Glorified Grocery Getter Build- WARN Premiums and Dual Battery Mock Up and Boxes

[mini_mull]

Well, my electrical system has been in disrepair for some time now. Here's a few of the problem areas among others. My battery cables at the battery end consist of one temporary end and one temporary side terminal. Some of the other cables are kind of crunchy particularly around the alternator. My compressor wiring on one side of the engine and my alternator wires on the other side are stripped in spots and only repaired with electrical tape. There's a mess of splices on the engine side of the firewall where a PO has installed what must have been an alarm. And to top it off, someone (not my regular mechanic) at a successful shop owned by a relative busted the prongs that hold the hot side of the circuit breaker for my power windows making them inoperable. Enough with the problems, lets get on to solutions.

 

[mini_mull]

Can anyone guess which problem I'll be not only fixing, but upgrading with this beautiful collection of components?

 

[mini_mull]

Here's a close up of the holy grail of dual battery setups, the ACR along with the solenoid I'll be using as a remote solenoid for the starter and it's spare. (sorry for the fuzzies)

 

[mini_mull]

And the beefy marine switch.

 

[mini_mull]

Here's a little reference pic.

Anyone want to guess what guage that is?

 

[mini_mull]

I've been collecting this stuff for months now, and I thought I had everything I needed, but the battery boxes I bought fit my red top and not my yellow top, so I've got to make one or find one before I can get this project done. Anyone have any ideas besides the $$ optima boxes?

 

[blowedupmotor87]

Wow, good build! That Suburban of yours is coming along quite nicely! I really like how the headliner turned out!

 

[ryoken]

Can anyone guess which problem I'll be not only fixing, but upgrading with this beautiful collection of components?

Damn, I just drooled on my keyboard....

 

[imiceman44]

Here's a little reference pic.

Anyone want to guess what guage that is?

Is this a 2/0?
I got 2/0 and 4/0 welding cable put on mine when I relocated the battery next to my seat.

 

[mini_mull]

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. 2/0 it is. 4 ga for the alt cable. All marine grade.

 

[mini_mull]

I got the mock up with the box mold done tonight.

The paper circle represents where the cutout for the switch will be when the box is actually made of fiberglass. I'll be mocking up all the components inside the box for a test fit and to measure for cables soon.

 

[ryoken]

wow, thats gonna be tight.....

what are you gonna do for a cover?

 

[NEK5]

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. 2/0 it is. 4 ga for the alt cable. All marine grade.

That`s how I`ll roll too! Alright got the stuff, just gotta do it

 

[mini_mull]

wow, thats gonna be tight.....

what are you gonna do for a cover?

Yeah, it's a tight fit, defintely not room for anything else on that side of the engine bay. I'm not sure on a cover yet. If I can't source anything else, I'll just glass one.

 

[cuervo]

Hey Mini,

Did the people/show that did the retrofit on your AC add the insulation to your accumulator, or was that something you did?


I'm kind of wondering what the benefit of that mod would be?

 

[mini_mull]

No, that's something I did. I need to rewrap it. It's getting messy. It basically just keeps the accumulator cooler, thereby keeping the rest of the system cooler and the "should" drop the air temps about 5*. If you check out late model vehicles, most of them come with a compressed fiberglass insulation around it from the factory. IIRC, I got the idea from MaxPF on an old thread when I was researching a/c.

 

[cuervo]

Well, 5 degree in a converted 134 system is well worth the effort!!

 

[cbbr]

Cool. Thanks for posting that pic and clearing up the "will they fit" question.

 

[mini_mull]

No problem. It's definitely snug and I'm going to grind the lip off the stock battery tray before I attach the dual tray to it just to make sure the posts aren't up too high and to make it sturdier. I'm working on the box mold right now, and if my little ones stay content inside I should be able to finish the mold and be ready for glassin tonight. I'll post pics soon.

 

[cbbr]

I want dual batteries, but have not been able o dcide how to mount them. I love what Rene did, but don't know that I have the time right now or the skill.