How-to: Odyssey PC680 battery in front of LF wheel

Post Reply
User avatar
Vinny
Administrator
Posts: 2246
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:42 am
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

How-to: Odyssey PC680 battery in front of LF wheel

Post by Vinny » Sun Jan 28, 2007 9:39 pm

UNFINISHED



First a little background...

I needed room in my engine compartment to rout my intercooler piping, and a battery relocation was basically a must. For various reasons I did not want to mount the battery in the trunk, so i decided to mount a Odyssey PC680 (pictured below) battery in front of the drivers wheel wheel well where the windshield washer bottle would normally reside. My ACR did not have a washer bottle when I got it (I was told later on that it did not because it had been used to mock-up a custom battery bracket in the same location), so that location seemed natural. I don't have a welder or the means to otherwise fabricate such a bracket on my own, so I decided to use the Odyssey battery and adapt the corresponding aluminum mounting bracket available separately from Odyssey to fit, despite being told it could not be done.


Here is the Odyssey PC680 compact battery:

Image


Here is the aluminum Odyssey bracket made for the PC680:

Image


I purchased my Odyssey PC680 direct from Odyssey on eBay, and I purchased the Odyssey bracket from Summit Racing. Both of these places seemed to have the best deals, respectively.


BASIC TOOLS NEEDED:

- T-25 Torx [bumper cover]
- 10mm wrench [bumper cover]
- 13mm end wrench [bumper bolts]
- Hack saw
- Propane torch
- Bench vise
- Drill
- 9/32" drill bit
- 3/4" hole saw


MOUNTING HARDWARE:

- 6x 1/4"-20 1" bolts
- 5x 1/4"-20 speed nuts
- 1x 1/4"-20 lock nut
- 7x 1/4" flat washers
- 6x 1/4" lock washers


And before we go any further, here is we will be mounting the battery:[/b]

Image



I will be referring to the "right" and "left" side mounting tabs on the bracket itself. This right and left is in relation to when you are looking at the front of the bracket or mounting location. The left side mounting tab will go toward the front of the vehicle, and the right toward the rear.


First there will need to be three modifications done to the bracket itself:

- Approx. 1/4" of the left mounting tab will need to be trimmed, This is to position the battery and tray further forward to allow adequite space for mouting the rear of the bracket.
- The same left mounting tab will need to have a triangular section removed between the top and middle bolt holes to allow clearance for the trigulated support stamped into the frame rail where it meets the core support (as shown in the images below)
- The right mounting tab will need to be bent back about 10-15 degrees to compensate for a bent in the frame rail..


In this pic you can see where I cut about 1/4" off the very edge of the left side (front of vehicle) mountning tab. This is to tuck the bracket in closer to the area of the front core support that extends past the frame rail.

Image


You will also need to remove the triangle-shaped section of material on that left mounting tab. The best advice I can give you is to map out your mounting holes for the bracket, and then cut the triangular notch out accordingly.


You will notice the sheet metal where we are mounting this tray is not flat, as pointed out in this image:

Image


To compensate for that bend in the unibody structure, we need to do two things: a. Bend the Odyssey bracket's right mounting tab (toward rear of vehicle) back about 10-15 degrees; b. Fabricate a 1/8"thick spacer to mount behind the angled mouting tab. This will mount the battery straight with the front part of the structure we are mounting to, eliminating the possibility of putting undue stress on battery case or bracket by letting it rest on that ridge.


To bend the right mounting tab (toward rear of vehicle), I first locked the tab into a large vice with the back/inside of the bracket facing toward me, using pieces of 1" aluminum angle to cushion the mounting tab from being marred by the steel vice jaws. From there I simply applied lots of heat from a propane torch evenly across the 45-degree bend and slowly, gently pulled the bracket back toward me, while of course wearing gloves to protect my hands from the heat. A propane torch worked for me with a little time and effort, but you may be able to make easier work of this step my using a MAP or other slightly hotter torch.


Here is the spacer I made:

Image



Now onto the car itself...


There will need to be six 9/32: bolt holes drilled, as well as three 3/4 holes cut for the speed nut mounting.

Image



Image




To bend the

Here are the speed nuts you will use to mount the bracket:

Image

Three of these speed nuts will need to be ground down to clear the core support:

Image


Here is the mounting location prepared for the bracket, with the speed nuts in place:

Image



Additional stuff:

- Obviously you cannot retain your windsheild washer bottle.

- I am under the impression that certain model years may have an airbag module near this location. My car did not have one when I purchased it, so I am unsure of any interference.

- Your horn will need to be relocated slightly. The horn is normally attached with the nuts used to hold on the right side of the front steel bumper support. You will want to mount the horn directly below its former home, one hole is provided for you but you will have to drill the second. Attach with appropriate hardware, preferably using lock nuts (especially if you have aftermarket engine mounts!). The wire doing to the horn will not need to be extended.




