Best cable routing for trunk mounted battery?

[TheJDMan]

In the past I just ran the battery cable down through the floor of the trunk and along the general route of the fuel line to the front. Now I'm thinking it's probably not a good idea to have the battery cable and fuel line in close proximity to each other. My thought now is to run the cable in the door sill channel on the passenger side and go through the firewall to the engine compartment. Where have you run your battery cable on a 1st gen Camaro?

[rocketrod]

...My thought now is to run the cable in the door sill channel on the passenger side and go through the firewall to the engine compartment. Where have you run your battery cable on a 1st gen Camaro?

I ran mine in the door sill channel on the passenger side. I installed a bulkhead connector at the top of the toe board. I also installed a remote starter solenoid so the battery cable would only be live when cranking.

[SlowProgress]

I punched into the top of the right rocker box just beside the rear seat and ran forward and out the front of the rocker. I covered the battery cable with thick tubing to protect it from sliding around in the rocker and put grommets at both ends. Seems to work well and prevented me from having any bulkhead fittings on the front firewall. There is a battery shutoff in the trunk just in case that big long positive cable decides to find a ground along the way !

[Motown 454]

I ran mine like rocketrod did up front not too sure how he did the back.
Here's how Idid mine.

[TheJDMan]

Thanks Guys!
That's pretty much what I had in mind doing. Wayne did you run both pos and neg cables up front?

[rocketrod]

I ran my positive cable just like Motown. The owner of MAD Electrical suggested that I didn't run the negative cable the length of the car, but rather ground the block to the chassis in multiple places. Personally I didn't notice any difference fwiw.

[diesel25lrs]

Wayne- Is that 1ga or 1/0? where did you get your wire and bulkhead from? I'm getting ready to order mine...
Thanks

[67rally]

Wayne- Is that 1ga or 1/0? where did you get your wire and bulkhead from? I'm getting ready to order mine...
Thanks

I just did this earlier this year and ordered my cable from wireandsuppy.com. I used Royal Excelene 1/0 red and black. They will cut it to length for you, and they had some of the best pricing on the web. I got my bulkhead connector from Summit. You will also need to pick up some battery cable terminals to make the connections.

Here's a link to the welding cable, real nice stuff: http://www.wireandsupply.com/www_wir...2_htm_s/22.htm

***Edit***

I didn't run the negative the full length of the car. I attached it to the bumper bolts that connect to the rear frame rail. My rear frame rails are both new this year, and I have subframe connectors and solid aluminum body mounts, so I knew I'd have a good path. I have several grounds up front, 1/0 from the block to the body, #2 from the alt to the radiator support, etc.

[diesel25lrs]

Sweet thanks!

[67rally]

Sweet thanks!

No problem. I have some pics in my build thread that show the routing, plus the MAD electrical wiring, and the new battery location if you need reference points. Mine looks very similar to Motown's.

[Motown 454]

Sorry guys for being so late. It 1/0 automotive rated wire and yes I ran both +&- to the front. One thing I would do different is on the negative I would have just ran it to some type of bolt or something to go through the toe board which would make another ground connection to the body instead of the panel pass through. Definetley need it for the pos.

[barryp]

I've been thinking about this for a while now. I first thought to run in the interior of the car, but I thought about something... In the event of an accident where my battery cable is being run, if the cable is grounded inside my car, it will instantly light the carpet and anything else it is near on fire. I then thought I would run them outside the car, but like you...didn't think it would be any smarter to run the battery cable next to fuel lines. I'm now thinking I will swap the fuel lines to the drivers side to run along side my brake lines. Then run the battery cable down the passenger side to the starter.

Has anyone else thought of igniting a fire in the car?? Am I being too paranoid? I just figure the last place I want a fire is IN the car with me and my passenger.

[Roberts68]

Barry, if you mimic the majority of designs and run a rear mounted solenoid (such as what Mad Electrical sells but lots of other sources) that cable you refer to is only hot during engine crank, ignition in start... NOT in "run" position.

I used 1/0 welding cable which is designed to minimize resistance with multiple fine strands or copper, is supple to promote flexibility or a tight bend radius and is constructed so as to endure being stepped on, drug over rough floors and across sharp metal etc... all while being no heavier in weight than a comparable crude 1/0 "battery" cable which is inflexible and can have a lessure insulation jacket.

There is a 2nd wire that provides constant power when in "run" and mine is 8g, I did do a Mad Electrical kit. Their system incorporates a short fusable link wire which will serve as the sacrificial link or fuse which will burn out quickly in the event of a short or accident as you describe.

I highly recommend Mark at Mad Electrical for the ease of understanding he brings to a complicated or confusing subject for many. A subject which is maybe even scary when you think of the consequences to your pride and joy. Fire bad, very bad. Besides that the brochures and instructions are great, I learned a lot and am happy I worked with Mad Electrical... and I work with everything from low voltage controls to 480v at work.

[Roberts68]

My cable routing differs as I secured my cables alongside the seam between inner/outer wheelwell over the top of the radius. Then to the inboard side of the wheelwell as it came into the back seat area. The transition from the underseat to the doorsill gutter will be covered by the seat cushion and I did not remove the door panel or rear quarter panel.

I also did not use a bulkhead fitting, I used a special shouldered grommet and punched through in the flat vertical piece similar to the picture posted above and right near the starter. I sheathed the short length undercar to the starter with DEI heat protective sheathing.

[barryp]

Robert, thanks for the information on the remote solenoid setup from MAD, I'll check that out for sure! I've heard of some remote solenoid systems without the diodes to protect from spikes destroying computers in swaps, but I'm sure MAD has that figured out... I'll give them a call tomorrow.

JDman, if safety is a concern for you, perhaps the remote system from MAD will work for you too. I'll let you know what I find out from them.