I am going to mount my optima in the trunk to free up some space up the hood and I was just wondering if anyone on here has done this. If so any advice as to where the best place to route the wires is. I am also wondering what gauge wire is necessary to run to the starter and ground on the block, I also might use my grounding kit and just ground to some the rear body piece's. Any tips or tricks would be much appreciated.
Easiest, in my opinion, is similar to common car stereo amp line along door sill. I beleive 12g is standard, but can't remember....I'll check. Edit: Took a quick look around the internet and under 2 hoods. Looks 10-12 gauge wire running to the starter. So....go bigger cause bigger is safer.
i did this in my 240sx. go buy a relocation kit with the wires, tray, tie down together. run the power wire under the carpet
from experience with relocating a red top to the trunk... bring TWO positives up to the front of the car and if you are feeling frisky bring TWO grounds as well. I believe mine is 4ga, i forget. If you want an easy way to run the wires just take out the back seat and run the wires underneath the seat, over the carpet for about at foot in the rear footwell, then you can push in up into the center counsel starting back at the armrest. i'm not positive, but i think it would be a little difficult to get 3 or even 4 battery cables underneath the doors sills.
Use 4ga or 6ga if you are feeling lucky. If you pull off the door sills and pull up the carpet you can run the cables under either the passenger or drivers side carpet. That's what I'm doing with mine.
Absolutely nothing under 4ga and I would highly recommend 0ga. (Running parallel wires will work, but then you need a distribution block or an additional fuse holder and the extra wire) I have the battery in the trunk of the RS and I used 0ga, run through very similar to Justin's suggestion. You do not need to run a GND all the way up to the engine bay, you can ground the battery in the trunk. I drilled a hole, sanded the paint off and screwed a ring terminal to the bare metal. You can get away with 4ga on the GND if it is attached near by (resistance is your enemy and it is a function of the length of the wire) Be sure to use a fuse at the battery and if you are looking for extra security, use one up in the bay, as well (I chose not too). Use at least a 200A fuse as you will pull a ton of current through it when you start the car in the cold. If your cable shorts, it will absolutely blow a 200A fuse, so no worries about that. Other than that, be sure to securely mount the battery and make sure there is nothing that can short the terminals (or the positive term to the body of the car!) or you will burn up your car, literally.
You could always buy a braille battery and free up the extra underhood space that way. Se7enrex has/had a braille and it was 1/3 of the size of a normal car battery, and it also started several cranks faster, no matter what temp. Personally I would spend the money on the braille and save the money you'd spend on all the wiring. Oh...and time...
i was contemplating doing this before i started my project but i just couldnt get myself to believe in the battery that is a little bit bigger than a vhs tape starting my car when its -20 out.
