Battery in trunk

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Demonx2 said:
I did exactly what @crackedback recommended. Ground cable comes off the battery and goes straight down through the trunk floor to the right rear frame rail. That cable can't be more than 14" or so. Then a same size cable from the right rear cyl head to a nut welded to the right front rail. Again, not very long. And I used either 2/0 or 1/0 welding cable (can't recall) for the positive side...of course through a Ford relay to keep it dead except during crank.

With a mini-starter, the avatar's 10.5 CR 408 will crank like crazy if need be although it normally starts almost instantly. I give @crackedback the credit for my setup!
Click to expand...
I'm in the middle of wiring up my '66. I'm using that method as well, per Rob's (crackedback) recommendation. Good to hear it's working out for ya.
 
Bewy said:
If you want to use the body for the ground connection for the bat in the trunk, then there is no problem with that electrically providing the connection points are good.
But what is the benefit? You are adding weight because a THICK [ heavy ] copper cable is needed for the positive. If it is for weight transfer, is it worth it?
Click to expand...

Most any serious race car has that mod, so the move must be beneficial
 
Demonx2 said:
I did exactly what @crackedback recommended. Ground cable comes off the battery and goes straight down through the trunk floor to the right rear frame rail. That cable can't be more than 14" or so. Then a same size cable from the right rear cyl head to a nut welded to the right front rail. Again, not very long. And I used either 2/0 or 1/0 welding cable (can't recall) for the positive side...of course through a Ford relay to keep it dead except during crank.

With a mini-starter, the avatar's 10.5 CR 408 will crank like crazy if need be although it normally starts almost instantly. I give @crackedback the credit for my setup!
Click to expand...
If you don't mind, what battery cable did you end up going with and where'd you get it? Thank you.
 
On my race car, I grounded the battery to the subframe rail and then welded 5/16" bolts in unseen areas and grounded anything that needed a good ground. You can never have enough grounding points IMO.
 
mopowers said:
If you don't mind, what battery cable did you end up going with and where'd you get it? Thank you.
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So per Rob's suggestion (@crackedback ), I had used red 1/0 welding cable for the hot wire coming from the battery in the trunk. I ran that through a "Ford" style relay so that it is only hot when the starter is being activated. That way, you don't have to worry about the cable becoming grounded and causing a huge short as the car/wiring ages.

I also have a 1-wire alternator and used a 4ga wire for the alternator charge wire going to the battery. It is fused both up front in the engine compartment as well as right by the battery. This is so it is protected should a short occur near either end. Sightly redundant but I sleep better!

I got all of my cables, terminals, solder slugs, etc from Quality Copper Battery Cables Made in the USA! - BatteryCablesUSA. Great service and products from my experience.

1728842836675.png


Hope it helps!
 
Demonx2 said:
So per Rob's suggestion (@crackedback ), I had used red 1/0 welding cable for the hot wire coming from the battery in the trunk. I ran that through a "Ford" style relay so that it is only hot when the starter is being activated. That way, you don't have to worry about the cable becoming grounded and causing a huge short as the car/wiring ages.

I also have a 1-wire alternator and used a 4ga wire for the alternator charge wire going to the battery. It is fused both up front in the engine compartment as well as right by the battery. This is so it is protected should a short occur near either end. Sightly redundant but I sleep better!

I got all of my cables, terminals, solder slugs, etc from Quality Copper Battery Cables Made in the USA! - BatteryCablesUSA. Great service and products from my experience.

View attachment 1716315200

Hope it helps!
Click to expand...
I've bought from them in the past as well. You're right, they've got great service and were super fast at shipping out the order. Thanks for the reminder!
 
My opinion, from back in the day. My 70 440-6 RR, a 10.x:1 440, I put the battery in the trunk. Used a couple of store bought braided ground cables to bolt the engine to the body at the front rails. No ground cable to the rear. Used a store bought "6v" cable for a ground, to the trunk floor, through the frame rail. I believe I bored an access hole in the bottom to reach up in there with a nut in a socket.

Hot cable was some scrap I found, not sure but certainly not as large as 0 gauge. Likely no 1.

Bear in mind this is the old wound field starter, and never even worried about it turning over. This was in about 71?? or so, and with an analog meter, I don't remember the actual voltage drop but it was inconsequential.

This is NOT the recommended method of today in a vehicle with EFI and lots of electronics.
 
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