Battery Relocation, or Rear Mount Battery
 

After searching for and viewing the Battery relocation thread...

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-...-trunk-173180/

....I started on my own Battery relocation. I made some different choices and IMO, some improvements to the DIY mod.

Here is the first pic.

As you can see in the first and second pics, I used 2 gauge wire for the pos and ground/earth/neg wires.

I decided to mount the battery more toward the center of the car, and within the rear axle, to make better 50/50 weight distribution. I also chose the passenger rear side to counter the weight of the driver in the driver seat.

I took out the stock straps of the trunk, and upgraded to a tie down. It is wrapped around the mount of the shock tower. The battery is very secure to the side of the trunk. I also removed some of the sound deadening under the carpet, so that the battery would sit a half inch into the carpet.

I drilled percise holes into the console rear center, and ran the cables through, with the positive on top for added protection.

for the sake of safety, get a breaker on that asap. Especially with running the wires like that.

IMO you need circuit breaker directly off that battery or it just looks like a terrible fire hazard, I am actually strictly opposed to locating the battery anywhere but under the hood.

Note there are special types of batteries that are acceptable, Optima is not one of them and it will dissipate toxic fumes while it is charging (99% of all rechargeable batteries do this). That plus a 12' cable constantly running the full power of the battery without prober circuit breakers is screaming for a short and an arc fire.

IMO get a race battery and locate it under the hood and be done with it.

Fixed, 50/50 distribution is achieved from the factory. Taking 40 pounds from the front and putting it in the rear on a 50/50 car already means you just made distribution worse not better.

In this pic, you can see where I removed the sound deadening on the passenger rear side.

Under the rear center to the trunk plastic, there are some sharp edges on body, so I used some wire loom to cover around the 2 gauge wires. I ran the ground wire on the bottom just incase there is ever any way that the wire would be cut and ground out on the body..... But they are very secure, and that would be the worse case scenario.

I had to pull the center console all the way to run the wires.

I also removed the insulation carpet stuff.

pretty sure you make distribution worse as soon as you sit in the driver seat...

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

I run all my wires very secure. I never had a problem with the rear mount battery in my Rx-7 for over 5 years.

I'll post pics when my Rx-8 burns to the ground. Lol.

Thanks for the opinion. I did the rear mount to rid of stuff in the engine bay.

As for the weight distrbution, I got the 40 lbs of the nose of the car. It's now within the center of the car. When doing mods such as this, there are all sorts of changes that are going to occur.

Thanks for the input though.

Fourth and fifth pic of the Rear mount Battery.

In the 4th pic you can see the route I took with the large 2 gauge wires they sit very well inside the rear center console.

As for the 5th pic (please hold your opinions on going through the body of the car), I went through the cup holder with the positive wire.

After long contemplation about drilling, I decided that this could be easily replaced if anything goes wrong. It had rust from the previous owner spilling their drinks in the cup holder, so I had to clean out the rust and spray some primer to coat it.

I had some sharp edges from drilling, so I filed down the hole that was drilled, and covered the wire with wireloom and e-tape.

The ground wire is ran to the cup holder rear, I drilled another 3/8 inch hole with a bolt for the ground. I wanted to make the ground wire to have the option of being in the center of the car, just in case I want to run another large ground wire to anywhere else.

The 6th and 7th pics are under the car.

It is a hard pic to make out, but this is just the positive wire coming out of the cup holder thing. I forgot to mention that I drilled at a 45 degree angle so the wire would come right out next to the transmission.

I was happy with where the wire came out of the body. It was a direct shot to the side of the transmission, and right to the starter.

The 7th pic is a shot of the side of the transmission, where there was an empty bolt hole for a hanger clip (from a FC3s.... lol) that holds the 2 gauge positive wire very secure along side the transmission.

8th and 9th pics of the positive cable.

The eighth pic shows the wire secure to the transmission, and running to the starter.

9th pic is up close on the wire, bolted to the starter.

As for under the engine bay, just follow some of the steps in the DIY battery relocation thread. Here....

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-...-trunk-173180/

Or just make up your own electric paths under the hood. Idc.

Lol. Nah, you all are cool.

And You done it!!! Here are some finished pictures of the Rear mount Battery relocation.

Great Job!

:lol: That is unsat.

There are some pros and cons to this style of battery relocation.

Pros

1. I was mostly concerned with making my engine bay clear. Asthetics.
2. It has a benefit of not blocking the fans air flow from the radiator.
3. It takes weight off the nose of the car.
4. The wires are centered in the middle of the car, which the "small" amount of weight that it does increase, is now centered rather than all around the driverside.
5. Cooler battery = longer life.


Cons

1. It is not stock. Let the bashing begin.
2. Drilling in the body is bad.
3. There is no 2nd cup holder.
4. The battery is secure, but not bolted down.

We are well aware of the benefits. There is a right way, and a wrong way. How you safely routed the wire, where you grounded it, Type of wire used, how you terminated the ends, type of distribution block, fuse holder, how you sorted the wiring in the engine bay, how you secured the 50lb prejectile in your trunk, etc.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9krpmrx8/10979660605/http://www.flickr.com/photos/9krpmrx8/11043599174/

Scott,

Don't you have a DIY for your setup around here somewhere.

Nah, Houstonrx8er has some pics of his not really a DIY though, it's somewhat similar to mine (same battery and mount ) but cleaner on the trunk side than mine.

Wait a minute, you have the positive going straight to the starter? And speaker wire running along side the tranny? Jesus, I'd love top see pictures of the engine bay side.

Hooray! My first bashing! This is so exciting.

Hi 9krpmrx8. I figured you were going to try and bash this. I've been all around the forum, and seen your arrogance/ignorance coming a mile away!

Let's just start with your first sentence. "We are well aware of the benefits." When you state "We", you are trying to encompass all the people that are users on this forum. This is incorrect. Not everyone is aware of the benefits of battery relocation.

Right off the bat, your first sentence is a logical fallacy of the appeal to ignorance, and dubious authority.

Anyhow, the rest of what you said is a matter of my quality of work. If you are asking, the answer is yes, I make sure all my wiring is quality work.

My 50 lbs. "prejectile" (projectile) is secure enough that when I try to shake the battery, I move the car, and the battery stays stationary.

Thanks for your concerned reply!

never heard of inertia?

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

His claims of safety based on the shake test are sufficient for me. Due to the strength of his words I feel comfortable saying that his actual strength is on par and possibly surpasses that of a vehicular accident. I am a certified internet safety engineer.

:lol:

http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8...iwwco1_500.gif

I just hope this doesn't get moved to the DIY section. Lack of any safety precautions = phailcake

And this is exactly why we cant have nice things...