Battery in trunk (why you shouldnt)

[Brad Roberts]

I have always thought putting the battery in the trunk was a cop out for replacing the factory tray and triangle. My body shop guy's have stumbled onto a 914 that they cannot get paint or POR15 to stick to. Guess what area it is ??? The trunk. The exact area where the previous owner decided the battery needed to go.

Think twice about placing your battery in the trunk. Fix it right so the next person who wants to have a nice car doesnt have to deal with trunk headaches. This is going to cost the owner more money to "clean" this area than it would for the previous owner to have a new battery tray and triangle welded in.

Fix your car correctly with correct parts. Please ?


B

[J P Stein]

Humm......any idea what chemical is responsible for this?

I always thought that the factory's positioning of the battery was a crime against humanity.

BTW: My battery tray was in decent shape before I annihilated the mofo.

[Brad Roberts]

Factory position was terrible, but it will last longer than that thin piece of sheet metal called the trunk.

I like nice trunks.

B

[mike mueller]

Hey JP,

Even I have left my battery in the stock location

Mueller

[derek_sf]

I really like nice trunks too.

[Zeke]

So do I.....on elephants. Battery goes where the heat isn't, where it's dry and where weight is needed to balance car. I kinda like the passenger footwell, but that doesn't look too sharp on a steet car.

[pbanders]

Actually, if it weren't for the 'friggin' acid, the factory battery position is great. Near the polar moment of the car, and counterbalancing some of the mass of the driver. Oh, and underhood with the rest of the stuff for access.

[Zeke]

Originally posted by pbanders
Actually, if it weren't for the 'friggin' acid, the factory battery position is great. Near the polar moment of the car, and counterbalancing some of the mass of the driver. Oh, and underhood with the rest of the stuff for access.

It would be near to the polar moment and low to the CG if it were where the NASCAR boys put it, which would be right where it is, but down low. Maybe I should consider in the passenger seat!!!

"Here, sit on this."

[Brad Roberts]

Ha ha ha.. "on elephants"

Yeah, the passenger gets a little excited when you tell them they are resting their feet on the battery box.. LOL.

Paul nailed it. Battery weight is in the same spot as your upper body weight when its in the factory location.

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[Brad Roberts]

Milt,

My batteries go exactly where you just described:

Right where the passenger's butt would be.

Of course.. this is only in the full tilt race cars.

Winston cup puts the battery just in front of the passenger side rear wheel well basically on the floor. To access it, we have to pull a wheel off and a panel to slide it out.

B

[John Rogers]

My race car has the batt in the rear trunk, but it is in a steel box welded into the floor of the trunk and sits inside a plastic case such as boats use. If I was going to worry about how high the weight of the batt was, I'd lose some weight first which would be better anyways.

[mike95125]

I've always wondered where the hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen gases go when the battery is encased in the front trunk. In the stock position it is ventillated so the toxic, noxious, corrosive, oh and flamable gas gets ventillated. In the trunk it is completely sealed (ya like any of us have great seals in the front). THe gas tank has a vent of sorts through the bottom via a tube, but it still stinks of fuel up front, and the fuel side is segragated from the front compartment. I wanted to move my battery up front, but so far I have no answers to make me feel good about it. Till then I'll be using the arm and hammer to stop any further oxidation.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

My recommendation if you want to stop the acid: Get an Optima. It will stop practically all of the acid leaks from a battery in the stock location.

My recommendation if you're going to put the battery in the front or rear trunk: Use a "marine battery box". This is a fairly sealed plastic box that the battery goes inside of. Hard-mount it to the trunk floor. (May make storing the roof difficult if you put it in the rear trunk.)

And then, install drain and vent lines into the sucker. You've got to have a place for the gases to go, and jsut in case your battery does puke something (I hear the Optimas puke this nasty green goo when really badly abused!) you want to provide a place for it to go that is relatively harmless. This means routing some plastic tubes from the bottom of the battery box out underneath the car.

--DD

We're in the process of moving my battery to the passenger side of the front trunk. I really doubt that the front trunk is that well sealed but I may take Dave's advise and use a plastic marine enclosure and vent tube just to be safe. My rear suspension console which is being repaired had some corrosion. I want to be sure that doesn't happen again, so the battery is getting moved.

[pbanders]

Originally posted by Dave at Pelican Parts

My recommendation if you're going to put the battery in the front or rear trunk: Use a "marine battery box". This is a fairly sealed plastic box that the battery goes inside of. Hard-mount it to the trunk floor. (May make storing the roof difficult if you put it in the rear trunk.)

And then, install drain and vent lines into the sucker. You've got to have a place for the gases to go, and jsut in case your battery does puke something (I hear the Optimas puke this nasty green goo when really badly abused!) you want to provide a place for it to go that is relatively harmless. This means routing some plastic tubes from the bottom of the battery box out underneath the car.

--DD

This is similar to how the battery is installed in my E36 M3 BMW. It's in the trunk, with air venting and a drain at the bottom. Works pretty well here in AZ, where underhood batteries get cooked and die after about 1 to 2 years of use. Mine is still going strong after over 4 years. Oops. Shouldn't have said that, should I?

[campbellcj]

The battery in my Audi is in a kind of weird location, in the front compartment but behind the engine firewall, near the windshield wiper motor etc. I figure that is to keep it away from engine heat to some extent, and also just to better utilize that normally "dead" space.

My 914's Optima currently sits on a damn-near pristine tray and support. It will stay there unless I feel compelled to move it when the six conversion takes place. The passenger butt area isn't gonna happen anytime soon because I will need to drive instructors (and possibly students, someday) from time to time. Front trunk is the other option. I'd probably go to a dry-cell race battery in that case.

[boxstr]

As Dave said I have followed, Optima in rear trunk in marine battery box. You have to remove the top battery box lid to stow the top. I have also relocated the ECU strapped next to the battery box in the rear. Makes for a much cleaner looking and easier to access engine bay.
I wax my front and rear trunks, also the lids. I too love clean shiny trunks, whether on elephants or Porsches.
Craig C. Laughlin CAMP 914

[J P Stein]

There's sumthin' I don't understand here.

My battery lived in the engine bay for 20 odd years.
When I removed it and the tray, I repainted the entire engine room.......all my paint stuck......still stucks, too.....maybe it's some polar moment thingy....I didn't do so well in HS physics.

Good thread.......highly informative.

Drew365:
I'm sorry, but you can't move your battery......Brad said please.
Gud thing mine is grandfathered in.

[Brad Roberts]

Trunks are normally worse than this one. Normally you have to deal with people using Armor All on something in the trunk... the body shop guy's love it.

I have painted several battery tray area's also with only a few reacting later.

B