Battery Relocation to Boot

To have sufficient space for my upcoming carbon airbox I've relocated the battery to the boot. Since I don't run any bright bliking strobe lights or a stupendous megawatt ICE, system the decision was made to go for as small a battery as possible. I've chosen the Odyssey PC680MJ dry cell battery as it's popularly used by many race teams and fellow mod enthusiasts. The PC680 only weights 7kg vs 15+kg for your average NS60 sized battery. The MJ suffix stands for "Metal Jacket" for additional engine bay heat protection. As can be seen from pix below the battery is really teeny weeny being slightly larger than your everyday motorcycle battery

The Odyssey can be mounted on any position and also does not emit any corrosive hydrogen gasses unlike conventional 'wet' batteries. Downside of course would be price. I got mine really special but the retail price of these batteries is approx USD160 in the States to RM1K+ in Japan without shipping. Unfortunately there are no distributors in Malaysia so you'll have to mail order from other countries with the closest being Singapore or Australia. For those who want a larger size battery for more "security" do go for the PC925 model but do note that it's heavier, larger and of course more expensive than the PC680. I have decided to forgo the std non-daily automotive SAE terminals and have instead used the race M6 termination complete with tin end terminals. For those who still want the SAE terminals you can purchase the PC680MJT (Metal Jacket SAE Terminal)model which comes with the SAE automotive terminals pre-installed. Battery tray is carbon.

Power cable is the best 'thick n fat' welding cable (oranged coloured jacket with the very Ah Beng sounding "Dragon Welding Cable" printed on it's jacket) I can buy complete with an expensive sleeve made from hi-fi cables. Length of cable to buy would depend on your config. Some people route 2 separate cables for starter motor and alternator each. I've decided to use the same cable for both duties connected to terminated to the stock cable in the engine bay. Both positive and negative terminals are the same cables. The crimping and end cable termination was done by a hi-fi enthusiasts bro and is first class as can be seen from the pix.

The positive end was marked with a red band for quick and easy identification. You can always buy expensive power amp cables from the likes of Monster Cable if you have the budget and like the looks but IMHO they're the same in terms of performance in starting the car so it's puurely for the blong factor. At the moment I've secured the Odyssey's metal jacket together with the battery tray in the boot via self tapping screws with no clamps. The battery is in turn secured onto it's jacket via silicon adhesive. Unfortunately you'll have to drill holes in your boot. Additional hole is also required for the grounding. And do not forget to scrape away the paint for the grounding point. There must be bare metal to metal contact for the grounding to work effectively. Pix of the battery mounted in the boot

The stock front positive cable together with ABS fuse was left in place with the stock SAE terminals removed and carefully zip tied to the gearbox speed sensor. Care must taken to ensure no contact to any metal parts of the car unless you like a short. The negative ground cable was snipped off with a handy pair of scissors and the remaining cable to engine left in place.

The cabling was routed to the rear via the passenger (left) side carpetting at the side of the car. There are many access points with rubber gromets leading into the engine bay. You just have to remove one gromet and use a knife to cut away the centre section then thread the cable through it.

Another completed pix

A fellow petrolhead bro of mine by the name of one famous Jack Chooi aka "Jacko Whacko" aka "AlucraD" from TMM forum has also completed his battery relo work yesterday. I'll get him to publish a report of his work later if he's up to it.