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battery relocation


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i'm guess i'm going for a personal posting record today...

 

i'm considering relocating my battery to the area behind the back seat of my hatch to make room for my air filter.

 

i've already had to cut down the end of the rubber intake and fab up a maf adapter with a flange on the side to attach a bracket to hold it up off the fender well.

 

i haven't made the bracket yet though cuz i don't quite have room for everything in there. i bolted my coil to the sheetmetal platform for the battery (which conveniently locates it out of the way but within reach of a stock ea81 coil wire) and i was planning on sandwiching the bottom end of the bracket between that sheetmetal and the coil mount.

 

problem is, i'm having to bend the rubber intake way more than i want to. the bend it already has makes it go angled towards the front but i'm trying to pry it back and put the filter behind the battery.

 

i need to come up with some way of relocating the filter, which is unlikely and will give me bad flow anyways, or i need to relocate the battery. my only concern with relocating the battery is that it will vent into the passenger compartment, two feet from my son's car seat. i really want to avoid that.

 

so, do they make sealed battery boxes with a remote vent so i could just route a hose through the floor or something? any other ideas? please don't just say its okay to put the battery in there vented next to my son's seat, i'm not doing that whether its okay or not.

 

edit: i just read over this and i think maybe i'll have to post some pics. they'll come tomorrow, though.

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I think the only really safe way to move the battery inside the car is to go with the agm gell type batteries. They are expensive, but do not vent hydrogen.

 

I was going to say this last night, but I didn't know if the Gel Cells put off hydrogen.

 

Hydrogen isn't the best thing to have filling up your cab...The Hindenberg was filled with that. We all know how things turned out for that, unfortunately.

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Remove the stock jack holder and move the battery to the other side as it was on EA81T's. Put the jack behind the seat.

 

GD

 

 

was there a shelf for the battery in the ea81t cars? of course, i could make one and that would probably be less work and definitely less $ than putting an optima in the back. i've already got half of the a/c tore out and i could put a smaller ea82 vapor canister somewhere else in there. i'll have look and see if i can come up with something.

 

anybody got pics of this area of an ea81t?

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was there a shelf for the battery in the ea81t cars?

 

Yes - there was a shelf. You would have to make one or find an EA81T and drill out the spot welds for that peice. I don't have a picture, but if you drill out the spot welds for the jack holder it's not hard to figure out what you need to support a battery. Something better than the factory shelf could easily be made.

 

The jack on the EA81T's was inside the spare tire - the donut was flipped around so the "inside" of the wheel faced up, and they had a special jack that fit into a special clip on the spare "wing nut".

 

GD

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I have an '82 hatch that I relocated the battery in. I used a cheap $15 battery box from DIP and a red top Optima battery. I also added a kill switch, just in case I needed to cut power from the battery it would be easier then opening up the box and unhooking the cable. Another thing I did was to add a power output in the engine bay in case I need power for fog lights, stereo or whatever. Here are a few photos of the finished project. Let me know if you have any questions about it.

 

DSC02208.jpg

 

DSC02121.jpg

 

DSC02120.jpg

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i suppose the turbos' a/c parts are different?

 

Very much like the EA82 AC system really. The whole EA81T was setup similar to the EA82 from an accesory standpoint. Not that EA82 parts would bolt straight on, but they could be made to work without a lot of modifications I should think.

 

GD

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i think i'm just gonna go with an optima in th back. anybody using an optima know which one works best with an ea81? i don't really know anything about them and the local stores don't stock one that fits.

 

refer to post #10 :banghead:

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refer to post #10 :banghead:

 

wow - i don't know how i missed that!

 

which battery did you use, as in what amp rating? the only ones in stock locally were 880/1000 amps and that seems like downright overkill. i know you're running an ej, but an ea would require about the same if not a bit less, right?

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wow - i don't know how i missed that!

 

which battery did you use, as in what amp rating? the only ones in stock locally were 880/1000 amps and that seems like downright overkill. i know you're running an ej, but an ea would require about the same if not a bit less, right?

 

That's what I'm running. It works great.

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Another thing I did was to add a power output in the engine bay

 

DSC02120.jpg

 

what kind of power output is that?

 

right now i have three lines off my positive terminal:

the starter

the original fusible links

the spfi fusible links

 

i'm looking for ideas on how to distibute power under the hood. does anybody make a product for this purpose?

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I can't give exact details, but mid '80's thru early '90's GMs had a power tap under the hood. Mounted with 2 screws and had a 3/8"-16 x 1" stud, might even be a bit longer. Company I worked for during that time span made them for GM. Might have been for truck and vans only. Check some GM vehicles next time you're at a yard.

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i wanted to get some good heavy gauge cable for the battery so i went to a local car audio shop and found this power distibution block while i was there:

 

powertap.jpg

 

powertap2.jpg

 

i also scored big time at costco (don't read this part if you're a retail giants' rights advocate). i went with my father in law so i could get in and got an optima battery, a jug of cat litter and about four small items. we got to the checkout and we asked if i could pay with my bank card even though i'm not a member and i guess we distracted the lady enough that she didn't ring up the battery or the litter. i didn't notice myself till we got to the door and the guy checking receipts was on his cell phone and didn't notice either. so i got a $130 optima and about $45 of other stuff for $35! thank you, costco! i will come again!:lol:

 

anyhow, i'll probably put the battery in the same spot pooparu has his, then i'll run 4g cable to the power dist block, 4g to the starter and i'll split another 4g to three 10g leads for the fusilbles. i'll run a 4g ground cable if i have enough 4g left otherwise i have some 6g for that and the engine ground strap.

 

should work grrrrrreat!

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I got it out of a late 80's Chevy beretta. I grounded to the rear of the car and ran my positive cable up to my kill switch, then ran 2 wirers off from there and one to the starter and one to the fusible links. My power output runs off of my fusible links. It sounds like you have yours all planned out now. There’s probably 20 different ways to do the same job.

 

 

what kind of power output is that?

 

right now i have three lines off my positive terminal:

the starter

the original fusible links

the spfi fusible links

 

i'm looking for ideas on how to distibute power under the hood. does anybody make a product for this purpose?

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i thought about looking for something in a jy, but i found the part i got while i was lollygagging in the car audio store's a/c. it was 100 yesterday (breaking this area's previous record of 96 for that calendar day) and its supposed to be 104 today. that car audio stuff isn't cheap, but that's just how i am with heat - needless to say, my wife didn't have to twist my arm to get me to leave the current a/c in the hatch and just relocate the battery...:grin:

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here is the battery relocated using an ea82 motor.

motorleft.jpg

motorright.jpg

 

otherwise use ea82 battery cablesto the starter and connect the

fuse link lead to the alternator. the original wiring on the car still sends current thru the fuse block.

 

the terminal where the stock fuse link lead was can be used to connect a 2nd battery(to power the car but not the starter, unless you bridge the battery pos terminals like a diesel truck)

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