Battery box, do they actually fit?

[RobXjcoupe]

I’ve recently removed the battery box and am about to do some mods to it so as to make any future battery issues more accessible and noticed the glass fibre box doesn’t actually fit properly to begin with lol

[GlynMo]

Mine (500) does, it's a tight fit though.

[griffdude]

Yes, sort of.....

If you're doing some mods to it, think about the captive bolts in the fibreglass going through the floor with the nuts on the other end exposed to all the road crud. Something I've always meant to do....

[RobXjcoupe]

Well the bit that makes me laugh is the on the bottom of the battery box it has RHD a/c with two raised swages that looks like they fit into the female version on the passenger footwell. The captive nuts are held in the raised swages on the battery box but the bolts through the floor are a good 25mm one sided of the floor female swages due to the box fouling on the centre gearbox tunnel.
Proper pants like.
It needs a permanently fixed base and some kind of internal fixing clamp with an insulated shelf above to hold the ecu and wiring securely.

[Pete Mac]

RobXjcoupe said:

Well the bit that makes me laugh is the on the bottom of the battery box it has RHD a/c with two raised swages that looks like they fit into the female version on the passenger footwell. The captive nuts are held in the raised swages on the battery box but the bolts through the floor are a good 25mm one sided of the floor female swages due to the box fouling on the centre gearbox tunnel.
Proper pants like.
It needs a permanently fixed base and some kind of internal fixing clamp with an insulated shelf above to hold the ecu and wiring securely.

Agreed completely with everything you say, however mine fits although it is very tight. It's a complete barsteward locating those bolts in the captive nuts when you replace the box, it helps having a lift. I am sure that if you have any good ideas how to do it better, including relocating the ecu and wiring, there will many (including myself) who would be interested. Pete

[RobXjcoupe]

I’ll get my thinking cap on and see where it leads me
I have a couple of ideas buts it’s fitting and making a neat job.
Thank you for showing an interest

[RichB]

I've done what was suggested on here many years ago. I just maked the box and floor with a black felt tip marker before taking it out. hen just line up the marks and it goes back in exactly where it came out. Then the bolts go back in easy.

[RobXjcoupe]

RichB said:

I've done what was suggested on here many years ago. I just maked the box and floor with a black felt tip marker before taking it out. hen just line up the marks and it goes back in exactly where it came out. Then the bolts go back in easy.

Mine doesn’t actually fit properly to begin with, it has simply been shoved as far back as possible and bolted in place with a squirt of silicone to take up the 15mm gap under the battery box and stop water entering from under the car. Total ste tbh considering the weight of the battery and all the floating wiring wedged above it.
Maybe there are cars where it fits correctly, mine doesn’t. My job as a toolmaker doesn’t let me just bodge the battery back behind a piece of carpet lol
It will do my head in :s

[Pete Mac]

My beef is not so much the box itself, it's shoving the ecu back over a flap of trim and then further shoving in the wiring wherever it will go then holding the whole lot in place with the piece of carpet covered fibre board. I was also planning to apply brain cells on this but if anyone beats me to it then that would be great. Pete

[andy43]

Throw it all away and fit a PC925 gel battery and ally bracket bolted thru the floor - then you can tuck the ECU to the side of it away from the battery terminals

[Loubaruch]

My battery box has never been a problem. From underneath I just centre the two captive nuts using a small screwdriver and the two bolts go straight in.

The dangling mess in the foot well is a disaster waiting to happen I moved the fuse-box to the glove box and bolted the ECU and relays to the bulkhead.
No trouble since and everything is now much more accessible if a fault should occur. Details here:

http://www.bertram-hill.com/moving-the-fuse-panel....

[bomb]

This is why I had my battery moved from the footwell, and relocated behind the drivers seat. Much easier to deal with.

[Storm Guy]

Robx - yes, mine is the same re battery box - the ridges and valleys do not meet (seems to be a comon theme) but the box does go back in fine. As said, marking the location makes taking the battery out/replacing relatively easy though not ideal - and of course the relocation of the ecu and tidying the wiring / fusebox aids the task immensley, as below.

