June 2005
6/05/2005--Went to the racetrack on Friday night, and the inspection guy said I need to bolt down my battery, but he will let it go this time. So, since I wanted to move it to the trunk anyway, I decided this was a good time to do it. I bought the entire box of battery cable 25' ($51.70), just in case I might need some for another project later, like a ground cable or something, maybe a hot wire to run to the alternator. Also bought a marine battery box, some cable ends, and that accordion-tube to cover the battery cable, for extra insulation and protection against wear. Lowe's for some sheet-metal screws and a couple of new metal drills, and clamps to put the cable to the frame. Entire job took a good afternoon. Total cost about (estimate due to tools and such) $80.
Also got some generic gray seat covers to keep the seats clean while working on the car. ($15.14).
Also, moved the floor shifter back to sit closer to the new bucket seat(s). The second seat is not yet in, as that is a hard job requiring lots of being out in the sunny driveway cutting metal and wood, and it is too damned hot to do that now. I don't know if it will wait until fall, or just wait until I run out of patience. Note the hole I drilled for the shifter cable, then couldn't use, due to being about 3" too far back. My bad! Had to drill another hole and start over.
Also, note the rust through where the old battery tray was. I originally bolted down a battery box (sealed plastic unit) to the trunk floor, then saw the damage the battery had done to the old tray. I then took out the original box, bought a new one, and mounted it in a way that did not involve cutting holes in the box. I mounted two flat pieces of stock with a nut as a spacer, and bolted that to the floor. Then ran a strap under the flatstock, around the battery, but under the cover. You can sorta see the flatstock pieces in the second picture.
I gave myself plenty of spare hot wire at front and back for future mods. At the rear, I will likely have to install a "kill switch" for racing. This will cut all power to the entire car, in case of a rollover, fire, or other mishap. A wire will have to run from the alternator to the switch as well, killing the entire car, battery, alternator, engine, everything. At the front, I plan on replacing the current alternator, that requires a voltage regulator (blue box and mass of wires beside the coil and above the battery tray in picture #1) with a "one-wire" alternator, that gets rid of all those wires. The hot battery cable goes straight to the alternator, which has a built-in regulator. Plus, it puts out more amps for future high-output coil/distributor and high-output stereo system.
sub plus tax = 95.14
total = 4946.94