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Battery hold down


thezguy

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I'm curious what you 280 guys are using for a battery hold down. I looked at the the Z car billet piece but my car doesn't seem to have a threaded hole on the firewall to secure it. I'm open to options and would like some that looks cool.

 

Also please take note that my car is V8 swapped and I'm running a larger than stock battery.

Edited by thezguy
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Are you looking at universal hold-down kits like these? Or do you want something different?

 

http://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/battery-hold-downs?SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending&tw=battery%20ho&sw=Battery%20Hold-Downs

Some of those are pretty nice. It would great to have something with less weight but I can dog a few of those. What actually secures the battery to the car? Those kits look to just pin the battery between the two "plates"

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The firewall opens up to the cowl, so you could just drill a hole and put a nut on the back. Your hole may have disappeared with rust repair, or it may have been covered up with body putty. Take the cowl cover off and have a look.

Good point and idea. I'll make one this evening. Looks like it's time for a billet bracket. Any opinons on what color to powder coat it?

 

Gloss red

Mat red

Wrinkle black

Wrinkle red

Flat black

Gloss black

Gloss white

 

A66356BF-572D-4238-A7D8-F7AED64D7D60_zps

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  • 1 month later...

You said "larger than stock" battery?  What would you do that?  The ONLY reason the OEMs put such a huge, heavy battery in today's cars is so they can sit for months without a charger without being discharged due to parasitic draw.  If you drive your car at least a few time a week, there is not need to have one that large.  If you only drive it on weekends or every few weeks, but don't mind using a maintenance charger, you don't need to have one that large. 

 

I know hundreds of C6 Corvette owners that run our Braille B3121 Lightweight AGM battery (even a friend with an LS powered Ultima GTR) for several years without a problem.  This battery is half the size & weight of a standard Group 34 battery (Optima or other) and has more cranking power.  Being that the stock location of the Z battery tray is up high and at the corner of the engine bay, having a ton of weight up there does nothing to help handling. 

 

Peter Brock just finished his BRE 240Z street car and went with our GreenLite GU1R lithium battery (6.4 lbs & nearly 1000 cranking amps) in it and I've seen used for the last year in Trans-Am cars and other V8 street & track cars.  This is the best "bang for the buck" battery out there, as it is not just light, but will last 3-5 times longer than a lead battery, runs a full volt higher than lead, which means quicker starting, improved engine management performance, less HP draw from the alternator due to efficient charger (5 times faster than lead) and they don't self-discharge.  If there is no draw on the battery (via a power disconnect switch), the battery can sit for over a year and still be over 90% charged at 13.5 volts.  Sure, it costs more up front, but is worth all those benefits in the long run.  With so little weight, you don't need a bulky mount. 

 

Most people think that a battery is a battery, but with more electronics on modern engines/vehicles, the more critical a higher, more stable voltage is.  The difference of lead vs. lithium is like switching from pump gas to race fuel for the electronics.  I originally removed the stock battery tray and sunk it down to the frame rail to lower the weight of the Optima I planned to put in the car (before I knew any better), but now I have a space for my 6 pound battery and ECU to sit in with a cover over it. 

 

We all put so much into making our cars better with all of these upgrades and I hope that my years of experience of dealing with batteries in street cars all the way to nearly every OEM factory race car globally will be looked at as "good info", as I'm not trying to give you guys a "sales pitch".  If you are looking for a cheap 12 volt power source and weight isn't a big deal, then stick with an AGM battery, but at least you can go from a 40+ pound battery to one that is half the weight, just so you know.  :)

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Bang for the buck? That braille battery is $600.

Promising 3 to 5 years longer than a lead battery, but it only has a 1 year warranty and 2 year prorated "available" after that. My cheesy autozone or walmart batteries have at least 3 year free replacements. I would bet that is why someone would go a little bit larger than a stock z car battery. As you say for daily drivers it is no problem to keep the battyer charged and ready to go.

 

On the flip side the lithium batteries are very cool. I keep a small lithium jumpbox in my daily truck and it works awesome. I can agree they are great money no object batteries, but calling them a great bang for the buck is a little silly.

 

To address the original post. On my car I added a battery tray using rivnuts to the factory tray. That way I can use regular hold downs, and had an additional tray to protect the cars paint.

 

Greg

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To clarify, 3 to 5 times longer than equivalent lead battery (so 10-15 years).  How much do people spend on trying to save weight via carbon bits, wheels or other parts and how much would it cost to save that much weight? 

 

Improved engine management performance and extra HP would cost something, as well.  It's not something that everybody would or should do, but for those of us hung up on ultimate power & performance, it's well worth the price. 

 

Also, we have less than a 1% faliure rate of our lithium batteries and those rare occurences are typically tied to a runaway alternator, charger failure or other outside force that can potentially damage any battery, but these are more robust than lead.  It has a 3 year warranty, but when it comes to racing / "go fast" parts, how many of those products even have a warranty?  So, it's all relative. 

 

Some say L-series, some say RB and some say anything but an LSX.  Different strokes, but the battery is one of the last things people thing about as a performance upgrade and when you really start trying to get every little bit out of the engine & vehicle, the weight savings and electrical performance is a good "bang for the buck".  Heck, we will drop more than that on a set of high performance tires that last how long without even thinking about it!  ;^) 

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