to see if the car was getting enough electrical power. Everything seems to be working fine. The starter turns quickly, and the lights don't dim when the radiator fan comes on. I might get out the multimeter tomorrow just to be sure.

Here's a list of all the parts and materials that I bought (aside from the battery box kit) for this project:

• 5 feet of 3/4" CPVC pipe
  
• 35" negative battery cable
  
• 10 feet of 8-gauge wire
  
• 1 box of eyelet terminals (only used one)
  
• 6 feet of 1/2" split wire loom
  
• Some bolts and screws
  
• 1 tube of RTV silicone

The total price for the project (including sales tax and shipping) was under $100.

[EDIT] Something I forgot: I didn't buy a new battery. When I went to the parts store, I couldn't find any side-post batteries smaller than mine. Even the Optimas were almost the same size.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 03-27-2005).]

quote Originally posted by Blacktree: Just out of curiosity, where did you route the positive cable? .

I ran my positive cable in the same fashion as you, right along side of the A/C lines, secured with zipties. As stated before, I used a section of heavy duty garden hose as a sheath instead of the PVC. The garden hose was flexible enough to follow the cable all the way to the hole entering the battery box. I ran my positive on the driver side A/C lines.

I did not feel the need to run a long length of neg cable to go all the way to the engine. I bought a 44 inch length battery cable and connected the neg right to the area where the rad support ties to the front crossmember. Then I cut the battery terminal off of the old neg battery cable, placed a lug on the end and connected it to where the cradle bolts to the chassis. My volt gauge showed slightly improved voltage when I finished it up

I am really pleased with the quality of the box, and the looks after installing

Hey guys! I forgot the final update to this thread.

I found a solution for the spare tire interference problem. I replaced the OEM style battery with a group-51 (slim profile, top post) battery. The slim profile allows the spare tire to fit without any interference issues. The top posts are pretty close to the spare tire's rim, but don't touch it. But just to be safe, I installed a rubber boot on the positive terminal.

A couple photos:

The total cost for this project (including the new battery) was about $150.

Guys;

I am just relocating my battery on my car getting ready to start it up for the first time in 4.5 years and I ran the battery cables, both positive and negative, up front in preparation of mounting the battery up front.

I did however, used 4 gauge battery cable. Not sure why I got 4 instead of 2 but I did.

Will 4 gauge be good enough for that run or do I need to go back and get some 2 gauge?

Thanks
Don

I think 4 gauge will be OK for the ground cable. But I personally wouldn't use anything smaller than 2 gauge for the power cable.