SMOOTHN

iTrader: (1)

So I have a newborn and buying nice, new or shiny things for my car has been put on a serious cut-back. Thats why I have the thread title .


OK last night was my night to watch my daughter while my wife slept. So right after work I went to the Dollar store got a loofa to use as a baffle for my homemade catch can . After taking the loofa apart and stuffing it in my catch can I proceeded to mount the catch can back to its awkward spot and told myself 'You need to move this big *** 34/78 Optima battery (made for chevy, gmc with side posts) out of the way!'

So thats what i did (knowing my wife would complain). Now I already had a System in my car and I was running a 4 ga. wire so thats what I used. I know its better to use 0/1 ga. But remember my keyword is "BUDGET".


I had my nephew remove the battery. My battery tray bracket was toast and could only remove one of the bolts holding it down so i had to leave it till i figure out a way to get it out . I then mounted a distribution block to my firewall and ran the corresponding wires to it.



After everything was finished under the hood, we started on making a way to mount the battery in the back. Used an old tin from a Curve Cologne gift set and screwed down to my custom made "spare tire well Subwoofer box".
Pics will probably explain this better! LoL!

I had some steel L brackets laying around and decided to use them to hold the battery in place somehow. My nephew screwed the backets down and was supposed to use a flat bar to go across it but when he tried to drill the hole in the flat bar he ran down the battery on the drill, so he used Zip ties to hold it down . WHen I saw it i was like "UHHHHH, that looks dangerous!" He was like "I dont think it will go anywhere". I told I'll figure it out and just let it be overnight.

I was looking on the net for other people experience in custom battery tie downs but nothing really caught my eye. I was digging around the garage before i went to sleep and i found an old trunk strut and took the pressure out from it to make it adjustable and voila i had me a BADAZZ Battery tie down. Check it out.





Here is the strut for my hatch (but its not the one that i used, idk which car the strut came from). This is just an example of how ghetto I am, I had to use parts just laying around.

AGENT_47

Great write up , but Sol is FWD I like more weight on the front.

If I had a Miata/S2000 this would be what I would do.

SMOOTHN

iTrader: (1)

Yea if it was the right size I woulda kept it up there, I got it for free, its originally for a GMC/Chevorlet SUVs with side posts. When i had it in front it wasnt tied down and it was leaning against my intake pipe. Sometimes it would knock my intake pipe of the TB. I might get another battery and a High output alternator ill need for both batteries.. I am running 2 HIDs kits and a JL audio 8w7 and radar. MORE POWER!

apexi_rsx

if your doing wire tucks its useful also there is alot less vibrations in the trunk as well for the battery. i dought 5-10lb battery is gonna make much of a difference in the front.

SMOOTHN

iTrader: (1)

Wow My battery weighs 38.8 freaking lbs. Now i really wanna High output alternator.

SMOOTHN

iTrader: (1)

I was just looking at the pictures and I think im gonna paint the L brackets black. And I might use a rectangle bucket for a tray. Ill post pics if I do modify anything.

EJeff8

Miata's come like this stock, so you can just worry about the 5.0L swap you do on it

D Griff

I would cut them down if I were you, as well. Looks good though, way to work with what you have.

To the people above, moving the battery to the trunk improves weight distribution (handling) which is important for tracking/autox. It may only be 30 pounds, but little things add up.

D Griff

of course, I guess with drag racing you want as much weight over the drive wheels as you can get. I suppose everything depends on your favorite driving sport.

EJeff8

^Also if you don't want to run millions of wire through your rockers for a sound system.

SMOOTHN

iTrader: (1)

Look at the terminal post, I used a hose clamp! lol.



here it is under cover. I added that small wire to the negative side with a 15 amp fuse to save radio settings and clock if i ever disconnect the negative side.

EJeff8

^That setup scares me, don't blow your ECU...

SMOOTHN

iTrader: (1)

how can I do that? my wire has a 80amp fuse between the battery and engine.

EJeff8

^well, at least you took the right precautions to a bad setup. Personally, I'd go with a 60 but to each his own.

forcefedferio

i would expect this from a DSM owner.

SMOOTHN

iTrader: (1)

R U serious. like i explained the battery was TOO big to fit wher enormal 51 series batteries would fit. this battery is made for GMC SUVs... Its a good battery, Dry cell so it wont emit fumes into the cabin of my hatch. I got it for free and i worked with what I had in my garage to make this. If you dont like the design tell me what would make it better. it wont fit right under the hood and its probably to big to fit under the pass. side front bumper. SO tell me how would u make it then?

forcefedferio

Are you talking to me? I understand being on a budget bot holy **** you're borderline cheap. A hose clamp for a battery terminal? really? Like i said, i would expect things like that on DSMtuners, not on honda-tech That being said a battery that would properly fit is like, $80 +$3 for a new terminal. I'm all for innovation and doing things outside the box and what not, but this is just ghetto rigging **** together.

EJeff8

This.

Heaven forbid he pulls out $5 at Autozone for a lead terminal. I mean dude, your ground is pretty ****ing important and you're going to rig it with a hose clamp? And getting something for free that basically either kills your car or keeps it running would scare me right there.

...And do I really see cardboard in your setup?

Relic1

optima != dry cell
optima == spiral gel cell
optima's emit vapors, but significantly less than a standard battery.

as for the setup, not my taste, but you get points for using what you have to get it done.
(I would save up money for how ever long it takes for the right parts)
IMO H-T has become too much of a hater haven where if it's not Mugen or some other super high dollar part, it's crap.


side note, I've run a 51 series optima in my hatch for many years... in the stock location. You have to make your own tie down.

raidacaipo

lol

EJeff8

So, it's a perfectly good setup because he did what he could with what he could find in the corner of his garage? It's fine because the most important wire on his car is hooked with a P.O.S. hose clamp? Because a battery (which can kill if improperly mounted due to fumes escaping and flammability) is held in by cardboard it's fine? I'm all for budget builds, I for one don't believe in using OEM ALL THE TIME. But I see no way that you can credit this man for the things he used. It's like a time bomb in his trunk.

AGENT_47

I'm with this guy


Plus I don't get why you wouldn't want that extra weight up front to help with traction.

I've already purchased a new ECU (well used new) because of a hack wire job by a friend that fried my stock ECU.

Car actually runs better than it ever has.

anyway

better to be safe than dead

SMOOTHN

iTrader: (1)

Haha... NO fumes comes from a dry cell battery.

Ill make it better. just not right now. The ground wire still has its ring on it but the bolt part broke off thats why i used a hose clamp. Ill buy a battery post this friday cuz thats payday!

Like i sed if this was the actual battery for this car i woulda left it where it should be. But this battery is for Chevy with side posts, so its to big to fit in the tray.

Keep the comments coming. Its helps pass the time, and I can talk about it and laugh with others.

90civichb

...So far I have seen three of your posts tonight. All three make me wonder why you even bother.

The catch cans are ghetto and pointless, as is this setup.

I can understand your interest in modifying your car, but your methods are not budget, they are garbage.

This rigging honestly reminds me of my friends dad who didn't want to buy a stand for his tv. He went to the liquor store and picked up a large discarded box. He took it home and filled it with bricks, then placed his tv on it and thought it was the best idea ever. Sorry man, his idea, like yours, was a fail.