Long, long time no post... How is everyone?

I've made some progress on the car and recently removed the rusty battery tray and stand with the intention of relocating the battery to the front. I know I've seen write ups on this, but can't for the life of me find any of them.

I've purchased an affordable kit from Summit so I have the main parts. I'm just hung up on what the correct thing to do with the original mess of wires that attach to the positive side of the battery in the engine compartment.

Thanks.

-Aaron

Two of the red wires at the battery run up front, one to the fuse box, the other to the ignition switch. The other two go to the relay board, one for the FI and the other for the heater fan.

I rerouted the wires for the fuse box and ign switch to run up front to the battey.The battery to starter cable I used had a long 4 gauge wire crimped onto the battery clamp and this was used to supply power for the FI and heater. You could tap this power off the battery post on the starer.

don't do it

OK, so you would suggest welding in a replacement tray and stand? Why?

Thanks.

-Aaron

Since you have to run a cable to the starter anyway, an Audi 5000 remote 12v+ post is a good solution for the problem. It can be mounted in the engine compartment, has a convenient cable that will reach the starter, and provides a safe, secure attachment point for the small wires that were originally attached to the battery connection. It also provides a handy point to get battery power for electrical testing, and you can jump or charge the battery from it.

Another alternative is to weld a metal battery box in the floor of the rear trunk, adjacent to the firewall. It needs to be 3-4 inches deep. The existing starter cable will fit, and you need only to extend the smaller wires. The Audi post is again an ideal answer for that issue.

The Cap'n

Do you know the cost of the Audi cable hookup and where one might get one ? Thanks

battery technology these days avoids the leaking problem plus with that tough stuff tray coating a battery mat and a good top, corrosion from acid leakage is a thing of the past. car balance, accessability, not turning the front or rear trunk onto a battery storage area, taking up useable luggage space routing long cables through improper places, rigging clamping apparatus, ignoring the factory's engineers, moving the power source even further from the starter, the inexpensiveness of the batt tray and support etc etc. I could think of others

Any boneyard that has a 5000. It attaches with phillips screws to the frame on the right front corner, and the cable attaches to the starter. Cablr is about 3 feet long.

No boneyard? I have a couple of spares. PM me. The Cap'n

Thanks I'll do some callin around if not I'm callin you. Thanks again Paul

If you're going to relocate it anywhere, put it in the rear trunk. Even with a taller gel-cell battery I can still fit the top in the rear with no clearance issues. You also only have to run a new longer red cable to the starter from the battery.

I'm after better weight distribution too, not just the easy way out. I think I'll take a good look at the Audi 5000 part and see if it works for me. Sounds like a cool widget to have anyway...

I have the Summit relocation kit with tons of *huge* wire, the box, grommets, and hangers. I just need to decide on a sane route for the + cable.

-Aaron

Well, keep in mind that while you will be distrubuting the weight of the battery to the front, you will also be adding the weight of the cables and such to the car. And heavy gauge wire isn't light.

Also, you can effect the weight distribution of the car simply by using a smaller battery. Say you went with a smaller Odyssey battery. You'd be knocking 20 lbs off the rear weight bias of the car right off the bat. That's 1% of the total weight of the car. Doesn't sound like much, but that's not a meaningless change on a 914. For a competition car, it's a big deal. And, they're sealed batteries, so no leaking acid that is so often the cause of the demise of the battery tray to begin with. And, you can mount them in any orientation too.

Odyssey Batteries

Now, for a daily driver, you may not want to run a super tiny battery. But for a daily driver, why such an interest in making a subtle change to the weight distribution? I don't know your interest here. DD, or Race?

-Josh2

I all ready have a "red top". The car will be a weekend toy with (hopefully) plenty of AX and DE.

-Aaron

That's not a very light battery. Probably north of 35 lbs. Cost-to-benefit ratio...How much is a compact Odyssey (or Optima for that matter)? Around $130. How much time and money would you wind up spending to relocate the battery to the front of the car?

I recall Brant's philosophy on weight reduction, and I think it's a good one. If it costs less than $50/lb to shed the weight, it's worth it. $130 to shed 20 lbs? That works out to $6.50 a lb...

Just food for thought...

-Josh2