Battery Boxes... "sealed?" vented to outside? New sealed batteries, etc...

I'm working on the battery box for The Widow Wagon.
It'll be in the passenger compartment, right ahead of the rear axle, where the back seat would be.
It's a metal box from a '60s van.

Do battery boxes need to be "sealed" to be NHRA legal? Though I'm not REALLY concerned about their particular rule in this case, I'd like to know.

Also, the bottom of the box has several holes in it, for batter cables, hold-down bolts and a couple I don't know what they're for. Old batteries vented gas that could collect... the old Super Stock Mopars with trunk-mounted heavy truck batteries had special caps with vent hoses on them that ran through holes in the trunk floor.

Do I need to worry about venting the box through the floor? Do I need to worry about the "extra" unsealed holes in this box?

Thanks,
-Brad

 

I used a sealed box from Jeg's and it worked as advertised. Mounted in the trunk of my '40 Chevy. I used an Optima battery that doesn't really need the vent but all is NHRA legal and a clean installation.

 

The Moroso sealed box works nice. I had one in my Dart racer.

 

my vette C3 has battery box behind the driver seat in passenger compartment and has no special venting in it any more....i have never smelled any Off gasing and there is a 5/8 open hole in the bottom of the battery box that could act as a vent and road vacuum i guess would draw fumes out of it

 

I don't really know the NHRA Rule on battery boxes. I do know that even new "sealed" or "non-servicable" batteries emit gasses. Gel cell batteries don't....

 

Sealed box vented outside of the vehicle or a 1/8" aluminum min firewall between the trunk and the drivers compartment.

i have run batteries inside and all the older Volks Wagons had them under the back seat. but I still think it is a good idea to vent them outside. hydrogen gas is highly explosive and i smoke.

 

If you don't already have a battery check out batteries intended for some Mercedes and Audis. My 85 Audi 5000 had a battery under the back seat that had a vent tube that went through the floor boards. These batteries aren't cheap but they are made to be installed like you are thinking about and usually have serious cranking amps.

 

The box is sealed... has a flange with a rubber gasket around it.

There are several holes in the bottom of the box... a couple of them must be for battery hold-downs, and two of them must be fore the cables. There are a couple more that I'm not sure what they'd be for. I'll turn one into a vent and run it through the floor. Guess the others will get a rubber plug unless I need a direct hot lead to the battery for anything.

It's a steel box, and looks SO much better for this car than a plastic battery box.

-Brad

 

One of the classes I teach is a battery class. The best choice without worrying about venting is an AGM battery like an Optima. The absorbed glass mat (Optima) is really great for this application and I wouldn't bother with a "gel cell".

porknbeaner is right about the hydrogen gas too....not too safe in an enclosed space.
NOTE: all of these batteries have some sort of pressure type vent mechanism in case of something really going wrong...so even if it is a "non-vented" battery, there is always a chance that if your charging system goes looney-tunes on you it could really heat up a battery and need to blow off pressure. I'd make sure the box had at least a small slit or vent hole somewhere on it.

 

Yea I understand the plastic box deal. I had one of those plastic marine battery boxes in an econoline with a small block behind the seats. Pretty clean setup when you opened the side door then you saw the battery box. It was just uggin fugly.

 

Yeah... it's a nostalgia-style gasser wagon, with a 12pt cage, Mopar Super Stock seats, and this battery box in the rear seat area. A plastic box just wouldn't cut it. This box is stamped, with rounded corners. It just looks RIGHT. And it's functional.

I bought it off here a few years ago... wish I knew what exactly it came off, because I'd keep a look out.

-Brad

 

I once used a '90 Cadillac Allante battery vent tube set-up from the boneyard for a trunk mounted battery that I vented through the floor.

 

8.1 BATTERIES

All batteries must be securely mounted and may not be relocated into the driver or passenger compartments. Rear firewall of .024-inch (.6 mm) steel or .032-inch (.8 mm) aluminum (including package tray) required when battery is re-located in trunk. In lieu of rear firewall, battery may be located in a sealed .024-inch (.6 mm) or .032-inch (.8 mm) aluminum, or FIA accepted poly box. If sealed box is used in lieu of rear firewall, box may not be used to secure battery, and must be vented outside of body. Strapping tape prohibited. A maximum of two automobile batteries, or 150 pounds (68 kg) combined maximum weight (unless otherwise specified in Class Requirements) is permitted. Metal battery hold-down straps mandatory. Hold-down bolts must be minimum 3/8-inch (9.53 mm) if battery is relocated from stock and other than stock hold-downs are used ("J" hooks prohibited or must have open end welded shut.).

 

So what's the solution for a station wagon, if you can't relocate it into the passenger compartment?

-Brad

 

"In lieu of rear firewall, battery may be located in a sealed .024-inch (.6 mm) or .032-inch (.8 mm) aluminum, or FIA accepted poly box. If sealed box is used in lieu of rear firewall, box may not be used to secure battery, and must be vented outside of body."

 

I read that to mean that if it's mounted in the trunk, and you choose not to put a firewall in between the passenger compartment and the trunk, you need to run the metal box.
But on a wagon, it'd be mounted in the passenger compartment, which doesn't seem to be legal, metal box or otherwise.

-Brad

 

In the rear of the wagon, "in lieu of rear firewall", it would be subject to a ruling from the tech officer (or committee)
But I'd say any drag car running NHRA sanction would be getting teched without a spare...good place for a battery box in a wagon...

 

Car is OT, and although not traditional at all, battery set-up is NHRA legal. Regular liquid acid battery in sealed box, vented outside trunk. That battery is over 5 yrs old and still looks new.

 

I asked the same question over on YellowBullet, and the wagon racers say a sealed metal box and they have no problems with tech inspection, so that answers that.

Thanks for the help everyone. This thread was informative.

-Brad