Picture of battery in the standard position

[zee]

I've searched a lot but I am having a heck of a time finding pictures of battery in the standard location in the trunk.

Background: I don't want to move the battery to the front and I am going with IRS, so FFMetals drop box doesn't work. I might do two 6v batteries and do my own drop box, but I want to see how bad the standard position is first. I'll build a 'glove box' with lid between the seats anyway (darkwater customs), so if the battery box is next to it then I'm okay with it.

Thanks all.

EDIT: The battery is going in the engine bay as suggested by the hive!

[edwardb]

There are several pictures in the build manual. If you don't have one you should. An electronic download (PDF) will cost you $10 from the parts website. Great resource for researching and learning before your kit arrives. To answer your question, the stock location is between the roll bar stubs right against the back wall of the trunk. Exactly in the same location as the Darkwater Customs piece. https://d2j6dbq0eux0bg.cloudfront.net/images/95248/876508.jpg

Curious why you don't want to do the front mount. Seems way simpler than finding a place with IRS and considering two batteries. Many of us have done it. Works great and is a nice short and direct run for the cables.

[egchewy79]

I'm going to second the idea of the front box. frees up trunk space, allows for a rear cubby if you wanted that, and some argue improves weight distribution of the car. also reasonably cheap and quality product.

[zee]

There are several pictures in the build manual. If you don't have one you should. An electronic download (PDF) will cost you $10 from the parts website. Great resource for researching and learning before your kit arrives. To answer your question, the stock location is between the roll bar stubs right against the back wall of the trunk. Exactly in the same location as the Darkwater Customs piece. https://d2j6dbq0eux0bg.cloudfront.net/images/95248/876508.jpg

Curious why you don't want to do the front mount. Seems way simpler than finding a place with IRS and considering two batteries. Many of us have done it. Works great and is a nice short and direct run for the cables.

Don't judge me for it, but:

1. I am terrified of making changes to the directions thinking I'll screw something up. (My build school is in April, hopefully I'll get more confidence then)
2. It might sound dumb but I am thinking (may be incorrectly) that FF could've easily put the battery in the front. They must have had a reason to prefer the back.
3. FF's Canadian rep (Ryan Valin) suggested leaving the battery in the trunk to maintain the rear bias.

Is there enough room for the battery to fit on the passenger side of this:
159846

I don't mind doing 2 6v batteries and it seems like that might be the way to go. But I might still move it to the front. My kit won't arrive until late September, so there's plenty of time.

[Hoooper]

If you pay up for a fancy lithium battery ($360) you can get one that is much smaller and lighter than the lead acid battery, which makes it easier to deal with replacement being in the trunk as well as fitment in a new location being much simpler. Mine sits on top of the passenger footbox inside the engine compartment, and weighs 5lb.

[Russwood]

First, no judgements at all. That's the beauty of building the car yourself - you have full creative control, so do what you like!

If you have pretty good fab skills, there's room (barely) for an Optima Yellowtop DH6 on top of the IRS mount between the rear (upper) mounting bushings and under the upper trunk deck. Downside is that it does mean a fairly extensive modification. It requires dropping the trunk over the fuel tank where it is shorter, and also means removing the two angle braces over the tank (that make the trunk floor currently). When done, a removable cover would give access to the battery from the dropped trunk area for a front-load & access. My mod requires making a small platform and some additional 3/4" tubes to make a new lower trunk floor over the fuel tank. Some new aluminum panels to enclose everything, and it will be hidden but accessible. My explanation probably doesn't do a good enough job, but I'll share the mod once I perfect it. I'm in the middle of doing this now, so I don't have any pictures yet to share, but the math works. Hope to wrap this up this coming weekend.

One reason I chose not to put the battery in the front is because I added an accessory drive system to my Coyote engine, so the room that the front box goes into is taken up. One other challenge I had is that I'm installing the cockpit cubby from Breeze Automotive that makes a storage bin that's accessible from the seats. The metal that divides the upper deck space to do this sits right where the battery is shown to go, so I had to find an alternate location no matter what.

One note of caution about using two 6V units (apart from making sure you wire them in series correctly to get the 12V), if one fails, it's harder to find a replacement if you are on the road, where there are lots of 12V units that could be used in a pinch. Just my 2-cents worth.

[michael everson]

Take the easy way out and mount it up front with the Breeze battery mount. You will never regret it. Out of the way, shorter cables, no need for a battery cutoff switch. Doing a battery box or other mods in the back is going to be more work.
I have installed about 100 of them. Simple and easy solution.
Mike

[CaptB]

^^^^^^^^^What he said.

[GTBradley]

Add me to the battery-up-front advocates. The rear bias is still there in my Mk4 and the lower the weight the better. When the battery is installed up front it is a bunch lower than the in the trunk. The battery box Breeze makes is very well built and the only real changes you make to the original design is shortening the cables - routing is easier too.

[Rdone585]

I'm another fan of battery in passenger side up front. I just wish I could. Not enough space because of some of the other choices I made with my engine setup. The battery behind the driver is unbalancing the car. I'm actually considering either a track only relocation of the battery to inside the passenger footbox, or a full time choice with a lithium battery above the passenger footbox. Just not sure what size battery to go with.

