Marcquito

I'm playing with the idea of a battery relocation to the rear of the 944. I noticed the two "storage areas" on either side of the rear where the two turn signals are located. It looks to be large enough to fit the battery and hide it away. I figured I could build a nice battery box that would bolt right in and run a drain tube to the bottom and outside.

I found this thread: https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ery+relocation but no pics. There isn't much about this on the forums. I figured I'd just go on and ask to see if anyone has done this and what type of bracket did you make or buy?

Reason for the battery relocation is because of the late dash swap. Lots of metal work is being performed and it would be easier to just delete that tub-looking-area and make it one clean piece.

Thanks in advance.

schwank

The battery is in the same place on late cars anyway...

That is a long run of battery cable for a street car too.

Marcquito

I know it's in the same place as a late car. My whole purpose of the relocation is to make the metal work easier under the bonnet. Rather than making those factory curves and bends I could make one piece.

Why would the cables be considered long for a street car? They're not long enough to interfere with the electrical current. My 928 has the battery in the rear and if I'm not mistaken some Euro 944s or 924s had the battery in the rear. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

josephsc

Is that where RHD vehicles have their batteries?

bendavis2

If you do put the battery in the rear, you'll have to eat a bunch and gain 30 or so pounds to account for the offset in weight distribution to keep your baby perfectly balanced.

Reimu

Uh... what?
I don't think every 944 was tailor made for the owner's specific weight.

pkt1213

I have done a battery relocation in a few cars. I never had any problems. I would recomend using 2 gauge wire though. I have used 4 gauge in my Toyota but it had a little tiny alternator. I just went to one of my local stereo shops and told them how many feet a wire I wanted. I know there is a lot of debate about using stereo wire but I think it works fine and if you make sure it's not exposed to the elements or constant abuse you'd be ok.

potent951turbo

Where was the battery located in the RHD cars?

Robby

SOME RHD cars had the battery located in the left rear cubby. The left rear cubby is slightly larger.

Weight dist will only be HELPED by a rear-mount as these cars are normally in the 51/49 to 50/50 range. A turbo is 51/49 & the rear-battery might just get you in the 50/50 category. Especially if you've removed your ~30lb spare tire. The factory batteries are also very heavy, at ~39lbs, & we've found several that will work at under 30lbs.

I would NOT use 2awg cable- the FACTORY FRONT cable is a Euro size b/t 1awg & 2awg, so is already larger than 2awg. Putting cables to the rear requires more than double the length, so there will be a slight voltage drop, so I'd at least go one size larger than factory front-mount.

IceShark stuff is 1awg. This is not a shameless plug here, but we are almost finished w/a rear mount kit. We have used some 1/0 & also 2/0 to make a kit- this stuff is huge. We use 2awg cable just to run a main cable for the FUSE BOX. This is also welding cable (the same that Dan, IceShark, used) b/c it offers less resistance, for less voltage drop. The only thing we have not completed is a battery bracket. That's been sort of tough.

We are working on being able to offer a kit for both right & left rear cubbies, but again, size is an issue, etc...

IF anyone's interested in a kit, or needs more info, or just wants some advice on how to do one for yourself, let me know & I'll do my best...

BENN0

I have an early RHD.
The battery is on the opposite side to LHD 944's (Infront of the windscreen)

Weird thing is that when the bonnet is closed it sits about half an inch from the positive post on the battery.....
I have only had the car a week, but i find this strange? It has a plastic cover which sits over the positive post on the battery. But im guessing it wasnt always there, as it looks like it has arced onto the underside of the bonnet on a previous occasion.

I came across this post trying to see what was going on and if it left the factory like that.

Olli Snellman

late model UK cars have battery in rear/left.

alordofchaos

Welcome to Rennlist!

I'm no expert, but I believe the cars came from the factory with a plastic cover on the battery. Most cars I've seen do not have the cover on them now, but I have not examined a large number of cars.

It is likely that a previous owner replaced the battery with one that was too tall, which caused the arcing (when they closed the bonnet)

The 944 takes a slightly odd size, shorter than most car batteries.

edit: speak of the devil, here are some battery arcing stories

Robby

I would put some sort of cover over it, but how much problem the arcing can be, depends on how badly it's occuring, etc- I had a prob w/it, due to a slightly tall battery that the PO had in my car when I bought it- I've since, had several batteries in the car- there are a few that are shorter & lighter, etc, that work just fine- in the southeast that is.

Rear-mounting is cool IMO- I have mine in the center rear- as far back & down as possible- spare tire well. Left rear cubby is larger than right rear cubby. Either way, you'll have to do some crossing over the exhaust. We brought it right over the top of the torque tube & over the muffler heat shield & into the side of the spare well... Worked well, but I'd like to find something better for the actual bracket- we hacked that together, but are optimistic about one that's about to be released...

vro944om

lmao those battery arcing stories are my thread, yeah i arced the wrench to the ground, it looked stylish, i was thinking of giving it to an art dealership..

billthe3

I've got my battery in the rear right cubby. You only need to run one wire (positive), as the other is a ground cable - just securely bolt the original ground wires to a bolt in the engine compartment and then run a 1ft long ground cable from the battery to the mounting bracket at you're set.

As for running the wire, I ran the wire down the length of the frame rail and then drilled a hole in the top of the rail in the passenger footwell, so that the wire was then able to go straight up to the original battery location.

I just made a simple bracket out of aluminum and drilled through the wheel well and rear body and bolted it in place.