St18x : Rearmounting the battery

[Classique71]

AUTHOR: Stuart Stephens
TITLE: Battery rearmount for St18X Celicas
TOOLS REQUIRED: Listed below
APPROX TIME REQUIRED: Couple of Days!
NO. Of PEOPLE: 1-2 people ( i did it mostly myself )
DIFFICUILTY (1-5) 3

COST - $ about 500 including the battery

heys - as proimised - this is a quick no bullshit way of mounting the battery in the boot of a gt4. This will also work with SX's as well - and other generation celicas with minor changes
The basics of what youll need :

* Small sealed battery - Oddessy or similar ( i used a 12v800 unit)

* 1 battery box - Ill Leave this one to you to size up

* About 7 ish meters of welding cable - or very VERY heavy guage battery cable ( i used cigweld double insulated welding cable - its pretty blue , flexible , fine stranded , and cabable of holding 400 amps - tonnes for this job

* Lugs to suit your cable - so you can bolt it onto stuff - Auto shops have these - solder or crimp on

* A roll of electrical tape

* battery terminal thingies - get one with an isolator - its handy!

* a length of foam pipe insulation , the stuiff they use on water pipe

* wire covers - that wrinkly stuff , thats split down the middle to cover wires in mass.

* Some sort of bolt down brace to mount battery into the battery box - i used 2 x 3/8 bolts , about 5 inches ling , with wingnuts , clamping down a piece of plate metal over the top of the battery

* Obviously an assortment of Screwdrivers , spanners , A cordless drill , and a Stanley knife

Ok - youll probably need other crud - but that should get you started !

Now the fun ..

[Classique71]

Now onto the Wiring Up:

[Classique71]

Now the fun!

Im not gunna tell you how to do the next step in detail - but it revolves around removing ALL the paneling along the passenger side of the GT4 , from back to kickpanel ..Take out the rear seat and the passenger seat too - it will make your life alot easier - trust me!

Its pretty easy - just time consuming ..

You should be able to remove most of it in an hour or so - panels , seats , the lot

Also - remove the passenger front wheel - and take off the splashguard thats under the arch - this is a bit of a prick to do - but be patient with it and dont yank it ! they are expensive to replace ! This will expose the easiest past of the new cables path !

Now - in the engine bay - remove your battery - as it no longer has a home in the bay , AFM , airbox - and that annoying duct that runs up behind the light - this ones also a prick to remove - be gentle - take your time - and lever it out - you dont want to bust your aircon lines!

this will free up the space you need to start cleaning up the wiring that went from the battery !

First - the positive side

there is 2 cables that run off the battery positive ( 3 if you have an amplifier - but thats another story ) One goes direct from the battery to the starter motor - the other goes from the battery to one of the fuseboxes !

What we need to do - is take the coverings off these wires so we can split them up - be careful - remove any elec. tape or crinkly loom wire covery things so you have access to both wires!

once split youll clearly see which is which . We need to retain the one going toward the firewall ( thats the fusebox one ) Instead of going to the battery - reroute it so it connects up to the starter motor - ( see upcoming pics! )
the other one that goes to the old battery terminal - chuck it - no longer needed - its job will be replaced by our new fancy cable! .. ( pic to come )

The negative side !

this ones pretty easy - negative runs from the battery to the top of your gearbox - once again - follow the cable down - and unhook it - its a direct path . We'll do this cable first as its straight forward - Find a decent earthing point on the body ( i chose a bolt that holds a small bracket ( holds loom in place )on the strut tower , cleaned the paint off surrounding it , Did the same with the bracket - + prepared it to earth ..

I cut about 30 CM of welding cable - Crimped on 2 lugs - and bolted it back up - Simple! Done ! Tis is the first earth strap - the other will go in the hatch near the battery !



having prepared the path - i moved onto laying the cable down!

This takes up the majority of the cable you purchased - youll need to run it along a path similar to this ( this is my suggestion - if you find a better way - by all means - use it !)

This is how my cable runs - from back to kick panel!

from the boot




backseat



passenger seat



Under the kickpanel ( see small grommet above fusebox )



Thru under the arch ( use the really handy factory clips to run it to a small grommet where the other loom you follow comes thru!! VERY HANDY TOYOTA! )



thru into the engine!
Cover this section with the insulating foam too - for some protection from engine bay heat + things rubbing it )

Connecting to the starter motor! Path complete!



Your setup should look something like this! its the most logical way ive found - after trying a few different paths!

At this stage your only measuring it up - Cut it off where you feel you have plenty of cable to hook up to the starter motor , and have plenty of play in the boot ..

When your happy that your positive is long enough - Crimp or solder 2 more lugs up - hook one to that bolt off your starter motor ( along with the other positive that runs to the fusebox ) , bolt up - And that ends done - Finito!!

The other end - Lug , solder/crimp in preperation to hook up your battery terminals

This should finish off all the wirey related work in the engine bay - If your happy with it all being safe , protected + secure -put back in your airbox + afm etc - brace your fusebox ( i used a temporoary bracket off the airbox - to hold fusebox ) , And your done for the front!!

