Battery Relocation

[avidflyr]

Restoring my BB 64 Polara. I am installing the battery in the trunk.
Would like to see some member photos of thier Relocations and Wiring Schematics.

 

[hangn0ut]

Why you moving it to the trunk? You want it to look like factory S/S? Gonna race it? Strictly street? Spend as little as possible? Electric fuel pump? All effect how might be done. Personally I keep mine track legal,low dollar and easy to work with. Plus a relay for an electric fuel pump.

 

[avidflyr]

Why you moving it to the trunk? You want it to look like factory S/S? Gonna race it? Strictly street? Spend as little as possible? Electric fuel pump? All effect how might be done. Personally I keep mine track legal,low dollar and easy to work with. Plus a relay for an electric fuel pump.

 

[avidflyr]

My 64 Polara will be a Cruiser with the potential to defend its (my) honor when necessary.

The engine compartment is shaved (no holes , wires, relays etc. 406 Efi. BB , Master cylinder, and cooling only.
The Big Block is the Bling All else is hidden. Weight distribution is better with battery in the trunk.

 

[hangn0ut]

Hey,thats nice! Looks like the skys the limit for you. How about 2 batteries in the trunk?lol.

 

[383man]

Here is a pic of mine. Most say its best to put it on the right side but the cable was given to me and it was to short to reach the right side so I put it on the left rear and it works fine there. I ran the cable under the carpet so I did not want the battery cable to be hot all the time so I use a Ford type starter solenoid in the trunk so the battery cable is only hot when cranking. Then I ran a 10 gauge wire to the starter relay to feed the car and I have a 70 amp fuse link on that. I also use a marine battery box as I did not want battery acid getting on things in the trunk. This setup has worked fine for me since 2006 so far. Ron

You can also see the arm and part of the rod for my battery cutout switch as its bolted to the 1/4 panel side of the battery box. Here is a pic of the rod at the back of the car as all I did was drill a hole in the taillite and brought it out that way as its a push/pull switch. The tailite still works fine and if I ever want to go back to stock all I have to do is replace the tailite lens. Ron

 

[65hemi]

Here are some pics of the trunk mounted battery and shut off switch in my 65.

 

[747mopar]

I'll try to get some pics of mine but I'm not a fan of running 2 feeds to the front if only using the main cable for crankibg only. Mine is 1 cable ran to the starter with a keyed battery disconnect in the trunk. People fret over a possible short and rightly so which is why you put a lot of thought into the routing. I have subframe connectors which makes a perfect place to secure the cable using rubber insulated clamps and a lot of them. Area's where you don't have a clean path like the torsion bar crossmember take advantage of what holes are there and drill new ones where needed using heavy grommets in all holes.

My problem with the 2 wire approach where the starter feed is dead while running is the cost. If your shutting off the main feed to the starter with a solenoid that means you need a return wire to charge the battery. A 10 gauge wire 15' long isn't enough, from the factory the wire may have been fairly small but the amp carrying capabilities drops like a rock as the length gets greater. In my case I'm running dual electric fans, quad halogen high beams, sterio, power seats, A/C, etc.... because of the added features I'm running a 150 amp alt so as you can imagine I would need a huge wire running back to the truck.

 

[747mopar]

Also it's good practice to run a negative feed to the block as well (preferably close to the starter). I say this because iron isn't anywhere close to being ad conductive as copper. Welding cables are a good option for battery cables as well.

 

[Blackheart]

Why you moving it to the trunk? You want it to look like factory S/S? Gonna race it? Strictly street? Spend as little as possible? Electric fuel pump? All effect how might be done. Personally I keep mine track legal,low dollar and easy to work with. Plus a relay for an electric fuel pump.

Because quite possibly he wants to, what you did with yours has no relevance to him, or me, who is putting one in the truck of my 63 Fury and I'm not going to race, SS it or anything else. Like him I have cleaned up things under the hood and just don't want my battery there...I just want it in the truck and apparently so does Avidflyer...

He asked for tips on how to do it, not what he should do with his car because of your opinion...

 

[2quick]

I'm also looking to do this on my 66 but am wondering why you would need the second 10 gauge wire back to the battery? Couldn't you just use the main (in my case 1/0 gauge) wire to charge and provide power to ignition by connecting to the unswitched side of the starter relay in the engine compartment?

 

[65hemi]

I run the 10 gauge wire from the alternator to the battery side of the master shut off switch so that the car shuts off when the switch is closed. If you don't do that, the car will keep running off the alternator when you close the master switch.

 

[2quick]

I run the 10 gauge wire from the alternator to the battery side of the master shut off switch so that the car shuts off when the switch is closed. If you don't do that, the car will keep running off the alternator when you close the master switch.

Makes sense, Thanks.

 

[coloradodave]

To each his own: Group 27 battery, Taylor box, '0' gauge welding cable, soldered terminals, battery cut-off switch (as an anti-theft device).

 

[hangn0ut]

Because quite possibly he wants to, what you did with yours has no relevance to him, or me, who is putting one in the truck of my 63 Fury and I'm not going to race, SS it or anything else. Like him I have cleaned up things under the hood and just don't want my battery there...I just want it in the truck and apparently so does Avidflyer...

He asked for tips on how to do it, not what he should do with his car because of your opinion...

