Good, steady progress lately. Engine bay wiring loom is about halfway done. Radiator is fitted. It's time to start getting some electrical juice into this thing and see what starts firing up.
So it's time to fit a battery. Obviously it's not going to fit anywhere under the engine bay (and I wouldn't want any more weight that far forward anyway), so another location needed to be selected.
It seems all the rage these days to put the battery in the boot. But I've never been a fan of this. To me, that is putting the weight too high, and behind the rear axle. Not to mention the loss of boot space!
504s have two large voids under the rear seats. On one side I will be fitting the fuel pumps, but on the other side I had no plans. Bingo, let's whack a battery there.
I took some measurements and went wandering around SuperCheapAuto with a tape measure. I selected an NS60LS battery. It's a narrow battery, 130mm wide, and about 220mm high including the posts. It's good for 430 CCA, which should be enough to kick the V6 over.
I've actually been putting this job off for weeks, trying to find the courage to cut a significant hole in the back of the 504!! But today, with the Ekka public holiday, I decided it was time.
So - measure twice and cut once!! Actually, I measured about 30 times, not wanting to stuff this up. The gap underneath the car between the driver's side rear passenger footwell and the rear suspension crossmember is a shade under 150mm, so the battery needs to poke through that space. After a couple of deep breaths, I cut the hole:
I cut the hole to fit a box that would also be big enough to both support the battery and accommodate a remote-control circuit breaker. So my hole extends back past the rear suspension crossmember, and the battery box I will fabricate will have a stepped design to suit.
And here is the box. You can see the extra space on the rear for the RCCB:
Fits like a glove:
And battery in place. With the seat re-fitted, you certainly can't feel that there's a battery under there. But I will make a cover for it at some point regardless:
A view under the car. Although it might look like it protrudes a fair bit, the base of the battery box is actually 5mm higher than the bottom of the crossmember or the footwell.
I have run a bead of sealant around all the seams on the box, and I have left it to set overnight. Tomorrow I will paint the box, then on Friday I will do the final fitting and sealing of the battery box. I am going to use a series to large rivets to secure it.
One more thing done!
So it's time to fit a battery. Obviously it's not going to fit anywhere under the engine bay (and I wouldn't want any more weight that far forward anyway), so another location needed to be selected.
It seems all the rage these days to put the battery in the boot. But I've never been a fan of this. To me, that is putting the weight too high, and behind the rear axle. Not to mention the loss of boot space!
504s have two large voids under the rear seats. On one side I will be fitting the fuel pumps, but on the other side I had no plans. Bingo, let's whack a battery there.
I took some measurements and went wandering around SuperCheapAuto with a tape measure. I selected an NS60LS battery. It's a narrow battery, 130mm wide, and about 220mm high including the posts. It's good for 430 CCA, which should be enough to kick the V6 over.
I've actually been putting this job off for weeks, trying to find the courage to cut a significant hole in the back of the 504!! But today, with the Ekka public holiday, I decided it was time.
So - measure twice and cut once!! Actually, I measured about 30 times, not wanting to stuff this up. The gap underneath the car between the driver's side rear passenger footwell and the rear suspension crossmember is a shade under 150mm, so the battery needs to poke through that space. After a couple of deep breaths, I cut the hole:
I cut the hole to fit a box that would also be big enough to both support the battery and accommodate a remote-control circuit breaker. So my hole extends back past the rear suspension crossmember, and the battery box I will fabricate will have a stepped design to suit.
And here is the box. You can see the extra space on the rear for the RCCB:
Fits like a glove:
And battery in place. With the seat re-fitted, you certainly can't feel that there's a battery under there. But I will make a cover for it at some point regardless:
A view under the car. Although it might look like it protrudes a fair bit, the base of the battery box is actually 5mm higher than the bottom of the crossmember or the footwell.
I have run a bead of sealant around all the seams on the box, and I have left it to set overnight. Tomorrow I will paint the box, then on Friday I will do the final fitting and sealing of the battery box. I am going to use a series to large rivets to secure it.
One more thing done!
![7184640536_64bfeac48a_b[1].jpg](https://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/data/attachments/70/70372-aee16667ad2686c029b0e6c26bef7812.jpg "7184640536_64bfeac48a_b[1].jpg")
