battery mounting/location in FG dune buggy??

[HeidelbergJohn4.0]

I'm trying to determine how and where to mount the battery in my dune buggy. my body has the typical flat rear wall that is vertical and even with the rear crossmenber. my rear seats are low and partially straddle the rear of the center tunnel, so the stock location is out.

The body has a square hole cut in the package/rear seat area for a battery, putting it directly over the right side of the tortion housing.
I've seen similar holes on other buggies, but i've never actually seen how or where the battery was mounted.

What do you guys do for a battery box/mounting? I guess need to build a frame to attach to the body and suspend the battery, but I'd like to see some pictures of some successful mounting solutions. i'd really hat to drop a bill on a nice Optima, only to have it end up dragging down the street.

BTW, Search didn't get me anything!
_________________
71 LWB Manx style dunebuggy
71 Beetle
71 Volksrod
Machette Speedster
2012 Passat TDI SE (sadly sitting in a buyback parking lot somewhere waiting for it's heart to be ripped out.)

[westy]

I just finished a Manx for a guy and located his in the provided battery tray. I made my own 'tray' by rolling the edges of a peice of aluminium plate and bolted it down. On the underside I did the same. (to strengthen the area)
Mine, I had to make my own 'tray' using angle iron and attached it the torsion housing.
Watch it! An old fiberglass buggy was made for a swing axle. If you add a makeshift battery tray off the torsion housing, on an IRS, the arm will 'smack' your battery under full compression if it's not angled up enough!!
_________________
...everyone has something to teach you.

Support our troops. Not all injuries are visible ones.

[mattt]

Can anyone make a suggestion for a simple & effective battery hold down for an off road VW with a pan. I dont have the original battery hold down, and dont think it would hold anyway. Id like to keep the battery in stock location, right rear seat, but Im open to suggestions.

All the local off road shops only have battery hold-downs for the Odyssey batteries.
TIA

[HeidelbergJohn4.0]

As far as one for the stock pan location, I would use a Marine batery hold down. Mine can hold down the huge 800cca/deepcycle batteries in heavy offshore seas at 65mph+, and we're talking heavy hits anda lot of moving around. They are both aluminum frames that bolt down, then havea top frame that bolts down to the bottom frame. They don't move.

I guess it's time to break out the welder again.
_________________
71 LWB Manx style dunebuggy
71 Beetle
71 Volksrod
Machette Speedster
2012 Passat TDI SE (sadly sitting in a buyback parking lot somewhere waiting for it's heart to be ripped out.)

[sandshark]

I mounted mine in the molded in "well" in the back seat... but I made a tray out of angle iron, made a simple alum strap/threaded rod hold down, and bolted the thing to the body using a combo of big diamter (to spread of any forces that may crack the 'glass) and rubber washers to absorb vibration. Seems to work beautifully...
_________________
Fins up~~^~~

[HeidelbergJohn4.0]

Yeah, my body doesn't have the well. Flat across the rear pan crossmember and flat across the top of th package tray area. I'll have to mount it to the torsion housing., high enough to clear the IRS.
_________________
71 LWB Manx style dunebuggy
71 Beetle
71 Volksrod
Machette Speedster
2012 Passat TDI SE (sadly sitting in a buyback parking lot somewhere waiting for it's heart to be ripped out.)

[mattt]

[HeidelbergJohn4.0]

The battery usually is pretty snug when the lid is strapped down inside the box.

take a look at these. I have two of these in my Donzi that have never failed. They aren't cheap, but you can fabricate a copy fairly easily.

http://www.gilmarine.com/products/batbox/index.html

These have never let me down either. They use the same theory but are heavy plastic. I've actually had one of these screwed inside a large case, then the case lid just strapped down over it. I used this set-up in my 100 mph Hydrostream. Never had any battery problems

http://shop.torresen.com/shipsstore/shopping/detai...WN%20TRAYS
_________________
71 LWB Manx style dunebuggy
71 Beetle
71 Volksrod
Machette Speedster
2012 Passat TDI SE (sadly sitting in a buyback parking lot somewhere waiting for it's heart to be ripped out.)

