Are those batteries in your trunks or are you just happy to see me?
Ray Zrinsky
move the battery to the trunk. I have a GNB sealed battery and access to
a lot of cable, but need some help on the specifics.
1. Is this a good idea in the first place?
2. What gauge cable do I need (welding cable)? It would be handy if I
could start my car in cold weather (0 deg. F) without adding 20 lbs. of
cable weight.
3. Where in the trunk should I mount the battery? (over the axle, as far
to the back as possible, in the center, on the passenger side, etc.)
4. Does the negative cable need to go back up to the front?
5. Should I change my headlight fluid while I!ve got the headliner off?
Any help/suggestions (e-mailed or posted) would be greatly appreciated.
!Rayzer
Eric Toler
: In an attempt to redistribute the weight in my 1984, I have decided to
: move the battery to the trunk. I have a GNB sealed battery and access to
: a lot of cable, but need some help on the specifics.
Ray, Yes it helps. How much?? I did it on my Jetta screamer (see my
non-CIS injection post for specifics) and it works fine. I used a kit
from Summit Racing. Yes Summit Racing, the 1/4 mile small block chevy
drag racing type people.
The have a high quality kit that is realtively inexpensive. It included
0/2 ga. cable, short gound cable, terminals, battery box, and hold downs.
I also used their remote batter terminals so I did not have to re-do all
the wiring up front. You do not have to ground the battery up front. I
grounded mine in the back. I mounted it on the passenger side, about 1
ft. from the very back of the trunk. that decision was driven by ease of
cable routing and hold downs. Hove fun and good luck.
Eric
Jeff Mayzurk
rzri...@david.wheaton.edu writes:
>In an attempt to redistribute the weight in my 1984, I have decided to
>move the battery to the trunk. I have a GNB sealed battery and access to
>a lot of cable, but need some help on the specifics.
>
>1. Is this a good idea in the first place?
Yeah, it's a great idea. I did it in my Scirocco and was very pleased with
the results. Before you do it, though, take your car to a local truck stop
(or any other certified scale) and get the weight for both axles, and then
compare afterwards so you can figure out how much of a difference it made.
In Greg Raven's "Water-Cooled, Front-Drive Performance Handbook," he
discusses the effects of moving the battery on weight distribution. In his
example, moving the forty pound battery (mine weighs 38 lbs.) to the rear
moves the center of gravity back only 1.9 inches, but has a much larger
effect on weight distribution.
In my car, I bought a $10 plastic battery box, about 20 feet of 2-ga wire,
and a few battery terminals. It's mounted right behind the rear seat on the
passenger side, and is grounded at the right-rear seatbelt mount (underneath
the cushion). I ran the positive cable along the doorsill, underneath the
carpet, through a grommet in the firewall, and to the alternator. After
adding additional engine-chassis ground cables, I've had absolutely no
problems with charging.
If you know your car extremely well, you will notice the difference right
away -- I did. You have the be really sensitive to your car's behavior in
transitions, but the difference is there. My car rides better and dives less
under braking. Handling feels just slightly more neutral overall, but
traction under full throttle in low gears is more of a problem now. (This is
the only drawback I can think of, and is definitely something to consider if
you have a very light car with a strong motor.)
By the way, make sure you have some provision for holding the battery down in
the event of a rollover. If your car ever gets upside down (god forbid), you
don't want that forty-pound weight flying around in the cockpit.
--
Jeff Mayzurk
DSP Scirocco GTi
Keith Watson
|> In article <2r8mct$q...@wheaton.wheaton.edu> Ray Zrinsky,
|> rzri...@david.wheaton.edu writes:
|> >In an attempt to redistribute the weight in my 1984, I have decided to
|> >move the battery to the trunk. I have a GNB sealed battery and access to
|> >a lot of cable, but need some help on the specifics.
|> >
|> >1. Is this a good idea in the first place?
|>
|> Yeah, it's a great idea.
|> In my car, I bought a $10 plastic battery box, about 20 feet of 2-ga wire,
|> and a few battery terminals. It's mounted right behind the rear seat on the
|> passenger side, and is grounded at the right-rear seatbelt mount (underneath
|> the cushion). I ran the positive cable along the doorsill, underneath the
|> carpet, through a grommet in the firewall, and to the alternator. After
|> adding additional engine-chassis ground cables, I've had absolutely no
|> problems with charging.
My race Golf has the battery mounted in the right rear of the trunk. It is
inside of a battery box (they do come in black), has a short ground cable going
to side panel to the rear of the wheel well, and has battery hold down bolts.
Holes can be drilled through the floor of the trunk inside of the battery box
between the battery box wall and the battery. Make sure nothing is in the way
below the floor of the trunk when you drill the holes.
|> By the way, make sure you have some provision for holding the battery down in
|> the event of a rollover. If your car ever gets upside down (god forbid), you
|> don't want that forty-pound weight flying around in the cockpit.
Definitely!!! My setup worked fine when it was inadvertently tested last
summer in a roll over. :-(
--
Keith Watson kwa...@wv.mentorg.com
Mentor Graphics Corporation (Wilsonville, OR)
87 VW GTI 16V 85 VW Golf #32 - Conference Production H