Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Performance battery relocation kit help

Hey I need help on doing this.... anybody got a how to for me....?

what exactly do you need help with?

thanks for starting this guys... i just got a yellow top optima and i have no idea how to relocate it to the back... can someone please write a how to, cover everything from the wire gauge, as to whether or not you need ventilation, as to how to ground it, etc.,etc... THANKS!
-Barry

Summit makes a relocation kit that comes with everything you need, and instructions to boot. Since you have an Optima, you do not need to vent anything. If you are relocating a regualar battery you will need a sealed box with a vent. Although it is not as critical in the trunk as would be in a hatchback type car.

THANKS!

By the way, someone is selling a summit kit in the classifieds. I'm pretty sure he could hook you up (okay, it's me )

path914,

i sent you an email... I'll take the kit... THANKS!
-Barry ...good price too, cheaper than ebay, i appreciate it!

OK I'll give you a ruff how-to:

1. find a spot on the firewall behind the driver's side strut tower to run the wire. You are going to have to use an extension and a decent sized drill bit. I personally used a hole-cutting bit that has the regular bit in the center so it make its own pilot hole (hopefully, you know the one I'm talking about). I also drilled from the passenger comartment side into the engine compartment. This made it much easier. After you're done, insert a rubber grommet in the hole to protect the power wire from the edge of the hole you just drilled. After time it will wear through the insulation and ground out on the chassis. Not good.

2. Insert the wire through the hole and distribute it the length of the car about how you want it. Pull out the plastic rivet on the drivers side kick panel to give you more room. You have an option hear, you can either do the tedious job of unscrewing every screw in the trim panel that runs the length of your floor-board or not. I did not undo all the screws, because I only used 1 gauge wire and could just slide it under the trim the whole length. If this is being a problem, unscrew the whole thing and run the wire underneath it.

3. Regardless of which method you did the last step, unscrew the last two screws in the trim by the back seat and pull that end up. Find the padded trim betweeen the seat and the door. Fish your wire from the door side to the seat side behind it, but make sure it is almost at the botom because I think I remember a bolt being about 2/3 of the way down. Pull the wire through into trunk and put it roughly in its place. Position the wire under the trim and replace those 2 screws and the rivet in the front.

4. Lift up your trunk liner and find a nice metal area to ground to. MAKE SURE ITS METAL!. When I first got my 95 I grounded a very high current amp to a place that I thought was metal but wasn't. Not good. Sand all the paint off the area and drill a pilot hole. Connect your ground wire with what-ever your kit includes.

The rest depends on your kit. I'm sure mounting the case is self-explanitory. All you need to do after that is put the connecters on the wires, connect the new power wire to the old power wire up front, and install the battery. I'm not sure what the kit includes to sheild the live power in the engine compartment, but I found a plastic box and cut it to fit around the factory battery mount. Works good.

Hope this helps and good luck.

I found it easier and just as safe to run the wire under the car, keeping it inside the frame rails as much as possible for protection (the only thing that can hurt it is if an idiot doesn't line the jack up correctly). I then drilled a hole in the trunk floor and ran the wire through the hole. My ground is the frame rail under the trunk. Works very well and the lights were noticably brighter after the install...the factory battery was 2 years old at the time.