I relocated my battery to the boot today and I took pics all the way through. So, I thought I'd write up a "how to" guide for others that may want to do this. The reason behind doing this is some FMIC's piping need to run up through the battery tray in the engine bay and moving the battery is the easiest way to solve this problem.
This turned out to be really easy, but it just takes some time.
First of, the things you will need to relocate the Battery:
- a battery box
- some 4gauge audio cable
- various cable feet and cable accessories
I got my battery box from a boat shop - Peter's Watersports. Then i just went and bought a 4gauge audio wiring kit. It came with all the bits and pieces that I need for the wiring.
Ok, first off I fed one end of the 4 gauge cable through the firewall into the engine bay on the drivers side:
Pull enough cable through so that the end of the cable is by the battery.
Now, take the kick panel on the drivers side out. Its held on by one or two screws on the inside and a stud that can just be pulled out in the door frame.
Remove the door sill panel and unclip the carpeting:
Feed the cable under the carpet and past the drivers seat.
The panel by the rear seats just unclips it you pull on it gently. Be careful, the clips are old and break easily (I broke one or two in the process
). Feed the cable behind the panel.
The cable should now be in the boot.
Run it under the carpet to where you want the battery box to sit.
Now, to install the battery box!
The battery box I got came with a strap to hold it in place and two brackets to secure the box in place. I just drilled holes for these brackets and screwed them down securely. (Be careful where you drill, make sure that you don't hit anything important beneath
)The brackets in place:
A test fit:
Now, for the rest of the cabling.
Cut off both the positive and negative terminal clamp thingies from cable in the engine bay.
Connect all of the cables that came off the positive terminal of your battery and attach then to the 4 gauge cable:
Drill holes in the battery box for the positive cable and the ground:
I ran my ground behind the boot side carpeting and to the rear strut tower where there is a place to attach it:
Feed the cable into the battery box and reattach the terminal clamp thingies to the cable:
Put the battery in and attach the clamps:
Now, close up the box, run the strap around it. You'll need to cut a slit in the carpet for the strap to come through in front of the battery box.
Now sit back and admire your work
:
... then clip the panel by the rear seats back in, replace the door sill, replace the kick panel and your DONE!!
