RatDog

I left the lights on the other night and the battery was dead the next morning. I thought I'd try out my BatteryMinder to see if it would bring back a dead battery. It took awhile, but it worked. Pretty impressed with that little thing.

While on the topic of batteries, let me just ask if there is any documented evidence of a successful removal of a battery from a Sting Ray engine compartment? I now realize I've been completely mistaken about body-off restorations. It has nothing to do with bringing a car back to original. 'Fess up . . . you guys do this to replace the battery, right? .

Seriously, how do you get that thing out of there? The task looks daunting enough but with the Vintage Air added, I have additional hoses and stuff to deal with. Seems like I read somewhere about taking off the front passenger side wheel and getting it out through the wheel well. Is that a better approach than bringing it out from the top? I have 2 bulging disks in my lower back screaming at me to avoid the topside removal if I can.

Thanks,
-- Steve

MikeM

Getting the battery out is easy if you don't have air. Don't know about air, never tried it.

Auto Zone and others offer free battery replacement with purchase of new battery.

Frankie the Fink

Errr....I'm not letting the snot-nosed AutoZone guy juggle a heavy battery over my fender or wiggle it out through the chassis. I'm just sayin'.....

KC John

MikeM

So, you're not physically able to change the battery yourself and you don't want someone else to do it, what is your plan? Let the thing sit with a dead battery?

Maybe you don't like the help at AZ and prefer Pep Boys maybe?

GeoffM

Steve whilst you are at pulling the battery you might want to look into getting a" battery brain" it's.a Battery saving device that fits on you battery terminal , you can get a key remote to activate or deactivate ,it's a good anti theft device as well, got mine from summit for under $100, it works by detecting battery drain and under a certain voltage it isolates the battery from the rest of the electrics. I got onto it from the guys on the forum from an earlier thread. Might save you going through this hassle again

Mike Geary

Steve:

I'm no help on how to get that sucker out of there, but here's a suggestion for reinstalling it:

Put it on the driver's side in the factory A/C car location. You'll just need a new battery tray, hold-down, & cables.
For access, you just cut the inner fender to the dimensions shown in the AIM under option C60.
You can adapt the cutout piece to make your acces panel just by adding a lip. Or you can buy the panel already fabb'd.

Your post helped me avoid this issue, as I'm planning to install V-A down the road. I'll definitely be relocating the battery!

Mike

RatDog

Good suggestions about the battery brain and moving the battery to the driver's side. The Battery Brain is on my shopping list. I'm not completely sure about moving the battery. With power brakes, there's not a lot of room available on that side either. Luckily, I was able to bring the battery back up and the car starts strong so I won't have to remove the battery yet. I'll keep the BatteryMinder on it and hopefully it will be fine.

In the meantime, the routing of the heater and AC hoses/wiring could have been done a lot better by the Vintage Air installer. Everything goes over the top of the battery (I'll post a pic as soon as my wife gets home and shows me how to get a photo from the camera into my computer). I can lengthen/reroute the heater hoses and AC wiring easy enough. Not so easy with the AC but once everything else is clear, I should be able to pull the AC hose from above the battery and hold it back with a nylon tie. Finally, removing the expansion tank should provide an exit pathway. At that point I'll find someone with a good back to pull the old battery and drop in the new one. Anyway, that's my plan.

Or maybe when the battery finally gives out, I'll just sell the car .

-- Steve

cor66vette

100%

Powershift

I would get the wife to do it...........jus' sayin

Larry

Mike Geary

Steve:

I know what you mean but keep this in mind. You only need about an inch of vertical clearance above the battery. Then it comes straight forward out through the fender liner. Sweet.

From what you describe about your VA hose/wire routing -- there's no question that I'm moving that battery when I go VA.

Again, thanks 'cause I probably wouldn't have considered this otherwise.

Mike

RatDog

Exactly my thought. However, she says the 5 bulging disks in her back combined with 2 in her neck trumps the 2 in my back. I'm still gonna work on that idea, though.

-- Steve

Ron Champe

Battery removal from the original location is quite a task....esp. as we get older and weaker. For this reason, plus it cleans up the engine compartment a bit, I installed mine along with the fuse panel in the rear well. In addition, jumper studs we're install on the under side of the well for jump starts, use of a Battery Tender and of course in my case with shaved door handles.....well, you get the idea.

RatDog

Nice. VW also thought that was a good idea back in the day.

-- Steve

RatDog

Mike - Here's a pic of this mess. The guys who installed the Vintage Air system could have done a much better job with this. I think you could leave your battery on the passenger side if you gave some thought and planning to your wiring and hoses. Another 6 or 7 inches would get the heater hoses out of the way. I'm not sure why the control module on the middle hose was placed directly over the battery. Seems like it could be moved towards the motor unless there might be an issue with heat (it would be close to the exhaust manifold). If the AC wiring were just a few extra inches longer, all of that would be out of the way. The top hose is an AC hose. Longer would be better but if all of the other stuff was out of the way, I could pull that hose out of the way.

My first project is going to be to clean this up.

Ron Champe

For those that asked...the piano hindged cover is made out of aluminum, 1/4 padding and carpet. This what the cover looks like when closed.

Mike Geary

Steve:


can you imagine having a battery under there??

corvette-62

I had a hell of a time getting a new battery in my '62, never mind installation of the hold-down. But then I look at the challenge ahead of you and said to myself, "Thank God I have a C-1!" Best of luck!!

GeoffM

cmon Steve, you have published the fact you have a pit crew, PUSH starts are the crews responsibility , Problem Solved leave the battery alone

RatDog

Oh my! It would take a machette to get to anything underneath that!

-- Steve