Hot Rods Mounting the battery in your early hot rod

Space is limited in the early 20's & 30's cars, Ford or Chevy and everything in between you have to be creative with battery placement.

I have the battery under the floor on the passenger side in my Deuce sedan. HRP

 

The battery in my F-100 is under the floor on the passenger side just in front of the seat.


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Under pass fender on all 40's we do

 

Mine is under the passenger side seat. The seat is hinged for easy access. I added a remote battery plug under the hood in case a jump start is needed.

 

On my '35 Slantback, I put it behind the back seat and stuck a battery operated led light.
Worked out great!

 

The battery was mounted under the seat in my tub.

 

Get the odyssey battery 925, its small mount and hide anywhere

 

The battery in the hiboy 4 door was mounted inside the car on the firewall, a unusual place but easy to service if necessary. HRP

 

29 A sedan, battery is under passenger rear floor. I can easily jump or charge battery off positive cable on starter if need be.

 

I’d suggest not to install a battery inside the cabin.
Under the floor yes. In your space no.
When batteries charge they give off sulfuric acid fumes.
And if you’ve ever seen a battery blow up it is very scary.

Sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive chemical that is potentially explosive in concentrated form. It can cause severe skin burns, can irritate the nose and throat and cause difficulties breathing if inhaled, can burn the eyes and possibly cause blindness, and can burn holes in the stomach if swallowed.

 

I have an Odyssey 680 under the rear seat of my 32 Tudor. Works great

 

When charging a regular led acid car battery, it gives off hydrogen gas which is explosive.

 

I totally agree and had I kept the car I had planned on moving it to a different location. HRP

 

I am using a Dyna-Batt 12V dry cell mounted to the front crossmember behind the slanted radiator. 7" L x 4" W x 6.5" H, 13 lbs. Master shut off under dash, + and - posts on firewall.

 

Cars that come from the factory with the battery mounted in the car have a vent tube going outside. What cars you ask? Mercedes, Cadillac. VW. Smart Car.

 

On my old hotrod 32 sedan, a previous builder had installed a 34 X-member, so space was limited to under the passenger side floor. Pedals had to go in the other side. Fab'd up this box that bolts in to the X-member legs and frame rails. Only pic that I could find but you get the idea hopefully.

 

That's how our 40 is also.

 

Many manufacturers of the '20s had running-board-mounted boxes which are about battery-sized or a bit bigger. It's a look I like, personally.

 

I can see that working on some cars but I couldn't even imagine it on something like a '33 Ford sedan. HRP

 

In the cabin no, in the trunk yes. Boss 429 Mustangs also had the battery in the trunk.

 

Some Mercedes are under the drivers seat. Some Cads are under the rear seat. Smart Car is right in front of passengers feet.

 

Using an AGM up inside the cowl of my 27T Modified in a drop down cage. Nowhere else to put it.

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Corvettes had them behind the seat with a vent tube

 

Mine too...Steel 'open box', overhead strap. Next to the 10" X 12" tranny cooler.

 

I don't think there is a problem with AGM batteries inside, a lot of rods have them under the seat even on their side. You could put a Taylor box around it or better yet, make your own to fit and a small vent tube. I used two of the 6V red tops and made arm rests of them.
Warren

 

^^^ clever

 

Mine is in a battery box behind and below the seat in the roadster. It's a tight fit and I have to trim off the hold down tabs molded on the side of the case to get a standard battery to fit. I also have to use a side post battery so if I ever need a jump I have to crawl under the car.

 

I ran out of room on my 32 pickup and mounted the battery in the trunk that was in the bed. HRP

 

Hey HRP good question and a lot of great answers so far. That was somewhat of a dilemma for me because I installed the TCI master cylinder where the factory location was. I decided in the trunk as I had a lot of welder cable stored from my days as a fitter welder in the steel fab world. I have the battery in a ventilated/modified plastic battery box. The cable is run from the starter back a short way on the frame and just past the door jam, through a hole to the inside and back to the trunk and then into the trunk. This was a fun fab and it worked out great.

 

In my '36 Willys, the battery is in a metal frame covered by an upholstered box in the tail of the 'trunk'. You can see the top of the box I built to cover the battery, AC evaporator and tool box. I ran 01 welding cable to the starter. that cable is extremely flexible, solid copper and very weather resistant. great application. the interior of my car is one big carpeted and upholstered space from the tail to the firewall, which n a Willys, isn't that big a space! Only division is the bucket seats.