Loubaruch said:

My battery box has never been a problem. From underneath I just centre the two captive nuts using a small screwdriver and the two bolts go straight in.

The dangling mess in the foot well is a disaster waiting to happen I moved the fuse-box to the glove box and bolted the ECU and relays to the bulkhead.
No trouble since and everything is now much more accessible if a fault should occur. Details here:

http://www.bertram-hill.com/moving-the-fuse-panel....

....and a mighty fine solution may I add Paul. Did this back in April using your good info re fusebox and ecu. Cleans up the battery area very well. Thank you.

[RobXjcoupe]

The relocated fuse box and relay holders are a really good idea, I’ll do my version of that also.
The battery box is my current issue. It seems the Griff version doesn’t fit where as the chim does. Last night at work I cut 20mm off the transmission tunnel side of my battery box. I did a trial fit this afternoon and it now fits the floor swages perfectly. I’ve changed battery type to an 075 which is a little shorter on length and height. Fingers crossed I can fit the aluminium runners/packers within the glassfibre container and then cut an opening in the front to slide the battery in and out once the box is secured back onto the passenger footwell. I’ll fashion some kind of battery securing clamp once I’m happy the fit is ok.
I’ll put some pictures up once complete

[bomb]

My battery and fuse box being relocated during the retrim / build process.....




and how it all ended up...................

Edited by bomb on Thursday 9th November 21:21

[RobXjcoupe]

bomb said:

My battery and fuse box being relocated during the retrim / build process.....




and how it all ended up...................

Edited by bomb on Thursday 9th November 21:21

You probably think I’m bonkers but I’m saving the space behind the seats for a pair of subwoofer speaker builds.
I’ll be running a 3 way active system via a 5 channel power amplifier. The original rear speaker positions will be a more styled vent rather than a hole with a grill over.
Otherwise I too would have fitted a pair of batteries, one behind each seat.
Nice though

[bomb]

Each to their own. I am partially deaf. The car is decatted. I dont use the stereo. The exhaust noise is what I like to listen to.

There are other options for battery location, so you can happily fit your stereo system. I love the idea of the fuse box in the glove compartment as its great use of that space.

[RichB]

You see I use the glove box for stuff I need while driving like sunglasses, and believe it or not, gloves! I like to drive with the roof off, even in winter... Theres also a few bits and bobs in there.

[RobXjcoupe]

So above picture shows how much I cut off the end of the battery box.
I also removed the rear right corner as that still interfered with body shell securing bolt.
Last night I made in effect a 20mm raised platform in a kind of H shape which is secured to the bottom of the battery box and added a couple of braces to the open end that I cut off to give a bit more rigidity. The H part of the 20mm thick platform allows a better material to be used to drill and tap and secure from under the car without worrying about over tightening and moving those captive nuts held in the glass fibre resin.
Test fitted earlier just before work and this now fits almost perfectly in the space it was designed for. A bonus is there is now a really good space to the left of the battery box to fit a mounting point to secure the ecu and excess wiring and because of no wiring on top of the battery box, there is a clear sight of vision to access the fuse box in its standard factory position.

[RobXjcoupe]

20mm square aluminium to make a flat base to clamp the battery to.

Rear battery clamp fixed position once fitted

This is the front battery clamp which when removed enables the battery to slide out from the glassfibre battery box

Those oversized stainless washers and bolts permanently secure the battery box through the passenger floor. They screw into the 20mm aluminium so no issue of captive nuts spinning within the glassfibre if over tightened. The 20mm square aluminium is also secured to the battery box via 4 6mm countersunk screws.

Shotblasted, etch primed and black top coat to finish. Now ready to fit back into passenger footwell. I won’t bother with sticking carpet on it until I’m happy with the wiring and ecu fitment.
The battery box now fits correctly into the passenger floor swages on my Griff using a type 075 battery