There is also a similar bracket for mounting the Odyssey PC680 made by Portable Power. I have not seen one in person, but I can't see why it wouldn't work. You would, however, have to mess up the nice powder coat performing the modifications diagrammed above.

Portable Power bracket for Odyssey PC680:

Image

User avatar
98DOHCSport
1GN Registrant
Posts: 293
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:32 pm
Location: DuBois PA, 15801
Contact:

Post by 98DOHCSport » Fri Apr 06, 2007 4:06 pm

Wow, Seriously I have been brain storming about somehting liek this for awhile. Damn, Do you have a project total cost?
98 PLAT Sports Coupe(fun)
98 White R/T(funner)
97 DOHC ACR Coupe(funnerest)

User avatar
Vinny
Administrator
Posts: 2246
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:42 am
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Post by Vinny » Fri Apr 06, 2007 6:17 pm

Not a very accurate total cost, I'd say I had $150 into mine using all stainless hardware.

I should have this how-to (finally) completed in a few days.
suave23 wrote:Can you imagine how much pussy you'd pull if you had a pet monkey riding your pet dog with you everywhere you went?

User avatar
dohc5spd2dr
1GN Registrant
Posts: 217
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 4:26 pm
Location: Greenfield, IN 46140
Contact:

Post by dohc5spd2dr » Wed Apr 18, 2007 3:58 pm

Sweet deal. I put mine on the Pass. side, where the charcoal canister goes. I cannot stand NOT having the washer fluid stuff. I had an AAR hood and didn't put the nozzles in it. (winters sucked without the fluid squirters) Your tray is FAR superior to mine though ;)
26!!! Neons owned
Plat 98 DOHC5Spd4Dr
NYG Sport Coupe Roller, the project car

User avatar
Vinny
Administrator
Posts: 2246
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:42 am
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Post by Vinny » Wed Apr 18, 2007 5:27 pm

The washer stuff was not on the car when I bought it, and it wasn't driven in the rain much at all so it never bothered me. I feel you though.

I'm gonna try and get this how-to wrapped up finally this week. :)
suave23 wrote:Can you imagine how much pussy you'd pull if you had a pet monkey riding your pet dog with you everywhere you went?

Lackof
1GN Registrant
Posts: 2599
Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:24 pm
Location: Jacksonville, FL

Post by Lackof » Wed Apr 18, 2007 9:12 pm

what about disconnecting the wires when you need access?

User avatar
Vinny
Administrator
Posts: 2246
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:42 am
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Post by Vinny » Thu Apr 19, 2007 12:41 am

You mean if you need to disconnect the battery? Well, that would require taking off the bumper cover unfortunately, but really that's only a 5 min job.
suave23 wrote:Can you imagine how much pussy you'd pull if you had a pet monkey riding your pet dog with you everywhere you went?

Lackof
1GN Registrant
Posts: 2599
Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:24 pm
Location: Jacksonville, FL

Post by Lackof » Thu Apr 19, 2007 12:54 am

that's what i thought .. is there a way to to put some sort of disconnection device in the wires farther up that are actually in the engine bay. So you could disconnect the spot on the wires?

vielecustoms
1GN Registrant
Posts: 1388
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:14 pm
Location: Granville, NY

Post by vielecustoms » Thu Apr 19, 2007 5:11 am

get a battery disconect switch and mount it somewhere you can get to it....

must be a pita to jump start?
Image

User avatar
Vinny
Administrator
Posts: 2246
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:42 am
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Post by Vinny » Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:27 pm

Wow I still need to finish this....

Jump starting was not an issue, I would just use the positive terminal on the side of the PDC.
suave23 wrote:Can you imagine how much pussy you'd pull if you had a pet monkey riding your pet dog with you everywhere you went?

User avatar
custom95neon
1GN Registrant
Posts: 285
Joined: Sun Apr 18, 2010 9:13 pm
Location: Richmond IN

Post by custom95neon » Sat May 01, 2010 10:26 pm

good how to
95 plymouth sohc mtx sport sedan

6(sic)6
1GN Registrant
Posts: 495
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 11:39 pm
Location: Huntingdon, PA

Post by 6(sic)6 » Sun May 02, 2010 11:51 pm

This is where I put my tractor battery as well and it does suck not having washer fluid.

It saves tons of space for sure and I think is easier than a trunk relocate plus its never too bad to have some weight over the front tires..

I also jump mine from the pdc and have a batter kill switch under the hood.......
SuperCharged SOHC http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?t ... highlight=
Samu wrote:If you get rid of your 1st gen it will be like the girl that got away. :cry:

Post Reply