[plasticman1432]

When the time comes to mount a battery in my wife's buggy(next summer, if all goes to plan), I might have to get very creative. The body is a damn near perfect repop of a series 1 Manx, with the battery tray & spare tire wells molded in; when my buddy helped me shorten the IRS chassis, we also modified the wells by chopping out about 2-3" and re-glassing the bottoms. Clearance between the body & suspension shouldn't be an issue, but I may need to shop for a small battery if we plan on a rear seat going in this one.
_________________
Organized people are just too lazy to look for stuff

'68 Meyers Manx: M1689D815E

http://public.fotki.com/VWDave/

[Cheeky Monkey]

I'm resurrecting an old thread here, but have the same issues and haven't found the answer really yet, so hope you don't mind... (at least I did a search )

[gfw1985]

Might consider an Optima battery. More expensive but you can mount in any position, anywhere, with no danger of fumes or leakage I just placed one in my shortened fiberglass two seater dune buggy. Put mine lengthwise on top of tunnel over access panel for shift linkage. I just used sheet metal screws thru a plastic battery tray into tunnel, but could easily bolt in place. My buggy is street only so not concerned about abuse. I just did not want to worry about lighting a smoke, plus gave me more room for passenger seat. All parts to do this are available at any parts store.

[Cheeky Monkey]

[rterfert]

I have seen a Predator sand car with the batteries under the rear seats...Basically an Optima style gel type battery cut in half...they are also used in race car applications/each cylinder-cell is 2 volts.
We have the same problem now in a FG Manx after swapping a VW 1776 out for a FI 2.3 ford turbo motor...the battery will probably just be put behind the passenger seat on the floor in a battery box.

[HeidelbergJohn4.0]

I'd take a few measurements and consider adding to your rear support frame. what about placing it right above the transmission nosecone? Optima has a couple batteries that are about the size of a standard battery cut in half, which could then be placed flat. if you welded up a cross support between your two rear supports and then added a tray, creating a battery box, you should have plenty of room. I've got another marine part I'm using to dress the hole. it is a prefabricated deck plate lid I picked up at a marine rummage sale. it is approx 12x16 or so, made of plastic. It has rubber watertight seals and a locking latch. I made a similar box to what i described but my rear support is configured differently than yours and not as heavy gauge. You can't access it from below, so I added a battery cut-off that is inside of the locked lid. It's basically one of these with a locking t-latch. The hole was already there from one of the countless previous owners, I just had to widen the opening a tad to make it a clean fit. I don't have the seats up on the deck, so It dressed it up nicely. needed

http://www.iboats.com/mall/index.cgi?category_id=2...ew_id=2831

Here's another good choice

http://www.iboats.com/mall/index.cgi?category_id=2...w_id=47933
_________________
71 LWB Manx style dunebuggy
71 Beetle
71 Volksrod
Machette Speedster
2012 Passat TDI SE (sadly sitting in a buyback parking lot somewhere waiting for it's heart to be ripped out.)

[Cheeky Monkey]

[90volts]

instead of going down with my battery, i went up, it dies have the well but there wasn't enough clearance to put it under the seat. so the rear seat on the driverside is the regular thickness plywood and on the passener side it was cut out to about half the thickn ess. this allows the battery to stick up a couple inches out of the well but still sit underneath the seat without contacting anything.

[MURZI]

Couple of pieces of angle iron and two muffler clamps.

_________________
62 vert
2276
Tim’s welded heads
45 Dells
A1 sidewinder
Fk44 cam

[jp16v]

I know you are fishing for ideas, so here's what I did...
My FG buggy didn't have a well for the battery either. Though my build doesn't look nearly as beefy as yours (nice job, BTW), I built a tray that is suspended from the rear support bar(a bar I built, similar to yours, that ties the two rear shocks together and supports the rear seat area). In that tray I horizontally mounted an Optima Yellow-Top D51 battery. That battery is only 5 1/16" wide, so it can sit pretty far up and away from the rear control arms. The tray bolts to the rear support bar so that I can change the battery without disassembling the car.
Sorry I don't have any pics handy...