relocating battery

[clarkmagpie]

has anyone relocated their battery to somewhere more accessable than passanger footwell?

was thinking about the boot but would the roof fit in as well?

[Mark_G]

If I remember correctly, there's a piece on moving the battery into the boot on the Griffith Pages

[Uncle Fester]

I heard someone once put a battery box on the shelf behind the seats.
Anyone got a photo of that?
I wanted to move mine, more for legroom than access, but couldn't find a good solution.

[GJR]

If you do a search there are quite a lot of past threads on this subject eg. below:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

There is a modification that relocates the battery to the boot on The Griffith Pages, but in the past people have expressed concerns that it might be illegal to have it in the boot !??!

I remember seeing/reading about in the past an older TVR (pre Griff/Chim) that had the battery behind a seat on a chassis rail, but I think it said that this was not possible in a Griff or Chim as the chassis was not the same. Again there might be some legal issues with having the battery so close to the passengers ?!?!

I believe (though I'm probably wrong about this) that it could be set into the p/s wing but this has never been done as it would require a major re-strengthening of the wing itself and a huge amount of work/expence for just a few additional inches of legroom? This could be a possibility if anyone was taking on a ground up restoration project I suppose??

You can get thinner batteries such as RedTop which would help the problem??

G

[chrispitman]

I can't be illegal to have the battery in the boot, quite a few cars do ie jags, bmw, mercs.

[Pink_Floyd]

chrispitman said:

I can't be illegal to have the battery in the boot, quite a few cars do ie jags, bmw, mercs.

I thought that the problem with TVRs is that you would have both the battery and petrol tank in the boot. That is not the case with Jags, mercs and BMWs

[spend]

The original design had the battery higher up with the fuse box underneath. Whilst this created more leg room, the battery was a PITA to access, the fusebox invariably got wet, and the COG was raised.

Keeping a heavy item like the battery as low as possible, and within the wheelbase is very smart IMHO. The floor pan is about the lowest point you can get the battery fixed to, arguably forward is better... where it is located

The best alternative was posted recently (last year IIRC), where someone mounted it behind the seat (might be MikeV?). Due to the rake of the seat a fair amount of legroom was gained I believe.

Dave

[steve-V8s]

chrispitman said:

I can't be illegal to have the battery in the boot, quite a few cars do ie jags, bmw, mercs.

As did the V8s

[GreenV8S]

The only problem I can see with fitting the battery in the boot is that you need the space to fit the roof panels. Otherwise, that's an ideal place for it.

[TVR SUPPLIES]

spend said:

......The best alternative was posted recently (last year IIRC), where someone mounted it behind the seat (might be MikeV?).......
Dave

It wasn't me,Dave,but moving the battery is something i'll be doing for Mel.I just couldn't come to a decision with where to locate it.My current thinking is to have two of the red tops in the footwell,but out of the way of legroom if poss,trouble is i cant see the car from home for an accurate assesment.

[spend]

TVR SUPPLIES said:

...trouble is i cant see the car from home for an accurate assessment .

You keep moaning about that.... I'll try & call in tomorrow & say hello from you Notice Mel has given up proof reading today

Was it a thread not too long ago which you raised similar to this one? Sure someone came up with seat mod, and remember it seemed a good idea - 3d geometry / sitting pos / legroom..., honestly thought it was one of your planning L110 topics?

Dave

[TVR SUPPLIES]

spend said:

TVR SUPPLIES said:

...trouble is i cant see the car from home for an accurate assessment .

You keep moaning about that.... I'll try & call in tomorrow & say hello from you Notice Mel has given up proof reading today

Was it a thread not too long ago which you raised similar to this one? Sure someone came up with seat mod, and remember it seemed a good idea - 3d geometry / sitting pos / legroom..., honestly thought it was one of your planning L110 topics?

Dave

Mel isn't home yet,hence the poor English!.I have raised the question on re-location,but certainly not done it i'm afraid.I kept coming up with disadvantages wherever i wanted to place it,so i'm now thinking of re-locating in the footwell,maybe even one red top in each?.
If you do call in tomorrow,then let me know how things are please mate

[DaveG]

I have just finished relocating my battery from the footwell to the boot (Griff 500). The roof fits fine and the only disadvantage can see is the extra weight (20lbs) behing the rear wheel. Since I only weigh 75 kg not too fussed. See attached photo.

[shpub]

GreenV8S said:

The only problem I can see with fitting the battery in the boot is that you need the space to fit the roof panels. Otherwise, that's an ideal place for it.

Yes it is was on the V8s as the fuel tank isn't in the boot. The main concern I would have is the fact that the battery is right next to the fuel tank. Get a rear end shunt and the battery can come loose and hit the tank. If the positive lead touches it, the battery shorts out and kaboom. The tank covering is not that strong or thick and is easily punctured. The battery would need to be in a sealed insulated box.

