Battery Relocation Kit/Gears

[AnotherCoupe]

Well hopefully I will be installing the battery relocation kit this weekend. It will be the kit from Summit (SUM-G1200A) which says that it comes with all that is needed. My question is should I get ready for any other problems that come with installing a kit like this. As for right now the car is mainly stock and I run no other electrical devices that might strain that system anymore than it already is.

The other part to this is what gear ratio would be best for a dailey driver like mine which is an AOD. I had 3.73 in the 86 but that was a 5 speed and I am sure that there would be some sort of difference. I was thinking 3.55 or 3.73 again. Just looking to get it right the first time so I dont go in and have to repeat any work. As always thanks for the advice.

Jason M

[White90GT]

I liked the 3.73s for daily driving with my AOD, nice all around gear and I still got decent mileage at like 17mpg or so. As for the battery relocation, does it come with the cutoff switch? Does it come with a firewall to put behind the back seat? I think you still have to have a alluminum firewall between the driver and the battery, talk to Brent about how his is done.

[HoustonLX]

Not that I have any experience with rear mounted batteries, but from what I have heard, you may run into a problem with "hot starts". I think Ben had this problem till he swapped starters.

As far as gears with an AOD, I would go 3.73's for a daily driver. I have an AOD and 3.73's. However, since I do more drag racing and the car is not a DD, I am swapping out to 4.10's here soon. With the 3.73's, I can cruise in OD at 70 mph and be doing around 2,300-2,500 rpm's. Thats with judging my mph off other vehicles since I just installed the AOD recently and have yet to get the speedo working so my mph may be a little high or low. Just a safe guestimate.

[Blue91]

Jason... for your car, I really wouldn't bother with the battery relocation. IMO, it's not worth it for a car that isn't drag raced much and that is relied upon.

If you DO do it, I wouldn't use the Summit kit. You want it to be as good as possible and if you're gonna do it, might as well make it NHRA legal so they let you run at the track with it.

In order to be NHRA legal, you'll have to have a NHRA approved sealed battery box or a firewall between the trunk and the pass. compartment. Also, you'll need to install an external battery cutoff switch (you don't want people jacking around with that when having one on a daily driver). Lastly, if you do it, use welding cable for the battery cables, instead of the thick stranded, very stiff cable that comes with the Summit kit.

I have a write up on my site on how I've done every car I've owned and I've never had any problems with hot starts or legalities at the track.

http://www.pomofo.com/How-To%20Indexes/battindex.html

Again, with your car, I wouldn't bother with it, but if you insist, I hope this info helps.

Regards,

[Timebomb]

I'm not familar with the Summit relocation kit but be aware that it may not contain everything needed to make the car legal to race at the track. If the kit has a cutoff switch and a seperate cable that goes from the alternator to the switch it is probably NHRA legal. Fred has a great diagram for the proper way to wire the system so that it is legal, I'm sure he will post it.

As far as gears for a daily driver, I'd say 3.73 or 4.10s. If it was my choice I'd say 4.10s just based off my experience. The RPM difference at highway speeds wouldn't be enough for me to go to a lower gear.

[AnotherCoupe]

The main reason for the battery relocation kit is that when I installed the new 3 core radiator it pushed the shroud out a little to far. Now I cant get the transmission cooler lines around the stock overflow tank that is mounted on the shroud. So right now I really dont have any place for an aftermarket overflow tank either. So hopefully putting the battery in the trunk will give me a little more room under the hood and get me closer to my goal of getting this car ready to replace my poor 86 as a car to take to the track. Thanks as always for all the advise and Fred I will make sure to read the article you posted. Hopefully one day soon I might just beable to join all of you at the track again..