Editing Quick-disconnect rear mount battery

[[Things you'll need]]

Battery tray with hold down;
Disconnect switch;
Free formed Project box;
Ford solenoid;
Gun cleaning handle;
8-32 stud;
2 pcs. 3/16 brass compression ferrules;
Acorn nut or nylok nut;
900 -1050 amp battery;
Battery cable (1 ga or 00 ga);
Assorted cables, wires, grommets and hardware.

[[What we're going to build]]

[[Image:Front_face.jpg‎ ]]   [[Image:Rear.jpg‎]]


Now that you have a mental picture of what its going to look like, together with the list of parts required, this should be an easy task to do one evening in the shop.

Let's begin with the layout and selection of battery size. The bottom hold down plate size will be determined by the size of battery that you want to use for your application. Start with a clean piece of cardboard laid on the bench or garage floor. If you have the battery you want to use, place it on the card board and allow a border of 1 1/4 inch around three sides of the battery to serve as the rolled up rim around the battery case. With a marking pen and a ruler draw a line around the battery.

Take your disconnect switch and the Ford solenoid and lay them down on the cardboard to get an idea of the space required and the layout. Use a gasket punch to make a hole for the disconnect switch to go through and use a prick punch for the centers of hold down lugs on the solenoid to go through. Your layout should look like a letter " L " (see layout picture). Leave enough room around the switch and solenoid to form a box around them for stiffness and strength. Essentially, you want to have a good solid mounting base for the battery and switch cluster. You can modify this layout to achieve the clearances that you require. 

When you have your design roughed out on the cardboard, cut and slice the card board, bend it to the shape of the finished product. Use tape to hold it in place and tweak as required to your likening.

Get a piece of 24" X 24" by 1/8 steel or 5/16 aluminum plate. Place the template you made above on the plate and with a center punch, punch each inside and outside corner and draw your connecting lines. Mark the holes for switch. solenoid, and battery hold downs and drill those first.Those punch marks and lines will be used for you to line up the brake that will bend them. If you don't have a brake, you can always have the local sheet metal shop bend them for you. Weld in extra gusset plates for strength and weld and grind the corners. Mount to floor of trunk in a level area. Install battery. 

Mount the Disconnect switch and the Ford solenoid as shown. Wire in the solenoid to your starter using 1 gauge wire. Use 8 gauge wire to distribute power to the engine bay, dash area, and the trunk. Small 4, 6 and 8 fuse panels can be used to supply different sources of power to where you need it.

Take an old gun cleaning rod and dip the handle in Plasticoat to identify the quick disconnect handle and let dry.

[[Image:Gun_rod_handle.jpg‎]][[Image:Gun_rod_handle_dipped.jpg‎]]

Screw in the 8-32 stud into the gun rod and crimp it in the vice to hold it in or drill the rod and put a split pin in to hold it. Drill a hole in the switch handle and countersink it slightly. Place a ferrule on the stud, thread through handle, place another ferrule on, and lock down acorn nut with Loktite on end of rod. Adjust rod to length required.


[[Image:Gun_rod_handle_hardware.jpg‎]][[Image:Handle.jpg‎]][[Image:Handle_linkage.jpg‎]][[Image:Disconect_closeup.jpg‎ ]]

If you look at the pictures, you'll get the idea of how it goes together. You can drill a hole through the rear bumper or use one of the bumper bolt holes to put the rod through. Drill an appropriate hole in the trunk sheet metal, install a grommet, and your done.