The engine bay seems tight. Do you relocate the battery? If so, where? Under the front fender? Under the seat? Bed? I'd love to hear opinions, and see pics... Thanks, Rich
I have relocated the battery from under the hood to under the RF fender of the chopped truck I used to have and it went well with the stock 40 front fenders. I don't have any pictures but I used a 2 inch wide piece of quarter inch flat bar and extended it from the stock fender brace location at the outer edge of the fender; across and under the outer frame rail and further to the next rail that was part of the X member. Those two frame mount points made it quite solid and I added washer spacers at the outer fender mount and using a longer and smaller bolt to primarily just stabilize the end of the long flat bar to which I attached a homemade frame to hold the plastic battery box that sat on it. Simple and it worked. My 36 Fordy, on the other hand, with it's 1936 Ford car fenders up front precluded me from using the same approach. I didn't want the battery to take up cab space so I managed to locate it on top of the frame just behind the cab on the passenger side. It required some close engineering and fabricating another homemade frame to hold the battery. The battery was just below the bed surface. In keeping with the theme that my truck was a 1936 Ford Super Deluxe, I used a stock 1936 Ford car battery cover for access to the battery. This is an old picture that was taken when I was building the truck but you can see the cover at the front of the bed on the passenger side. It is painted the same black as the rest of the bed floor and goes relatively unnoticed. By the way, I bought one of those $150 stainless steel "drop out" battery boxes to use on one of my trucks but decided not to use it so it gathers dust. Maybe next time. Good luck, Al
The battery box is mounted on two stands on the frame tight against the rear of the passenger side inner fender and tight back to the passenger side of the firewall. There is a short brace to the pinch weld seam at the junction of the firewall and cowl. The battery just clears the underside of firewall mounted starter solenoid. Almost need a mirror to see the two rear spark plugs on the passenger side.
Uh, thanks? I'm pretty clear on where it is currently. I was looking for some insight on where to relocate it.
Mine battery is in a vented box in the bed , I had it under the bed on the passenger side but it was a pain to get at.
i assume you need to relocate the battery to make room for a later v-8. what i have done on a few `40 Fords with SBC's is modify the stock battery mount to put it partially under the front fender. that involves cutting the inner fender panel to clear the battery , and then making a pan out of sheet metal to fill the hole. i hope that is clear
I have a SBC and fender well headers, no room at the inn. So it went into the bed, which does steal some room and now there is a box in the bed, along with all the other crap. At first I had a vintage trunk to cover the battery and which gave me a tool box. But after 10 years it rotted away. Now I have the battery box and a large ammo can for the tools and fluids. I don't haul much in the 40, I have a collection of other trucks, panel, and a wagon for that, so the missing room is not that important.
That's where I was thinking about putting it. I know MR40s sells a stainless tray for this, kinda pricey. Do you have any pics? Is it in a battery box? Thanks, Rich
Oldscrounger sent me these pictures of a battery install he likes to do on his forties. I imagine that a new rock gaurd would have to be made to protect the battery case.
I picked up 2 - 6 volt optima batteries and mounts for them. I was planning on laying them on their side under the seat in the cab. I haven't done it yet so no pictures.
^^^^If you are planning to use two 6 volt Optimas,, you might consider locating them under the front of the bed and saving the space in the cab. Extra space in the cab will become very quickly appreciated once it is on the road. Just sayin' Al
You are welcome Rich. Hope it works well for you.If you have any questions about the set up I suggest you ask olscrounger.
Hmm, I just assumed those were in a compartment under the passenger side floor board like the early 50s models. (and maybe late 40s??? not sure???) I could see where there might not be room for that on these tho after thinking about it.
I have a friend the uses the small Odyssey Batteries, in a few of his cars. He has me build the boxes to mount them. He is putting the finishing touches on a '40 pickup, and is mounting one under the seat. I am old fashioned, but I might try one in my '40 truck, when I get it finished.
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