Battery in Bed

[nawlins-tim]

I have an El Camino. And in my quest for traction , I have been semi-planning to relocate my battery to the bed area.
The part about moveing it is not a real problem. Reason being, i can get some dam fat cable from work. And the battery cable can be expensive for that length.
Anyway I am trying to find any El Camino owners who did this project and what box did they use. Did you fab a custom box or buy one? I am a bit concerned about the rain and weather possibly getting to it since my car is street driven. Not daily but weekly.
Let me know what you used..............thanks

 

[ohioelcamino]

i guess big question is are you going to run it at the track if not i wouldnt bother. plus its out for someone to steal, even in a box. just my 2 cents

 

[Blake442]

I'd be more concerned about somebody stealing my battery! :shock:

Put it in the smuggler's compartment behind the seat where the spare tire is...

 

[nawlins-tim]

I'd be more concerned about somebody stealing my battery! :shock:

Put it in the smuggler's compartment behind the seat where the spare tire is...

Of course that is a concern. That is why I have been thinking of fabing on alluminum box for the battery .
As far as raceing it . I would love to be able to be able to get to the track every so often. But until Im happy with it and when it could pass tech, it will have to be a DREAM.

 

[bigjoenvegas]

I'd be more concerned about somebody stealing my battery! :shock:

X2! If you really need weight back there throw your spare in the back. Or do what I do and have a tile saw in tha back, it gives my elco the perfect amount of weight back there!!!

 

[nawlins-tim]

I have my spare back there and a couple gallons of water in Prestone jugs. But still I would like to help clean the engine compartment and have extra weight in the back too. I wish someone with first hand experience would chime in. But i guess there arent many Elky owners that are serious enough about raceing to go through the hassle of the battery relocation. But who knows .

 

[jrm81bu]

I had the battery relocated to the bed in my old s10. Never had an issue with rain even when I left the lid off the box. Never had a problem with theft either, but it could happen. This is the box I had.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G1210/

 

[Tuggy24g]

Well if your looking to get more traction in the rear of your El Camino there are a ton of more better ways to go about doing such a thing. First would be the tub or min tub your rear tires. From there you can add some upper and lower control arms. Then a sway bar for added control. Now adding some suspension parts and putting wider tires is the way I would go.

Now if your putting out some serious power to the rear then your other option is putting a fuel cell. It will be useful and add some more weight. Something like this.

That is more of what I think you should do besides relocating your battery. To much work with little to no results of what your looking for.

 

[adh383]

I would put a fuel cell that has a metal housing around cell-- put it in middle of bed about 6 inches from tailgate-- I used a simple inexpensive plastic battery box from summit and put it in the right rear corner of bed -- centered between fender well and tailgate-- weight off of front of car on to rear of car is a double benefit and well worth the cost of cable . Put a junction post on your radiator support to run the cable to from the battery and use a seperate cable to go to your starter from there. You will love the results-- also, if this does'nt get you the traction you need-- use a set of mickey thompson street drag radials--- and if you still have traction issues-- get a set of competition slide-a - links. I did all of the above to my 84 s 10 -- approx 450 hp --383 stroker ------- I can still bust the hides on it just a bit but , I just love the results I got. good luck. dennis