Relocating battery to trunk

[Dan95-5.0]

i'm making my own battery relocation kit. basically a taylor copy cat kit but the box will be designed to fit my battery so it takes up less room and wont be as big.

my plan is to put it in the trunk in the passenger corner behind the tail lights area. i'm gonna run the cutoff switch behind the plate so its hidden. i'm gonna go to a wrecker and find an old trans am or similar car that has the licesnce plate frame with a spring loaded hinge on it so i get easy access to it.


my question is how did you guys wire up your battery?

i remember seeing an old post but i cant find it.

i'm going to be using welding cable because its a better conductor and easier to route.

i still run quad shocks. should i still use it as a good ground?

what have you guys had sucess with?

thanks

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

I used welding cable like you.. Ran a direct line from the starter to the switch, along with a direct line from the fuse box. Other side of the switch went to the battery of course.

Also, i upped the size of the alt wire.. I forget what size i went up to.

never had charging issues with this setup..

I used the quad shock spot for the neg on the battery.

You dont need a box if you have an optima battery. Most tracks ive heard of allow that. You just need a bracket to hold it down.

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

oh yea, and ran a new ground from the engine (timing cover if i remember corectly) and tied it to the frame in the driver side wheel well.

 

[Dan95-5.0]

all right perfect.

thats exactly what i needed to know

is there a need for a inline fuse?

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

No need since there wasnt one stock..

 

[CManT1914]

oh yea, and ran a new ground from the engine (timing cover if i remember corectly) and tied it to the frame in the driver side wheel well.

Got any pics of your ground? I need to wire a new ground as I keep frying alternator cables.

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

Got any pics of your ground? I need to wire a new ground as I keep frying alternator cables.

I might.. I gotta look through all the pics of my old car. Ill get back to ya tom night.

 

[Eric94GTvert]

Here's a link to the thread I made when I finished my relocation.

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=526204

I routed the kill switch rod through a taillight bought on ebay. The tail takes ~ 1 minute to switch out for the track.

 

[Dan95-5.0]

Thats pretty slick what you did with the tail light.

instead of running both cables from the alternator and fuse box to one end of the master switch that i'm gonna have on the trunk lid, what do you think of me running the alt. and fuse box cable to a juction box and then only have one cable go to the master switch?

i dont want to run three cables to the switch on the trunk lid because its going to be too much cable to route compared to just two.

heres a pic i found of a junction box
http://www.coloradok5.com/custombatterycables/P1010031.jpg

tell me what you think.

i want to try to get some measurements for a box to have it done this coming week.

how much cable did you guys end up needing?

 

[Eric94GTvert]

You shouldn't need a junction box. I ran 1/0 welding cable from the bat switch to the starter stud. I then ran 2 gauge wire from the same starter lug to the fuse box lug. Basically using the starter stud as a dist. box.

For the altenator I ran 2 gauge from the bat switch to the alt.

You then remove the old stock power wire that ran from the alt to the fuse box. If you don't remove it, throwing the kill switch will NOT turn off the car because the alt will still be charging the fuse box. I ran it this way without any charging or starting issues even with an old crap azz battery.

 

[Eric94GTvert]

No need since there wasnt one stock..

Actually, there is an inline fuse in the stock setup. It is between the Alt and the fuse box wire in the form of a fusible link. Putting one on the alt wire IS a good idea.

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

Actually, there is an inline fuse in the stock setup. It is between the Alt and the fuse box wire in the form of a fusible link. Putting one on the alt wire IS a good idea.

Yea your right. Good call. I never put one back in though

 

[Dan95-5.0]

ok coming from the info you guys gave me i came up with this quick half ass diagram.

will it be ok to run the alt wire from the alternator to the lug on the starter?

what size fuse link is recommended?

heres a pic from corral where the guy mounted his master switch behind the plate with the hinge

 

[Eric94GTvert]

After looking at your "quick half ass diagram", I see a problem. The cutoff switch will not kill power to the car. Current will travel from the Alt to the starter and to the dist. box.

Run a separate line (i used 2 gauge) from the Alt to the cutoff + side in your diagram. This way the battery and alt. are cutoff from the car.

 

[Eric94GTvert]

Oh, and I used a 150 amp fuse for the alt. wire. There's a pic of it on the link a few posts up. I got it from West Marine.

Making your own smaller box is a good idea because most of the batt. boxes out there are huge. Be sure to post pics when done!

 

[Dan95-5.0]

ok, from what you just said, i changed up my diagram.

the thing is tho, is that i'm gonna be running 3 cables again to the switch. i'm gonna get a juction box so i can merge the battery and alt together so i only have to run 2 cables to the switch instead of 3

 

[urban96]

if you ran it that way car would still run when the cutoff was clicked over

i think this is what your goin for

 

[Eric94GTvert]

ok, from what you just said, i changed up my diagram.

the thing is tho, is that i'm gonna be running 3 cables again to the switch. i'm gonna get a juction box so i can merge the battery and alt together so i only have to run 2 cables to the switch instead of 3

That would work fine. You can combine the alt and bat wires before the switch.

I have 3 cables running running to my switch like your diagram but my switch is mounted to my box so it's not really much extra wire. With your setup running to the license plate I can see where there would be more wire required.

Take some pics and keep us up to date.
Good Luck,
Eric

 

[Eric94GTvert]

if you ran it that way car would still run when the cutoff was clicked over

i think this is what your goin for

both diagrams would kill the car exactly the same way. It doesn't matter which way you do it.

 

[urban96]

yeah it just hit me that he could have the wire on the other side of the switch but i would think it would be better to have the alt directly connected to the batt