[edwardb]

Don't judge me for it, but:

1. I am terrified of making changes to the directions thinking I'll screw something up. (My build school is in April, hopefully I'll get more confidence then)
2. It might sound dumb but I am thinking (may be incorrectly) that FF could've easily put the battery in the front. They must have had a reason to prefer the back.
3. FF's Canadian rep (Ryan Valin) suggested leaving the battery in the trunk to maintain the rear bias.

Is there enough room for the battery to fit on the passenger side of this:
159846

I don't mind doing 2 6v batteries and it seems like that might be the way to go. But I might still move it to the front. My kit won't arrive until late September, so there's plenty of time.

I'm not going to judge either. But will ask some questions. Can't disagree with your approach to go easy on changes before build school and learning more about the build. But I do find it a little inconsistent to consider installing the Darkwater cubby, building your own battery box or two 6V batteries, or moving the rear mounted battery, but then ruling out the well proven Breeze front battery. It's simple and solves your issues. At least consider it. Save your creative juices for bigger challenges than that during your build. And you probably don't know this yet, but the Breeze products are among the highest quality for our builds and he provides very thorough instructions with all of his custom parts. Really can't go wrong. I can't say why FF doesn't have the battery in the front. For the Roadster, it's always been in the trunk and maybe they don't change the standard setup because so many builders do something different anyway. FWIW, the Gen 3 Coupe FF location is in the front. As far as the weight, unless you're a track guy who's measuring every pound, I'm saying you wouldn't know the difference front or back.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Unless packaging for other options preclude it (A/C, etc.) I always put the battery up front using a homemade Breeze style mount (sorry Mark).

Jeff

[Papa]

Your car, so do what YOU want. One of my few regrets on my build is not doing the Breeze front mounted battery. I did the FFMetal under trunk mount. If you haven't had the experience of trying to do anything in the trunk of one of these cars once built, you haven't really experienced pain. I dread the day I need to change my battery and get to try to disconnect it and lift it out of the box. I would recommend the front mount along with the growing list of those before me.

[rich grsc]

The perfect place for a battery. And of course this site turns the picture sideways. :confused::mad:
159847

[kgkeys]

I mounted mine to the passenger side of the upper trunk.

-Kyle

159848
159849

[Rdone585]

Why size lithium battery are you guys running?

[GoDadGo]

I couldn't mount the battery up front in the engine bay so my battery is in the stock location which can be viewed in the attached video:

https://youtu.be/V38Jajo_qOQ

Shown below is the box that I used because I didn't care for the setup included in my kit:

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Custom-Bolt-On-Remote-Mount-Car-Battery-Relocation-Box-Steel-Tray,5334.html

Good Luck & Happy Battery Mounting!

[Norm B]

Don't judge me for it, but:

1. I am terrified of making changes to the directions thinking I'll screw something up. (My build school is in April, hopefully I'll get more confidence then)
2. It might sound dumb but I am thinking (may be incorrectly) that FF could've easily put the battery in the front. They must have had a reason to prefer the back.
3. FF's Canadian rep (Ryan Valin) suggested leaving the battery in the trunk to maintain the rear bias.

Is there enough room for the battery to fit on the passenger side of this:
159846

I don't mind doing 2 6v batteries and it seems like that might be the way to go. But I might still move it to the front. My kit won't arrive until late September, so there's plenty of time.

Late to the thread but, add me to the front battery club.

Zee, unless there has been a significant improvement, the manual is delightfully vague in places. This is coming from the perspective of a guy that has been wrenching on cars since he was 12 years old and his father told him "if you can make it run, you can drive it around the farm" with respect to one of the cars parked in the back 40. That said, read the manual. Look at all the pictures. Test fit pieces before final mounting. Use a google search with your question and FFR roadster in the subject. This works better than the forum search functions. If that fails post a question and the experts on the forum will help.

To directly answer your points above;
1. You can't screw something up unless you start cutting things.
2. Don't know why FFR doesn't put the battery in the front but, it is one of the best and easiest mods to make.
3. The car is already rear biased. Moving the battery forward and to the right balances the car better.

Norm

[nucjd19]

Your car, so do what YOU want. One of my few regrets on my build is not doing the Breeze front mounted battery. I did the FFMetal under trunk mount. If you haven't had the experience of trying to do anything in the trunk of one of these cars once built, you haven't really experienced pain. I dread the day I need to change my battery and get to try to disconnect it and lift it out of the box. I would recommend the front mount along with the growing list of those before me.

This right here!!! I did the FFmetal battery drop mod too. Getting that sucker out down the road is going to be a bear. I guess I could add the Breeze front Battery set up and leave the box for tools etc in the trunk. Maybe a winter project.

[zee]

Alright hive, say no more.

The battery is going on the front. Hell I'll even make a box and make it look like a classic Lucas battery.

159906

[Hoooper]

Why size lithium battery are you guys running?

I use an antigravity atx-20 hd

[rich grsc]

I have an Odyssey PC 680 mj. Quite a bit cheaper, on my 4th year with it. Very pleased with it, always starts my 331, never had a charger on it.
https://www.odysseybattery.com/products/ods-agm16lmj-battery-pc680mj/