[shpub]

chrispitman said:

I can't be illegal to have the battery in the boot, quite a few cars do ie jags, bmw, mercs.

No but they don't have the fuel tank in the same space.

[GJR]

I hope some of our posts aren't too negative as it would be great if the battery could be relocated to a more accessible place and create a little more leg room in the passenger side.

But as shpub said and bearing in mind recent posts on the Chim side of the world by Krautchimaera and carinatauk, a bad rear end shunt could be disastrous.

Just wondered if there really is a legal issue and where would you be able to find out about it. Has anyone who put the battery in the boot passed the MOT ? As I guess that would be the clincher !?!

G

[steve-V8s]

I guess the battery size depends on what you are using the car for. I use a Red Top 20 which is tiny ( and light) compared to the standard fitting and gives about 3 inches extra leg room even with the ECU wrapped in carpet and fitted between it and the bulkhead. If you need to leave the car long periods away from the trickle charger or use it at night then a 20 may be too small. There are however a number of batteries that offer adequate performance without being as big as the original. If you are just after a few inches then this is probably the way to go.

[Griftwood]

Come to think of it, my old Maserati 3200GT, the battery was behind the fuel tank in the boot. The fuel filler cap was on the same side too (Drivers side), not too far away from the battery either

[Uncle Fester]

GJR said:

If you do a search there are quite a lot of past threads on this subject eg. below:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

There is a modification that relocates the battery to the boot on The Griffith Pages, but in the past people have expressed concerns that it might be illegal to have it in the boot !??!

I remember seeing/reading about in the past an older TVR (pre Griff/Chim) that had the battery behind a seat on a chassis rail, but I think it said that this was not possible in a Griff or Chim as the chassis was not the same. Again there might be some legal issues with having the battery so close to the passengers ?!?!

I believe (though I'm probably wrong about this) that it could be set into the p/s wing but this has never been done as it would require a major re-strengthening of the wing itself and a huge amount of work/expence for just a few additional inches of legroom? This could be a possibility if anyone was taking on a ground up restoration project I suppose??

You can get thinner batteries such as RedTop which would help the problem??

G

I was looking at the red tops and made a few enquiries. I got the following back from a guy who does the sparks at Lotus factory. It answers specific questions I was asking about using Red Top batteries, perhaps in combination with a motorcycle battery to provide the slow drain the alarm makes, perhaps with a solar panel on the garage roof.

I have no power supply to my garage and can't fit one.

This is what he said.

Split charge systems are quite easy to engineer although in general one
would up rate the alternator so it could charge up both batteries while
driving the vehicle.

You have to build a balanced system. Two batteries of the same capacity helps.

Red Top batteries are only designed for Race cars.
Road car use doesn't suit them. The Mosler MT900 road cars fitted with red
tops would be flat within 5 days with the alarm set.
Race cars use external start batteries if you have prolonged cranking
spells. The Red Tops just cannot do it.
They are fine if the engine fires straight away and fine for race car
electrical loads not everyday road cars and cars left for long periods of
storage.

A motorcycle battery will not power an after market car alarm for more than
a few days.
(Motor cycle alarms are designed with very low quiescent drain - and have no
interior sensors such as microwaves which draw many mA)
The quiescent current draw on aftermarket alarms can be very high.
At Lotus we had to pass a 3 week standby test where the car was parked for 3
weeks with the alarm set. The alarms had a quiescent drain of between
15-20mA. The car had to start after 3 weeks. This was only achievable with a
conventional lead acid new battery conditioned to 70% state of charge. The
battery required was a 45Ah minimum.

Another test we conducted was for Solar panel trickle charges. A range of
panels varying in cost from £30 to £175 were assessed.
They were all useless unless it was bright direct sunlight. You would have
to live in the Med and have the panel track the sun to get it to be of any
use.

What ever you choose to do I recommend that you have a battery kill switch
that totally disconnects the battery from any load when the car is parked in
the garage.
Or fit a mains trickle charger system.

We could measure the cars quiescent drain when it’s in Norfolk.

At the end of the day the bigger the battery the better.

[steve-V8s]

I can only speak from experience and my Red Top 20 (which is tiny and very light) is in it’s fourth year and still cranks the car enthusiastically. To be fair, when not out and about it does get connected to a trickle charger. I fitted it as part of a diet which included removing the radio, cd and speakers which lost 23Kg I expected to be swapping the batteries before each Hill Climb but not so. It is only 17Ah so you have to be sensible but for how I use the car it has worked fine. I feel quite comfortable leaving it parked for a few days with the alarm set.

I don’t agree with the opinion they don’t suit road cars it is simply a case of choosing the correct Ah capacity for the application. Some race cars do indeed have no on board cranking battery, sometimes they don’t even have a starter motor as weight is very important. You will also see competition cars with an onboard supply using a slave battery to start, not because the onboard supply is inadequate but because they don’t want the alternator loading the engine when competing.