quick question...has anyone moved or added an additional battery to the trunk of their '66 mustang? ive got power windows, locks, remote start, nice CD and amp...all of which ive got running off of the starter solenoid and the wires just look chunky. i wanted to clean up the engine bay and run those options off a relocated battery or put a separate battery in the trunk, how do i do that??? do i add another solenoid and just mount it in the trunk or do i attach those accessories directly to the battery, im confused! thanks in advance

 

Battery in the trunk was a performance option on some Shelby cars. The goal was to remove weight off the front and place it in the rear. It sounds like you need an insulated terminal post like this...

http://www.madelectrical.com/catalog/cn-1.shtml

This is the only guy on place on the planet I have found one. Grainger doesn't even have it.

BTW, If you move the battery to the trunk most guys will suggest you put the starter solenoid there as well. Try searching the forum with battery relocation as the search terms and a long evenings worth of reading will pop up. Somewhere in there a member by the name of jameswstang will have a write up on his website.

 

I put my Optima in the trunk, it was an easy install just took alot of time to carefully route the cable up to the front - I got the Summit remote batt kit

 

The madelectric site also explains how to wire it, there are a few options, people have varying opinions of what's easiest vs. safest:
http://www.madelectrical.com/catalog/tm-1.shtml

Jon

 

If you decide to keep the solenoid in the stock location, be sure to use bigger gauge cables to reduce any voltage drop by using longer cables. I went to a welding supply store and bought some 3/0 welding cable for mine. Probably overkill but I guarantee you I have no voltage drop from the trunk to the solenoid.

 

what do you do about your starter cable and the constant power being run to the back of your car?

I believe that link posted solves this problem but I was wondering which way you went with this?

 

If you don't like it hooked up like that, why not just add some type of junction box that connects to the starter solenoid and connect all the added wiring to that.

 

I relocated mine to the passenger side trunk It was an easy move. I simply ran a large cable from the trunk to the battery terminal of the ignition solenoid which is still in the stock location. I then grounded the battery to the frame. Why would you want to relocate the solenoid? You would then have a bunch of cables to run to the truck instead of just one.

 

On my '64 Falcon I have 2 batteries. The battery under the hood is used only to start the engine and run the engine fan. The trunk battery is used to run everything else. I used the old starter solenoid as a terminal block for the trunk battery. I added a new starter solenoid for the starter.

I used the wire from a pair of jumper cables I had on hand to run from the trunk battery using a 60 amp fuse in the trunk. By leaving the battery under the hood for starting the engine the wire from the trunk did not need to carry the starting current. A larger fuse could be used or a self reseting breaker could be used if necessary.

Then to charge the two batteries I used a splitter regulator I bought at Autozone that is used to isolate two batteries.

Remember, that once the engine is running the power is supplied by the alternator so the wire to the trunk will only carry the battery charging current. When the engine is not running the wire will only carry enough current for the accessories and lights.

Using the Summit kit would work very well with the two battery solution.

 

thanks for all your help...i think thats the route im gonna go