trunk hacking (battery relocate)

I'm putting my Odyssey battery and Scott Evans tray in the trunk, and was wondering where ok places to drill or cut through were. I'm thinking of putting it just behind the passenger side wheel well in the trunk, and drilling through that raised area between the tire well and the far edge of the trunk where it drops off. I won't hit the gas tank, will I? Or anything else important?

Also, I really hate the humped floor of the trunk, and want to ditch the spare and put a flat piece of plywood or something back there. Problem is, that huge mound the spare sits on pokes up higher than the surrounding trunk floor. Can I just cut all that crap out, and build a little storage space there, for maybe an air compressor and some jumper cables? Again, will I hit the tank or something? Should I put a piece of metal back in, flat, welded or something to restore structural stability?

Sorry for the long post, just want to do it right the first time. (measure twice, cut once, etc. etc.)

 

I'll give you $20 shipped! (...cause you're in for sale...and its not a for sale ad...and...uh...)

But no, the area from the edge of the spare hump to the back of the seats, you won't pole the gas tank as long as you are using reasonably sized screws. You can cut the hump out, but I would suggest having a pro weld something like that in. In order to do that too you'd have to remove everything underneath (gas tank, drop rear, etc). Why not just build something up then lay your own carpet to clean it all up?

 

[curtis]

Cut the hump out and forget the jumper cable and air compressor thing. try mounting 3 10 lbs nos bottles

 

[number3]

http://www.whiterose.net/~dsm/images/number3_trunk.jpg


I felt the same way you did... If you are serious I can post more details and of course digital photos.

Harry

 

Yes, I've seen your setup Harry, and love it!! However, I'm not about to bump #3 off its pedestal anytime soon.

Besides, it's still a street car, so I'm not about to put in a fuel cell soon. And I don't really want to build anything "up," as the whole point of this is to get some more trunk space back from that stupid hump.

So, yes Harry, if you could please share some tips or details, that would be excellent. Maybe pics of what you cut out where, etc. I'd really like to not drop the gas tank if possible, or is this easier than I imagine?

Thanks!

 

[teet]

once you decide what you want to cut...I can plasma cut it out for you in 5 minutes...assuming you don't want to cut to the bottom of the well.

if you just want to cut the say top 2-3 inches out of the top of the hump...you won't need to do anything but pull the spare out and carpet.

if you want to cut all the way to the bottom of the well...that will be more invovled to have clearance to the fuel tank.

if you're still in portland, you can swing by and look at the rally car for thoughts...I haven't molested the rear sheet metal yet. Soon though

john

 

[number3]

It has been a while but I am pretty damn sure the gas tank follows the hump in the trunk floor. So cutting just the floor hump will not gain you much.

Forgive the quality of the pictures. They are going on 4 years old and good digital camera were unheard of or very expensive.

My first time using a plasma cutter.

Added metal back (boxed in) to the rear structure (above the diff) I was using the square stock to check eveness and for reference points it is not part of the trunk

Ralph O'neil the guy who welds the mounting tabs to my SSSS' did the awesome welding/bending work.



Added square chromoly stock to create frames to add stiffness and mounting points for the two storage containers, fuel cell and of course the new flooring.



Here is the battery compartment.

Here is the custom made 14 gallon fuel cell I designed just for number3 including a OEM sender.

Here is my custom fuel pump mount and you can see the 2 storage compartments (the fuel cell is removed in this shot) that hold my battery, my helmet bag, a CD changer, and a can of fix a flat.




This shows the lack of the fuel door thanks to the days of work by my friend and bodyman Bob Brown.

I hope that was helpful. I can let my imagination get wild sometimes but in the end it was worth it I think.

 

[curtis]

harry sweet job, a man after my on heart when in doubt cut it out. Why buy it when you can build it. My friends are always dogging me I'll spend a week building something that cost 50 bucks and run all over finding parts and pieces. Just finish my 2 1/2 IC pipes in cost me a total of 68 dollars and 16 of that was the T-body plate from RRE. Oh I forgot about HKS's damn 35 dollar BOV adapter. sh*t that puts me over a hundred.

 

Good info guys, thanks, especially Harry for loading up all those pics.

I'm not looking to redesign my trunk floor here, just inside where the spare goes. I was simply going to chuck the spare and that cardboardy cover over it and put in a flat board, cut to fit the "footprint" of the trunk floor. Viola, flat trunk. Then I realized that the hump that the spare tire straddles sticks up above the rest of the trunk. That's the part I'm talking about, just that dome of metal in the spare well. Just to have space for some jumpers, fix a flat, etc. The battery is going elsewhere.

Thanks for the offer John, I may take you up on it. No, I'm back in Albany now, but I'll be in Portland for much of this week, working on sister's house, blood tests, a bunch of errands and whatnot. Plus, the galant's down right now, waiting on it's Oberholtzered ecu, for my lazy butt to remove a bolt from the head, etc. Maybe next week? But I would LOVE to come see the rally car in person. That cage must be delicious, cuz it had me drooling.

 

[turboflanagan]

quote:Originally posted by number3:
My first time using a plasma cutter.Arn't those things Great! I wish I had one to "play" with.

Harry, it would be _great_ if you could add more pics to the yahoo board files so they would all be in one place and accessable any hour of the day for that might-just-be-perfect-minus-window-tint GVR4 fix that I sometimes need. I have a terrible lack of imagination (which you seem to have plenty of) so I love seeing what some creativity can do to our cars.

Jon F, I have not dropped the tank, but it should be really simple to do. Just drain the gas first to make the tank lighter.

 

[number3]

Thanks. On Yahoogroups GVR4 I have a bunch of photos, as a start for your fix. If someone could show me how to do a web site I would do one. I am sure it can't be that hard. I am serious if someone wouldn't mind helping me.

In case you missed it...

"the gas tank follows the hump in the trunk floor. So cutting just the floor hump will not gain you much."

 

Thanks Harry, I just wanted to verify that we were talking about the same area. It just makes no sense to me whatsoever why the tank would bubble up like that, as that's not where the filler is located. Hence, that space can never hold gas (just an air bubble) so why bother to make the tank shaped that way?

Man, I really need to find that CD... maybe it's got some good diagrams of the tank. Well, off to search before I ask any more stupid questions.

Thanks again guys!

 

[number3]

Like I said it has been a while so double check it. I asked Nate and he seemed to rememeber there being a hump in the tank too. He has my old tank in his car.

Let us know when you find out for sure.

Harry