Well Blackheart,quite a statement there. So,let me ask you,whats bugging you so much? It was just some questions. And I tried to make clear the reason for my questions. I read a lot of questions asked of the OPs on the many threads here. But rarely are they met with a responce like yours. And by a third party no less! Now many here if they dont like a question simply ignore it. But I got a very clear and nice reply. With pictures. And could you point out to me where I told the OP what to do with his car? Cause I'am not reading it. So let me know your reasoning for this. I'll be watching. Oh,,,how do you start your car when the battery is in your truck? Sorry,I just couldnt resist!

 

[65NUTCASE]

Two dedicated # 2 welding cables up both sides of the tunnel through the the fire wall one to the starter one to bellhousing bolt . make sure the ends are soldered on tight and make sure you have a good ground to the bellhousing bolt .

View attachment 342321

 

[383man]

I'll try to get some pics of mine but I'm not a fan of running 2 feeds to the front if only using the main cable for crankibg only. Mine is 1 cable ran to the starter with a keyed battery disconnect in the trunk. People fret over a possible short and rightly so which is why you put a lot of thought into the routing. I have subframe connectors which makes a perfect place to secure the cable using rubber insulated clamps and a lot of them. Area's where you don't have a clean path like the torsion bar crossmember take advantage of what holes are there and drill new ones where needed using heavy grommets in all holes.

My problem with the 2 wire approach where the starter feed is dead while running is the cost. If your shutting off the main feed to the starter with a solenoid that means you need a return wire to charge the battery. A 10 gauge wire 15' long isn't enough, from the factory the wire may have been fairly small but the amp carrying capabilities drops like a rock as the length gets greater. In my case I'm running dual electric fans, quad halogen high beams, sterio, power seats, A/C, etc.... because of the added features I'm running a 150 amp alt so as you can imagine I would need a huge wire running back to the truck.

There are a few reason I prefer to run the second 10 or 8 gauge wire. The first one is I dont like the main battery cable to the starter hot at all times when I run it the lenth of the car and there is a small chance it could short to ground and burn up. Thats my first reason I like to use the seperate solenoid in the trunk. The second reason I like to use a second 10 gauge feed wire is since I race my car sometimes and the battery is in the trunk then I have to run a cut-out switch. And since I do leave the main battery cable dead while running I need a fused hot feed to the rest of the car so I run the fused 10 gauge wire to my starter relay where the car normally picks up the hot feed for the whole car. I like my main hot feed fused so I use a large type fuse holder off the battery on my 10 gauge feed wire. And also you have to run the alt output back to the battery side of the cut-out switch so the car will die when you hit the cutout switch. The wire I run is more then big enough in size and does not have to much voltage drop at all. I have been using it like this since 2006 and it has worked great with never a problem. You can run larger if needed but its not needed for mine. The only added on things I use is an electric fuel pump and a back-up electric fan. Alot of guys like my brother run their battery cable under the car instead of under the carpet but it could still get shorted if something hit it so I prefer to do it the way I have done it. Also I only use a stock 60 amp alt which does the job fine for my car.
Everyone has a setup they prefer and both are fine as its kinda like I told my son when he took auto shop. I told him that his shop teacher may show him to do jobs different then what I have showed him as I know not all tech's do each job the same all the time. But it dont mean one is wrong as some may just prefer to do it or approach the job a different way even though both may be just fine. I respect your way that you like to do it as many do it that way also but I prefer to do mine the way I have done it. Course both ways can work fine. Ron

 

[747mopar]

There are a few reason I prefer to run the second 10 or 8 gauge wire. The first one is I dont like the main battery cable to the starter hot at all times when I run it the lenth of the car and there is a small chance it could short to ground and burn up. Thats my first reason I like to use the seperate solenoid in the trunk. The second reason I like to use a second 10 gauge feed wire is since I race my car sometimes and the battery is in the trunk then I have to run a cut-out switch. And since I do leave the main battery cable dead while running I need a fused hot feed to the rest of the car so I run the fused 10 gauge wire to my starter relay where the car normally picks up the hot feed for the whole car. I like my main hot feed fused so I use a large type fuse holder off the battery on my 10 gauge feed wire. And also you have to run the alt output back to the battery side of the cut-out switch so the car will die when you hit the cutout switch. The wire I run is more then big enough in size and does not have to much voltage drop at all. I have been using it like this since 2006 and it has worked great with never a problem. You can run larger if needed but its not needed for mine. The only added on things I use is an electric fuel pump and a back-up electric fan. Alot of guys like my brother run their battery cable under the car instead of under the carpet but it could still get shorted if something hit it so I prefer to do it the way I have done it. Also I only use a stock 60 amp alt which does the job fine for my car.
Everyone has a setup they prefer and both are fine as its kinda like I told my son when he took auto shop. I told him that his shop teacher may show him to do jobs different then what I have showed him as I know not all tech's do each job the same all the time. But it dont mean one is wrong as some may just prefer to do it or approach the job a different way even though both may be just fine. I respect your way that you like to do it as many do it that way also but I prefer to do mine the way I have done it. Course both ways can work fine. Ron

Agreed, your car I imagine is more geared towards race where mine is more towards a cruiser with a lot of extras (amps). The way I look at it is the only time my cable is hot is when I'm in it, I kill it anytime I park it. The big difference is as you said, your 60 amp alt versus my 150.

 

[493 Mike]

This is my partially wired trunk. The 1/0 positive cable runs up the left side under the wiring chase cover over the rocker panel and is inside a length of wire loom for extra protection. I am using the body for a ground also. It has worked in 2 of my other cars. My battery switch as you can see is behind the license plate. The large terminal module is a Powercell for the Infinity Box wiring system. The small box below that is the freq drive for the A-1000 in the fuel cell.
Mike

 

[Tempest 455]