Aircooled VW South Africa

Hi Guys
I am thinking of moving the 57s battery to the front under the bonnet. It's all still 6v and the run of the mill 6v batteries just do not last. I have purchased a "standby UPS battery", which is lower than the standard battery but slightly wider. The problem is that due to the width, it does not sit flat on the pan and is also rubbing against the heater channel
The heater is fully operational and I will not modify or cut the pipe/channel. (The attached is for illustrative purposes only....it is not my car)
I am thinking of rather moving the battery to the "boot under the bonnet". Any suggestions as to the routing of the new, thicker cable?

I did this with my Ghia for weight distribution, routed cable through heater channel (non functional) but found that the car became very hard to start.
An Electrician told me the cable needs to be thicker because of the increased distance, I moved the battery back to its original position and didn't investigate further, before you do all the re-routing, check that all works fine before going to all the trouble installing etc.

Yes, you want your battery as close as possible to the starter motor.

fig wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 2:53 pm Yes, you want your battery as close as possible to the starter motor.

I am well aware....or are you suggesting I move the engine to the front?

No ...Just the starter motor .....

Herman

I wish Dawie was here....he would have told me where to mount, hiw and the required thickness of cable

All jokes aside, you would need to split your powder supply up into two.

Direct supply to your fuse box and ignition, and the other straight to your starter.

The starter wire would have to be a multi strand weld cable rated at between 350 and 500 amp.

The thinner the individual strands the better current it will carry.

You will get it at your local welding supply shop

Negative to earth straight down to body as near as possible to battery

Hope it helps

Herman

Is the battery a high cycle, deep cycle...

I think the cranking amps might not be such a problem if its a deep cycle....depending on how frequently the car is started and for how long it runs.

retrovan wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 10:23 amThe thinner the individual strands the better current it will carry.

Now see... you can learn something new every day

Computer died a while ago. Now using cellphone. Frustrations as i just accidentally touch somewhere at edge of screen then something unwanted happens, loosing what i have typed the past 15 minutes.
6V half the voltage twice the current. Four times as sensitive to volt drop unless you double size of cable. In which care it will still be twice as sensitive to volt drop.
Moving battery to front can work if 12v and thicker cable.
If 6v better to first explore other options.
If you didnt already have a wide battery one could fit two smaller ones in parrallel. One each side. Porsche did that in front with earlyc911's.

Your back seat, is the bottom flat with strips on which the springs sit? Or is it the version which have space underneath when nobody sits there. If so you could make a wooden base for battery to sit higher. Then make a box from marine ply which fits over the battery. The upside down box then fits over the battery. Sides of box same hight as battery. This then protrudes upwards into cavity of rear seat. Although the person trying to sit there will find it sort of an uncomfortable and hard experience.
Plek vir skoonma om te sit?
Or get a spare "heat silencer" thingy, keep your original one and modify the spare one to make more space for battery.
Other option. If you dont often have 4 people in car, mount battery on floor directly behind drivers seat.

As emergency option, one could do the crankhandle conversion. Think it was a factory option for some years. Once knew a guy who had that on his kombi.

Dawie wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 2:08 pm Or get a spare "heat silencer" thingy, keep your original one and modify the spare one to make more space for battery.
Other option. If you dont often have 4 people in car, mount battery on floor directly behind drivers seat.

Thanks Dawie...this is what I was thinking as well but as I said, don't want to cut it. I will have a word with my local exhaust specialist and see if he can make a plan

I dont think the local exhaust specialist is a fan of beetles.
Just give the car to me and it will solve your battery placement headache.

Donovan D wrote: Tue May 19, 2020 7:41 am I dont think the local exhaust specialist is a fan of beetles.

But he is a closet Type 4 fan....that I know for a fact

Eugene wrote: Tue May 19, 2020 10:53 am

Donovan D wrote: Tue May 19, 2020 7:41 am I dont think the local exhaust specialist is a fan of beetles.

But he is a closet Type 4 fan....that I know for a fact

I’m not a fan of grinders, but I do have a oxygen & acetylene torch we can use?