HIDDEN Batteries in roadsters & Coupes?!?!?!?!?

I just read Clark's post about hiis cool under-dash solution. Who else has a clever way of hiding a battery? I'm not sure what to do for the Lil Say-10 modified yet. Thanks!

 

The battery in my A coupe is under the body,just ahead of the rear axle. It sits in a tray, supported on all sides and locked into place across the top. Because access is a bear, I have installed remote battery posts and a disconnect switch on a horizontal panel just inside the rail under the p***enger side door. I also have connectors there for the remote trickle charger I use to keep things up while I'm not driving it every week.

 

Under the floor with access plate and mat/carpet flap.

 

I keep mine in this neato Craftsmen Barn-Roof style tool box. Another of my Great-Grandfather's things I got. Also gives me lockable storage.

 

I hid mine under the floor on the p***enger side with a cool trap door to conceal it. The wires run out the side of a Box deviator made for me. The thing is space so we opted for the Dynabatt battery, its small, light and conceals well. I will try to post some pics.

 

I plan on using one of these under the dash or seat.

http://www.performancedistributors.com/batteries.htm

 

nice! i thought of something along those lines but using an old small cooler, and putting it between the seats as a arm rest. Just goes to show that if you think its an original idea, its probably been done before. Good to see it works.

 

One day I'll pull that driver's seat out and finish painting where I ran out. That looks like ****. Oh well. Other parts that I think are cool in that ic are the tractor hood/trans tunnel, the $7.00 airplane seatbelts and of course the seats. I'm proud of my car .....can ya tell?

 

I put a DynaBat from Performance Distributors behind my p***enger seat. The battery is about 4X4X2 inches. I've had it in the car for 8 years / 25000 miles and it's never failed me.

 

My dad's gonna use two 6-volt optima in series for his 28 roadster project. Probably in false panel back in rumble seat area.

 

This was a good idea until I realized the cowl top would have to come off to remove it.

My solution? I sold the car.

JH

 

DON"T PAY all that money for a dyna batt...... buy em from who makes em

http://www.batterymart.com/battery.mv?p=ODY-PC680

i think dyna batt is $155...... these are about 80 bucks....


have one in my roadster.... works great........

 

Dynabatt. Nuff said.

 

They really do have enough cranking power? Cool.

 

in the trunk in an old "pleasure chest" cooler.. thou mine will also fit in one of those small Mooneyes coolers also..

 

I have an Optima batt n the trunk in an old WWII ammo box....

Rat

 

optima batteries serve me well. put them almost anywhere

 

I got an optima mounted upside down under the bed of my truck. It's in a cage that swings open to remove the battery. I checked with Optima and the said it was o.k. to mount the battery "inverted" (upside down.

 

put mine in an old 6 pack falstaff cooler between the tubs in the trunk,tim posted some pics search man-a-free coupe.The optima fits the cooler great.

 

I too have one of those old picnic coolers with the lid held in place by the handle. It's a perfect candidate for a battery box as it's aluminum and has a hole in the bottom of it. I'm gonna repair it and repaint it, prolly with something not so mainstream art like an old A&W, Nehi or Dad's logo. Anything but Coke! It'll be mounted in the trunk up by the divider wall.

Vance

 

Vintage Coke cooler behind the seat.

 

Mine is mounted inside a steel box in the front of the consoull under the dash

 

On my old modifed I mounted a smaller regular style battery up under the cowl on p*** side. It was slightly visible behind the dash, but it was the only place that was not in the way. Just welded up an angle iron frame to sit in and put a hold down so it would not bounce up and short against the cowl. Was able to get it in by loading form the center and setting in the frame, kind of like Harrison's pic, but mine could still get out. The battery was vertical and worked fine.

 

Can a DynaBat be mounted upside down like a Optima?

 

Are you guys using some kind of a remote battery post with your hidden batteries? You know,something to hook jumper cables to if you ever need to? What about a main disconnect? I'm thinking about leaving my battery under the floor under the seat like it originally was, but it sure would **** to have to take the seat apart and the take a lid off if I ever had to give the damned thing a jump (or someone else a jump).

Maybe I'm worried for nothing? Haven't had a battery fail in years, but with my luck these days.... Gene

 

Kirk -

I ran an odyssey all last summer in the daily driver as a test; the battery rolled over a 10:1 V8 with no prob. Noticed the following:

1) You don't want to run accessories for much more than a few minutes with the engine off - it does drain these little ****ers after about 15 minutes or so.

2) The engine has to be in good tune; they don't like extended cranking.

3) They are VERY temperature sensitive - had to go back to a conventional battery once night time temps dipped to the freezing mark.

Other than that - a great battery - light and VERY, VERY small - about the size of 4-5 manga books. Was gonna do a battery relo for the strip and figured this was a simpler solution - and it was.

 

On the same note....I run a 12 volt tractor battery. 430 CCA. More than enough power to turn over my Flathead. It does drain quickly if I keep the fan on or have to crank it excessivley. But, with the weather turning around, that won't be a problem.

 

Here's a couple pics of the battery & right side muffler in my 32.
The battery box is made of 1/2" x 1" rectangular tubing.
It has a stainless floor with 1/2" thick neoprene cushion between battery and stainless floor.
The hold down is 1/4" x 1" aluminum strap with 1/2" neoprene biscuits between hold down and battery.
The battery is well insulated from vibration which is the enemy of most batteries.

You can't see it, but the hold down is clamped to a bushing welded onto the upper rails of the battery box with a couple of stainless 3/8" bolts and stainless nylocks.
The box is set up so that GM side terminals or standard upper terminals can be used.

Jumping the battery is easy since the main cable runs up under the seat and connects to a Ford solenoid there.
No tools are required to remove bottom seat cushion.
The ground cable does the same and connects to a grounded 1/4" aluminum plate that mounts solenoid, regulator etc.





This pic shows the limited room for mufflers.
The left side is a little better than the right, but not much.

You can fit in gl***packs, FlowMasters as you see as well as Turbo Muffs - gl*** pack turbo's preferred - but that's about it for muffs.





The 31 on 32 rails roadster should do better in the muffler department.
I'm hoping to run a pair of Hemi muffs on it and if those don't fit, some longish round steel or gl*** packs will go in.

Far as the battery goes in the 31, right now it looks like a pair of Optima garden tractor/street bike batteries will fit in the area behind the seat.
These batteries are small and narrow and running a couple in parallel may give me the cranking amps I want . . . a little research is needed there.

There will be a firewall between seat and trunk and once that's in I can decide which side of the trunk firewall the batteries go on.
There are some advantages to having it on the seat side, easy access for wiring, checking etc.
And as trouble free as Optima's are, on the trunk side would work well.
Using a pair of the smaller batteries would help gain trunk room.

Right now I'm trying to end up with the largest trunk capacity I can.
Probably due to struggling with the 32's pita rumble seat that has limited trunk room.

I know, how much stuff do you want to take?
A couple of small suitcases, pair of hot rod chairs, ice box, jackets, lap blanket, tools, a few spare parts and trunk room get's taken up pretty fast.
I think I can throw a space-saver spare in there as well.

 

oddy, dynabatt, all those are made by Hawker energy. The 525 series which is damn small is hidden in most jump boxes from any parts store,for less than a hundred bucks. I used the same one to power a blown66 nova, also have used capacitors for show cars and work great if you have no tuning probs.