Hey guys. I went to Fontana this weekend, but the tech. inspectors wouldn't let me race.

I have a Crx, and I have relocated my battery to the hatch area. Apparently if you move the battery you have to add a battery cut-off switch to the right-rear exterior of the car.

And he mentioned that it has to be bolted to the chassis with 3/8" bolts. And something about since it's in the driver's compartment, that it needs to be the gell cell type battery.

I searched through the online IDRC rulebook, but I couldn't find any info on battery placement, or electrical cut-offs. . .
Does anyone have the ACTUAL information from any drag racing rule books? I don't want to get a new battery and add a kill switch, and find out it's all wrong anyway. I want to know for sure what i need to do BEFORE doing it!

Thanks.

 

if the battery is in the back it has to be in a sealed and vented battery box that is nhra approved. it does have to be bolted down with 3/8" bolts. jegs or summit carry these. they are made by moroso and come with the bolts. as far as the switch i believe your car has to run a certain e/t to need the switch. i'll check my rulebook for the e/t and post.

 

that's kind of weird, IDRC has the classification rules up, but no general rules..

So I suggest looking at NHRA's Import website.

Basically, you have to have the battery in a sealed, vented box, the battery has to be tied down, then the box has to be tied down. And oyu have to have a cutoff switch mounted somewhere on the back of the car. The cutoff has to be clearly marked, and can't be a "key" type switch (where the key could fall out or something). The cutoff has to be a 4 pole (cut off the battery and the alternator).

That's about it, I think.

 

So if I use a sealed and vented box. . .like the Moroso one. . .can I still use my stock battery? Or do I still have to get a gell cell?

And for the switch. . .the tech. inspector didn't mention e/t's. His words were "If you move the battery from it's stock location, then you need to have a cut-off switch."

Can you please tell me what your rulebook says about this? And if they have specific directions on it's placement?

On a side note, Does anyone know of any cut-off switches that are lockable? This car is my daily driver, and I don't want to be parked at Albertson's and have some jerk walk by and switch my power off!!

 

Hey Martini. . You must have been posting that right when I was writing my last post. hehehe

So what you are saying about the switch having to be a 4 pole to cut off the battery AND the alternator. That totally makes sence. But now I am gonna have to run the alternator wire all the way to the rear of my car to the switch, then all the way back up to the front of the car! That's gonna be fun! Good thing I have a short Crx!! hehehe

As far as not having a "key" type switch. . .Is there some other kinda that I can still keep it locked during the week somehow (maybe by just taking a **** off or something) and then have it switchable for race days?

Thanks for the info guys!


[Modified by nihkon, 9:10 PM 6/9/2002]

 

One last side not to make it leagal, it must be run with the positive side of the battery and not the ground as some people like to do. Instead of running a wire from the alt all the way back, just get out the helms manual. There is a power wire on the alt that you can hook a on and off switch. When they tech your car, just have it so the alt. is turned of so if they make you start your car and check to see if the cut-off is working, it will. Then just turn the switch back and your good to go. Also, if if do relocate your battery, like everyone else said...you have to run this kill switch and have to have it in a nhra leagal box no matter your et.....Mike

 

A lot of Pro-street NHRA domestic guys are starting to do this.. and it's a good idea, as far as hiidng your switch..

Mount it behind your rear license plate if there's room back there. Then when you are at the drag strip, take your rear license plate off to expose it.. I don't know if that's more engineering than you want to do, though.

ps, if you have an nhra legal box, you don't need one of those gelcell batteries.

 

hey nineseccrx. . .Thanks for the idea, bu tI think if i am gonna go through the hassle of doing this, then I am gonna do it right. Running the wire isn;t too hard anyway.

Martini: That's a good idea about hiding it behind the license plate. But I THINK that the switch has to be on the right-rearof the car. Can someone with a rule book confirm this??

But I had an idea that is similar to yours. I think I am gonna get a spare right rear light assembly from Ebay or something. I can cut a section out of it that doesn't have a light behind it, and stick the switch in there. So when I go to the strip, I just switch out the light assembly to the one with a hole cut out for the switch. That way I can also try to keep it street legal. That was kinda hard to explain. . .make any sense?

Anyway. . .I'll keep ya posted on the progress. Hopefully this weekend I'll get started on it.

