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  • Easy battery relocation with pics

    Well, I finally got around to moving my battery to the passenger's side so I can use Rocketman's VAF adapter and also free up some serious real estate. It was easy as pie, but took me two or more hours taking my time. I bought a 60 inch 2 gauge ground cable but you really only need a two or three footer. I bought this cable three months ago so I just kept it. I also bought a 4 gauge positive cable that was 53 inches long. I bought a Duralast Gold lawnmower battery with 340 ccas and a J hook battery mount kit.

    The install will be described using pictures. The description will be above the following pictures.

    First I trimmed the battery terminal clamps on both the positive and ground cables so only eyelets were left over.




    To mount the battery, I used a piece of 6x12 cut to fit and used a paper template to locate three factory m6x1.00 bolt holes in the body. I drilled the holes through the 6x12 and secured it to the body with 2.00 inch long m6x1.00 bolts.



    I then cut a piece of 1x6 and secured it to the 6x12 with some wood screws so the battery can have a nice flat seat. I also bought a small eyelet thing so I could hook the J hook from the battery mount kit to it. I measured and drilled a small hole into the body and put the eyelet in with some large washers for strength.



    Then I got a battery lug and secured it to my vise and cut little slivers of solder and filled up the lug. I cut the head off the cable and trimmed some insulation to push into the solder filled lug. I used my Harbor Freight torch to melt the solder and solder the cable to the lug.




    This is the cable with the solder cooled and hardened.




    The ground cable was a small 6 gauge cable wrapped into a harness and secured to the body and top of the transmission. This is why I say you can get away with a short 1 or 2 feet long cable to secure to the lifting eye on the head on the passenger side.




    Next I connected the positive cable from the harness to the 52 inch 4 gauge battery cable. I hooked up all my relay and power wire that was on the positive terminal previously. I taped the heck out of the connection for corrosion and abrasion protection.



    To make a secure mount for the battery, I used some L bracket and a piece of steel I had laying around. I did a ton of test fittings and measurements and came up with this way to secure the battery. It is tight as a tiger and doesn't budge. You can see the eyelet secured to the body in this picture at the base of the battery.




    This is the finished job for now, I will probably redo the ground cable with a shorter one to clean up the engine compartment. Needless to say, car starts and runs like a champ and all electronics work. Now to design a nice cone filter set up with Rocketman's VAF adapter. But that will be another day in the near future. I noticed my disty O ring is hemorhagging (sic?) oil so that will be next.

    Semper Fi til I die!

    1993 Fescort GT 1.8 BP automatic Kia Rio front struts and cut springs Cut Front Festiva springs with Monroe Aspire struts in rear



  • #2
    Well, I hated how the ground cable was so long so I cut it shorter to attach it to the lifting eyelet on the cylinder head. Soldered a lug on it and hooked it all up, its so much cleaner looking now.

    Semper Fi til I die!

    1993 Fescort GT 1.8 BP automatic Kia Rio front struts and cut springs Cut Front Festiva springs with Monroe Aspire struts in rear


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    • #3
      Lawnmower battery?! Wonder how well that'll do in the winter. Not sure if your winters are comparable to Iowa winters though. If it would work and is less expensive, then that is a killer idea!
      ENFORCER - Midwest Festiva Inc., Iowa

      #1 '90 Sport to modified Lx - RollazX
      #2 .....Cheesehead
      #3 '91 White - Donor Car
      #4 .....Montana Project
      SOLD----Levistiva for $1500
      Bought her back for $450
      Now that's darn near priceless!!

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      • #4
        I would rather just put it in the trunk and skip all the engine bay wire mess. Nice write-up, though, and nice job on the fabrication.
        1990 White L-Plus 5-speed rust-machine
        Scrapped

        1991 Blue L 5-speed
        daily driver, intermittent project

        1993 rustless wonder
        A shell, awaiting suspension, brakes, and B6T

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        • #5
          lawnmower battery ftw!!!! i run nothing else!

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          • #6
            A lawn mower battery will do just fine in an average winter, even with sub-zero temps, so long as it's in good service condition. I've run them in my Civics before to save weight, and they can be found for $20-$30 new, so even if you replace it 3 times in 5 years, you're breaking even with a cheap-ish car battery.

