Hopefully I'll be getting one of these things soon, and I had a quick question about fitment. I realize it's a huge IC, but is there ANY way AT ALL to have a mini-battery in front, or should I just give up and start build a box for a mini-battery in one of the bins? Also, any real fitment issues with the M2 intake box?

 

You could probably fit the battery one the passenger side of the car if you want to relocat it there, but it is a tight fit its a big intercooler

 

It is tight with the M2 Airbox, but with a little wiggling and patience, it will fit.

Note: I relocated my battery in the pass. side bin - probably a 4 hour job, but well worth the work!

 

Okay, I'm picking up a daily driver to use today, so the FD finally gets a garage where I can work on it. I'll just relocate the battery to the pass. side bin. Are mini-batteries actually worth the ~20lbs. you save? I'm kinda leary about having a battery that can die after 20 seconds of cranking. Then again, my car's never had a single problem starting, so...

 

i never was a fan of the mini batteries but some people swear by them, is sitting in a dark parking lot in the middle of the night with a dead battery really worth the 20lb savings?

for you to decide.

also you will need to run some very thick gauge wire or the current draw on that battery will be even larger once it is relocated.

 

I would stay away from the mini batteries. They always die, especially if the fans run after shut down and put more strain on your alternator. I know alot of people are going to argue that they are fine, but my experience shows otherwise. Its even worse if you have a power fc. It puts a small constant drain on the battery. Get a full size optima, odyssey, or at the very smallest a miata battery and put it in the passenger rear bin or in the trunk.

 

Battery life is a good reason to relocate the battery out of the engine compartment. It's all downhill for standard batterys after it's installed, especially when heat soaked. I would get about 2 - 2-1/2 years out of a standard battery in the FD. It was OK after 1 year but at 2 it was pretty weak.

I finally put an Odyssey PC925 in the drivers side bin. Going on 2 years, and still good as new. I would estimate its reserve capacity to be about the same or better than a 1 year old full sized battery (in the engine compartment). No problems with cranking or holding charge

Getting the battery out of the engine compartment resulted in the unexpected bonus of much improved engine cooling, too.

 

how did you guys run the wires from the bin/hatch area to the hood?

 

underneath the carpet, through a small hole that I drilled in the firewall behind the steering wheel area.

 

here's the write-up listed in the faq
http://reganrotaryracing.tripod.com/batrelo.htm

i was trying to track down an old thread that started as a how to and turned into a how not to. jimlab posted and described how he did it once, with cutting notches into the bin to get the battery to fit snugly. anyone remember it? i searched for battery relocation and looked through all 6 pages of results, no luck.

 

You can always relocate the battery to the back hatch. mine sits on the driver's side, and there are some small threaded studs in the chassis that you can affix the box to. Makes it easy as hell to jump the car too

 

Ran mine under the car next to the fuel line/brake lines so if I bottom out the car real bad, I can find out what it is like to be a human torch.
Reminds me that I need to fix this next time the interior is out!

 

There is another write up here. It is a lot of work to do it properly.

The easiest way of running the battery into the cabin is through exisitng driver wheelwell holes. Once in the cabin it can be routed along the door sill (if gauge 4 or smaller is used) or along the center console. There is not reason to drill holes.

 

I ran mine through the holes in the driver side fender well to enter the cabin (picture above). I ran it along th e floor/under the carpet avoiding any sharp objects that could be there. Directly to the bin behind the driver. Also making it the shortest route possible. I have had it this way since I got the car.

With a Red Top Optima, no issues at all. If you put the battery in the cabin you need to make sure you have a dry cell/ gel battery/sealed (Optima is gel if I am not mistaken.) Just any regular old battery is not healthy and dangerous in the cabin with you. But you might already know this.

 

Any reason why you cant just run it under the car and up through one of the gromets in the wells where the bins/seats are? As long as the wire is secure with no chance of catching cant see a prob

 

Nope.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...1&page=1&pp=20

Not a good idea.

 

Good lord. The process of relocating the battery looks so painstaking that it makes me want to get an ASP Med. IC instead, or even try to re-duct my PFS IC. I get air inlet temps (reading on the PFC from stock sensor location) of 35 degrees at highway speeds, and in traffic they're around 50...do you guys with different intercoolers see significantly lower air inlet temps?

 

The difference in performance between the ASP medium and large ICs is negligible. The medium IC was not available when my car was still twin turbo, but had it been, and knowing what I know now, I would have gone with it instead.

I still would have relocated my battery, however.

 

Its actually not as bad as it seems. Might be a little easier if you mount it in the trunk like Goodfella did.

 

It really is not too bad at all, I'd rather do this again than try and pull the turbos. It will take you an afternoon, it is easy to get all the parts ahead of time, and it cleans up the engine bay. Oh, and it is a cheap mod, less than $100. If you have basic had tools and a dremmel, mount it in the pass. bin and call it done. Removing this lead lump of a heat sink will probably cool down your inlet temps. more than getting a larger IC.

 

An afternoon? I'd budget several weekends. And a Dremel is not going to cut through the chassis to make holes for the battery mounting platform. If you want to do this properly, there are lots of little details to take care of.

 

Dremel for the plastic bin, and yes, I think you need a good drill and bit as well. I really didn't think this was a complicated job - but then I've worked on cars my whole life.
I also used the back seatbelt attachment points for my ground - , daily drive the car and track it at least 2x times each year - few people on here say this is also a no-no, haven't had a battery or starting issue for 2 years.

 

woah, thanks jim, don't know how i missed that.

"The first one (shown in the picture) was complicated. I cut out a hole in the front of the bin pocket (but not the front of the bins) large enough for the entire battery to fit through from the inside. Next, after sticking the battery through the hole, I marked where it hit the back of the pocket at top and bottom and cut out just the areas needed to get it to sit firmly in place without removing all of the back wall too."

that hawker battery wasn't a "full size" battery was it?

 

Nope. Hawker Genesis G42, if memory serves. Approximately 7" x 6" x 6".