[Classique71]

Now from here on in - we start tidying things up

If your happy with the path taken ( i was ) and happy with the engine bay being compete and up to scratch ( yup - happy with that too ), start working on getting it all sorted in the back ..

I started by setting up a secondary earth strap off the battery - grounding it to the other strut tower via one of the bolts on top .. Once again - clean back to metal for good contact , prep - and cut another suitable piece of cable - say 60 Cm this time .. Lug , solder and crimp the ends - and your second earth is complete! This one will run to the negative termninal on the battery !

After all the wriring in the back was ready , mine looked a lottle something like this ( minus terminal to hook to battery )

That red lead is my amp lead - ignore if you dont have an amp - take note , if you do!




You can see clearluy in this pic the floor of the hatch - Under that is your fuel tank - BIG BIG take notice!

When your readying to mount your battery box - use the shortest screws possible - you only have a maxumum of 15MM under this befoire you hit the fuel tank

My battery box came with a strap - and 2 saddles to hold the strap down - this is only to hold the BOX down - youll need to be crafty in mounting the battery itself in the box -

( for this i used the above 5 inch or so bolts , plate brace - with insulating over it and secured down with wingnuts - make sure you have good clearance for your terminals - remember - that metal brace wilkl conduct !!)

Back to the strap - I mounted one saddle right up against the white plastic thing you can see - using metal self tappers - and about 4 washers per screw - not to hit the fuel tank

the secondary - i mounted between the two grommets you see in the lower left corner - theres good metal there - pop them out and feel under - youll see what I mean

I havent got a pic of this - but can get it if asked nicely !


cut two small slits in your boot carpet to feed your strap thru - then start putting all your panels , seats , carpet etc etc back in bar for the rear most plastic panel - and back seat - leave them until your happy with how the cable feeds to the back.

Havent got a pic of this either - im working on it !



In this pic you can see my temporary solution to how to get the cables thru the last panel - i removed the small light in there ( its broken - needs repairs - fed the cable thru to the batterybox .. )

This is with the battery box in place - all hooked up - See my bracing ? See the isolator green thing - very handy!






And this - is the final product - all hooked up - and secure!



I have some fine tuning and neatening to do - but this setup works - ive tested it - and nothing caught fire!

DISCLAIMER FTW!! :

Check with your state laws if this setup is legal or not also!

So there you go - this is only a example of what can be done - I WONT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR SOMEONE REPLCATING THIS AND BURING THEIR CAR DOWN.. ( standard disclaimer - use at own risk! )

Further additions:

Advised by users more knowelegable than i - IM NOT AN AUTO ELECRTICIAN !!

*** You need a fuse on the + ive line - close to the battery as possible ***

*** IN SOME STATES - this setup may be illegal - i mention for the SECOND time - Check your state laws ***

*** SOME setups MAY need Venting - Check with Said Quialified Auto electrician - or governing body on how to do battery setups on what is deemed appropriate ***

[Classique71]

update : this method has neen tried by a few others now + they found this guide helpful + effective for their projects - so not only have i found that it works - others have tried and tested it and found it works, as well

[Classique71]

Moderators ( ed ! ) any chance of getting this moved to the FAQ so it doesnt get lost in all the other posts?

It will save people time digging up an " old post " this way

[Jackel]

you posted the first part twice, you might wanna remove one

[Classique71]

Fixed :

might help me to proof read things myself sometimes

[Selk]

1 q - why did u relocate tha battery

[Classique71]

it was moved to the back - because i was making rid of the AFM , and also doing a front mount intercooler swap - needed the space the battery sits for intake piping

and believe me - it makes ALOT of useful space , without it in there

[cerby]

Hey man
Thanks for this. I can imagine that this is going to come in handy for a lot of ppl!! Especially me seeing as how i'm usually too lazy to work these things out myself!
Any way i have a couple of questions/suggestions.
1. Was there any particular reason why you didn't use the little channels that run under the scuff plates at the bottom of the doors? These are meant for cables and run the full length of the car up to the firewall.
2. Do you get much noise in your rear speakers cos i noticed that your positive wire runs quite close to your rear left speaker cable. Normally this produces a buzzing much like the noise a tv makes when your using a welder outside!
Only asking out of interest. I've already bookmarked the page for later reference when the silly season is over.
Thanks Cerby

[Classique71]

I only really noticed the channels the other day to be honest - in retrospect it may have been easier but it also saves alot of owork getting into stuff the way it is atm - the job was a semi rushed one over 3 or so days after work to get the car rolling again - could have been alot neater - but just didnt have the time

re speaker noise - there is none that i notice atm ..

Im not really an audio freak though - been driving a car without a radio for ages - so its rarely on

[gearb0x]

One possible reason the channels wont even work is that is some BEEF cable, they aint meant for running huge cable

Last time i did something like that i used the channels but it was a very tight fit

[Bored?]

You really should add a fuse or circuit breaker right next to the battery positive.

It would be a shame to see someone's car burned out because they skimped on a cheap fuse.

[Classique71]

its on the to do list - trust me ..

cars done maybe 2000 Km's under its own pwer since that battery swap went in

otherwise its been waiting on upgrades in other areas