Battery Relocation

[ryana83]

I am relocating the battery to the trunk on the drivers side. I was wondering how much cable I should buy of power and ground wire? and what gauge would be the best?

Thanks,
Ryan

 

[JonVH]

I read somewhere & have used in the past welders cable (I think it's 0 or 00 gauge). It's affordable & beefy. I don't think you have to run the negative cable the length of the car as long as both the battery & motor are grounded to the body. I also read it's wise to put a relay next to the battery that way you don't have 12V constantly running hot the length of the cable.
Try searching the web under "relocating battery trunk" some guy has it all spec'd out, I lost the link. Sorry.

 

[olympic]

I used #2 gauge welding cable bought from an industrial supply store. You'll need about 25 feet and it shouldn't be more than about $1/foot. You'll also need some #2 gauge ring terminals for the ends of the cables.

Drill a hole in the trunk floor where the frame rail is and secure the ground cable there with a bolt. Also install an extra ground cable from the frame to one of the bolts that holds the starter to the tranny. Use rubber grommets where ever the cable passes through metal to prevent chaffing and shorts. If that cable shorts out, your car will go up in flames.

Also remember that there are specific NHRA rules regarding relocating the battery. If you ever want to take the car to a drag strip, you will need an NHRA approved battery box(sealed and vented to the atmosphere) and a master **** switch between the battery and the starter.

 

[twr]

There is enough room in the door sills to run the cable through the interior of the car. I preferred this method because there is less of a chance of damage to the cable. I ran #2 welding cable (double jacket - black one)

for the battery to starter with a solenoid in the trunk that is activated by a 12 gauge wire that runs back to the ignition switch, 4 gauge from battery to fuse block under the hood (constant power) That way I don't have a 20' energized snake of #2 cable running through the car at all times, just a 4 gauge. As for the ground - I just ran a chunk of #2 cable to the body close to the battery.

<small>[ July 12, 2002, 12:24 PM: Message edited by: twrsho ]</small>

 

[Polar Pear 2004]

is it hard to do

 

[SHOZ123]

I used #2 THHN building wire available at hardware stores. And I have a 250 amp fuse at the battery.

 

[SHO Shop]

Don't forget, when relocating the battery to the trunk that the computer needs to be grounded directly to the BATTERY and not just a chassis ground. You could experience all kinds of computer related problems like misfiring and surging idle. This happened back when I had my supercharged '89. Imagine a computer trying to operate from a ground wire going through paint, spot welds, primer, rust, etc., etc. and you start to get the picture. Just simply run a seperate 12-14 gauge wire to the small negative wire already on your battery cable to keep your computer happy.

 

[SHOfun 93]

Thanks for the tip Tom...glad to see some of our RUDE members hadn't scared you away... thumbs_u

 

[SHOZ123]

I've had the battery in the trunk of my '97 for 2 years now and did not have a problem with the ground. All I did is scrape the paint away and used a good copper terminal with Kopper Koat grease on the in the trunk at an exsisting metal stud. Of course it is a Gen 3 whichis sooooooo much tighter than the older SHOs. :-0