Racecar Battery Mounting

[Tspringer]

I am into getting the RSR project wired up.... and I am an electrical idiot. Oh well.

I am using a Painless wiring kit and it seems pretty straight forward so far. But I need to figure out where and how to mount the battery!

The car has a 24 gallon Fuel Safe cell located in the factory fuel tank location. I also have a Smart Racing Products front oil tank that is mounted in the "smugglers box" location.

I would prefer to locate the battery in front of the fuel cell on the right hand side of the car. To maximize weight distribution I have mounted everything I can on the right hand side of the car to offset the driver being on the left. I have 2 oil coolers, one in the right front fender and the other central front.

The space in front of the fuel cell on the right hand side is a bit tight. What concerns me is that there really isn't a lot of "meat" in the front of the car. In the event of a hard head on impact, only a bit of the front chassis, the front oil cooler and a fiberglass bumper would be between the battery and the impact. With the fuel cell forward as well, I worry that a hard impact would crush the battery into the fuel cell and could be a fire hazard?

My plan was to have the battery in a hard plastic box and firmly secured to the chassis. But at this point I am wrestling with where to locate the battery.

The only other choices are the left side of the front which is where the stock location was (car is built on an '82 SC chassis) or the drivers side front footwell.

The left front side would allow the battery to sit further back and it would not be immediately beside the fuel cell. While this location gets the weight forward as I want it is on the wrong side of the car.

The drivers footwell location would interfere with passengers and the oil lines leading the front tank.

What solutions have others found? Suggestions? Pictures?

[jmshepard]

Terry,
I've seen the Odyssey dry cell batteries used in race cars. They are pretty small and open up many mounting options.
Jim S.

[village idiot]

smugglers box seems to be a popular way to go(if you don't have a/c). Do a search for "odyssey battery" or similar and I'm sure you'll find something.

[Flieger]

I don't have a problem living with the possiblity of a major explosion and horrible, fiery death I have seen some pretty spectacular crashes and the drivers walked away.

photo credit: Zach Mayne

[JohnJL]

Smuggler's box is the way to go on an 82. Its an easy mount with just a couple of pieces of aluminum stock. Total cost $0.50 and it gets the weight on the"right" side, low, in the middle, accessible, near a good kill-switch location (from over the smuggler's box you can mount the switch so its cable feeds through the passenger side out through the antenna hole) and away from the fuel a bit.

[Tspringer]

Come on guys.... read the post, not just the title.....

There is an oil tank in the smugglers box location which completely fills it and makes mounting a battery in that location impossible.

It seems the only realistic choices are either as Flieger has his mounted or in the forward passenger footwell (which would necessitate using a sealed battery box).

I am still debating which way would be best!

[304065]

Mount it to the floor behind where the passenger seat was- shortens the run to the starter and alternator. With the exception of lights and the fuel pump, there are no current consumers up front in a full-race 911. I would use a PC680 with the aluminum box and make double-damn sure the terminals are well insulated against shorts.

Absolutely no reason to keep it up front from a weight distribution standpoint-- the more mass you can take out of the ends and use to balance the driver's weight side-to-side the better off you will be.

[mede8er]

I too was considering my options on my current project, but finally came to the conclusion that Porsche knew what they were doing when they put the battery where they did....

[ChkbookMechanic]

I agree with john_cramer, I think your best bet is to move it toward the center of the vehicle. I like behind the passenger seat best but in the passenger footwell is a good area too.

[arrivederci]

Since you've used up all the front passenger side locations, you don't have many other options up front. If you're concerned about crash-worthiness, why not mount on the drivers side next to the front shock tower? The Odyssey PC680 can be mounted in any orientation, so it'd be about 3 inches thick on its side and its apparently less than 15 lbs. That's not too far from the stock wiring (might not matter to you...I'm not familiar with painless wiring kits). Build a small enclosure for it and provide a little extra protection for the terminals.

[johndglynn]

Originally Posted by ChkbookMechanic

I like behind the passenger seat best but in the passenger footwell is a good area too.

I wouldn't put it in the passenger footwell. In a smash, the 911 has a shear line right across the leading edge of the floor. Under or behind the pax seat location seems a good idea to me, but the 680 is way light so won't kill it to use the stock location if needs be.

Mine is in the smuggler's box - absolutely 100% delighted with it.

[ChkbookMechanic]

Originally Posted by johndglynn

I wouldn't put it in the passenger footwell. In a smash, the 911 has a shear line right across the leading edge of the floor.

Really? I guess you really do learn something new everyday.