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            • #7
              ever heard of the words "wire tuck"? lol....


              Mike, AKA the sasquatch
              1990 LX, bp+T/g25mr, 9psi dynoed at 194HP, turbonetics t3/to4e 57trim, haltech E6X standalone, 550cc injectors, turbosmart wastegate, synapse BOV, walbro 255 fuel pump, aeromotive FPR, AEM wideband, 3 inch exhaust, huge FMIC, 9LB flywheel, 6 puck clutch and way more parts that im forgetting i installed lol...

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by festyfreak39 View Post
                lawnmower battery ftw!!!! i run nothing else!
                How long does a lawnmower battery last you generally?
                ENFORCER - Midwest Festiva Inc., Iowa

                #1 '90 Sport to modified Lx - RollazX
                #2 .....Cheesehead
                #3 '91 White - Donor Car
                #4 .....Montana Project
                SOLD----Levistiva for $1500
                Bought her back for $450
                Now that's darn near priceless!!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Christ View Post
                  A lawn mower battery will do just fine in an average winter, even with sub-zero temps, so long as it's in good service condition. I've run them in my Civics before to save weight, and they can be found for $20-$30 new, so even if you replace it 3 times in 5 years, you're breaking even with a cheap-ish car battery.
                  Replacing 3 times in 5 years sounds stressful. Each would surely happen at the most inopportune time, like running late for the all-you-can-eat buffet. But I do love the cost. Are you running a mower battery Christ?
                  ENFORCER - Midwest Festiva Inc., Iowa

                  #1 '90 Sport to modified Lx - RollazX
                  #2 .....Cheesehead
                  #3 '91 White - Donor Car
                  #4 .....Montana Project
                  SOLD----Levistiva for $1500
                  Bought her back for $450
                  Now that's darn near priceless!!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I ran one in my BP for 2 years, then pulled it out and had it in a lawnmower for a couple more years before the mower got traded... don't know how long it lasted after that. The trick is to pay the extra $8-$10 to get one of the 300+CCA ones, rather than the standard 230CCAs. They run from $35-$40 around here. And also, this won't work unless you are not running a bunch of electrical stuff (HIDs, sound system, etc) but for an otherwise stock car with a motor swap they are plenty! Looks good Feisty! I did the same thing on my old BP and on Danny's car with the '90 B6, except I turn them longways with the body, to give an extra ~3" worth of room to work on belts and stuff.
                    No festiva for me ATM...

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                    • #11
                      Mine is dropped. Nice job! If I had a BP would the vaf fit over it or ??


                      Reflex paint by Langeman...Lifted...Tow Rig

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                      • #12
                        Tell me about this Feisty.

                        I'm a carb guy, but I'm looking into the BP EFI air intake system.



                        Why is the air filter cone in a box? Is there a sensor that reads pressure in the box, but outside the air filter cone?
                        '88 Festiva L, stock carby engine (with exhaust upgrade), 4 speed tranny. Aspire Struts and Springs, Capri 14" wheels, interior gutted, battery in back

                        '92 Geo Metro XFi

                        '87 Suzuki Samurai

                        '85 F150, modded 300cid

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                        • #13
                          The box is just there to help keep the hot air from the engine bay away from teh intake opening.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by BigElCat View Post
                            Tell me about this Feisty.

                            I'm a carb guy, but I'm looking into the BP EFI air intake system.

                            [ATTACH]7059[/ATTACH]

                            Why is the air filter cone in a box? Is there a sensor that reads pressure in the box, but outside the air filter cone?
                            BigElCat,

                            The box is to keep out hot under hood air from the filter as much as possible, just like Christ mentioned. I also put the battery box lid on it to really isolate it from engine heat. There is not an IAT sensor used in the BP that I know of. I have the factory paper filter set up and did not notice any type of IAT sensor to transfer over.

                            Last edited by FeistyFesti; 05-30-2012, 10:14 AM. Reason: forgot to add a picture
                            Semper Fi til I die!

                            1993 Fescort GT 1.8 BP automatic Kia Rio front struts and cut springs Cut Front Festiva springs with Monroe Aspire struts in rear


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