 

no...it does not have to be on the right rear. Actually the NHRA rulebook says it has to be on the most rear part of the car. Thats means it would work perfectly behind the license plate. I have a 9 sec. car and I mounted mine through the key hole for the trunk......Mike

 

Hey Mike. . thanks for the info. I'll definately look into the license plate idea then. Do you happen to know if I have to have the license plate on there for "Street Legal" drag racing?

 

I have not been to a street legal drag since they took it away from Pomona. I do remember one time this guy got crap for not having any plates. But im sure the track officials would be fine with it if you old them how you mounted the switch. Or just take the thing in the window or throw it on the dash. You will be fine....Mike

 

Yeah, das true. I can just tape it in the back window or something. Should not be a big deal.

So you haven't been to Street Legals since Pomona?? Sheesh, that's been a while then huh! You should come out to Fontana (Cal Speedway) next time. I think the next races are the June 29 & 30. Me and my crew will be there on the 29th.

 

the 2002 nhra rulebook states that if the battery is mounted in the trunk it must be in an approved battery box that is vented to the outside of the car and the battery(not the box) must be mounted to the frame or frame structure with a minimum of two 3/8' diameter bolts. a master cutoff switch must be installed in the rearmost part of the vehicle and connected to the positive side of the electrical system and must stop all electrical functions. the off position must be clearly marked off. if it is a push/pull switch (push) must make the electrical system shut down.

i hope this info will be helpful.

 

*i hope this info will be helpful.*

speedworks: Yeah, all the info I can get on this is very helpful.

I have my plans now. I'm going to start this project this weekend. Might take me a few weeks to get all the parts though. I'll update you all when I get it done.

Thanks again for all the help guys!!

 

I heard of some ppl just putting the switch in the rear but not connecting it , ie once the switch is there hear the officials dont check it.

 

I was actually checked at a nhra race in tech. They made me rev the car to 3000 and they hit my kill switch. It didnt make me to happy to have them do that to a fully built turbo motor by nhra is nhra......Mike

 

I believe the Tech inspector was just busting your *****,probably didnt like your car and such..i bet if you walked around the track that night,you wouldve probably found a bunch of domestics with relocated battery and no cutoff switch...i got an idea for you,coverup the battery in the back and throw a small battery back up front with cables on it,connected to nothing,to make like its working then once u get thru tech,take it out..

 

With my race car, I still run the battery under the 1 peice front end. The tech was busting my *****. It was a nhra import race so there were no v8's there and the car is a 9 second car so maybe they were a little pissed and bitter about us running so fast. I have to have a kill switch mounted in the rear no matter where my battery is mounted since I run in the 9's.......Mike

 

Hey ninesecrx: Do you have any pics/stats for your car? I'd really like to see it. Maybe a site with some info about it?

 

http://www.members.***.net/elaskey/laskeyracing.html

its kinda old...but its all I have.......Mike

 

One last point on the cutoff switch (from an ex NHRA tech inspector)...They dont like the cutoff switches with the removable key. They are afraid that the key (or removable handle) will fall off. However this type of switch would work good on the street. Just turn it on for street use and remove the key. No one can mess with it. If you can install the key with a set screw at the strip, you'd be in. I don't know if it was mentioned but the switch must be labeled as to ON and OFF positions.
Earl

 

also if you have a pull/push type on and off switch push off/pull on is how it should be.

 

Thanks for the continued support/info on this guys!! You are the best!

 

I hope I didn't miss it above, but what switch should I get?? (Think cheap because my funds are about tapped) Moroso sells a bunch of different amperages. The cheapest ($29.00) one is 20 amp cont 200 burst. The most expensive ($39.99) is 175 cont 3000 burst but is way to large looking (bolts comming out for connections look to be 3/8" or so). I have no idea what continuous amperage a Honda runs. I would guess more than 20?

I'll only be adding this to the car during race days and not driving continuous with it at all.

BTW: Tech guy specifically told me that it is acceptable to not wire the alternator in to the switch as long as you don't plan to leave the belt on for the entire day. He said thats what most street cars do. I'm fairly confident that a battery should last an entire day at the track although I personnally don't like the idea of running on only 12 volts (as opposed to the 14 or whatever from the alt). I plan on sneaking the belt back on.

 

Just buy the cheapest switch that fits your needs. Take your belt off for tech and put it back on in the pits. We use a kill switch on our alternator when we need it to shut down in tech