[raj4851]

I have a '39 Ford two door sedan. I'm about to mount the battery in the trunk. It seems everyone says that it needs to be in an encolsed box with a vent. I'm using a wet cell battery. The best option I've seen is an ammo box. Any other suggestions? I will mount a Ford solenoid in the area to keep the positive cable inactive until I start it. Thanks in advance, Rod

[trees]

You will need ro modify it with a vent tube to get fumes out side the trunk/car. Also, you will need both a #1 or 2 positive and ground from the battery to the engine compartment. DO NOT USE THE FRAME FOR BATTERY GROUND!!!! You will need a much heavier wire from your alternator or to your voltage regulator in order to get adequate charging amperes to the battery. A search of this electric forum will turn up lots of how to and how not to do this job.

Trees

[EOD Guy]

"OO" jumper cables with the clamps cut off, make for a nice cable run to the front. I would also think of putting in a pos stud in the engine compartment for jump starting.

[HotRodMan]

Trees is right. I have had both systems, the grounded frame and the ground running all the way to the engine block. What happens is that if everything is working perfectly the engine turns over OK with the frame ground. If you leave the lights on and run the battery down, the engine turns over slowly or not at all. If you run the ground cable from the battery all the way to the engine block you can tell a difference and it will work even when the battery is partially discharged. I measured the distance that was needed and ordered a pair of 0/1 copper cables from one of the major speed shops, order the correct size clips to hold the wire in place and the right size grommets to run the cable thru the floor. In my case the cable was 5/8 diameter. I drilled a 1 inch hole thru the floor, installed the grommet and ran the cable thru that. Worked great.

[raj4851]

Hey, trees, EOD Guy, & HotRodMan, Thanks for the info. Very helpful. I'm on it. Thanks again, Rod