Hey all, thought I'd put together a quick post on how to make your own modification to the stock battery tray which will make the Optima that many of us use more secure, and a factory-looking install.

Here's what you will need:
A 28" length of 2" wide, 1/8" thick aluminum stock
A 2" long M8 bolt with 2 washers, 2 nuts, and 2 lockwashers
A gallon (or less) of Plasti-Dip or equivalent

STEP 1: Cut stock to length, then bend in the following dimensions:
top = 10"
sides = 7"
left side lower tab = 2.5"
right side lower tab = 1.5"

Use these pictures as a rough guide:



Left side, drill a oblong hole about 1" long and 1/2" wide closer to the terminal side of the stock and starting 1/2" from where you made your bend.


Right side drill a round hole 1/2" diameter right after the bend in the same position as the other side.




STEP 2: Coat in Plasti-Dip. This creates a rubber coating which is useful to have when you're mounting something so close to the terminals. 3 coats was enough for me and didn't cause any problems with the resize of the dimensions. Be sure to sand the surface a bit rough first before coating so it sticks, then let dry for a few hours between coats for a uniform finish.

Coating


Finished product




STEP 3: Remove the stock battery tray. On the right side there's a convenient non-threaded hole. This is where you want to mount the stud with the M8 bolt. Put the bolt through the underside and secure with the nut and lockwasher. There's a gap under and over the tray - almost like they were asking for precisely this. There will still be sufficient thread to put another nut on top when you mount the bracket.







STEP 4: Disconnect the battery, put the bracket on top, and secure on each side. The stock bolt will fit in a new hole on the factory tray which is close to the new battery location.









That's it. It was pretty easy, and truly looks like a factory job. There is no chance that this battery will go anywhere now, and I feel more secure throwing the car around corners now. The other options just weren't working for me.

I hope this helps more people use these great batteries that may have previously been put off by the lack of options as far as mounting is involved. Anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I have some stock left, and would even be glad to make a couple more as I have some stock and a LOT of this Plasti-Dip stuff left.

Regards

 

Thanks jimmer, very imformative and thorough. I am considering the battery
swap and would be interested in one of your hold downs. Do you know
your weight savings?

 

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ad.php?t=71489

 

I have a Odyssey PC680, but I was told the 996TT needs more than the
the Odyssey can supply.

 

i used a piece of HDP (high-density poly). I bought mine from a supply house.
The battery is mounted to it and it mounts to the stock locations.
BTW, I used an Optima orange top battery, this is a reverse polarity battery just like OEM.

A DIY procedure is posted at Renntech.

jorge

 

i'm confused. what do you mean by reverse polarity battery?

 

It is fine if you charge every night. I also keep it on the charger at the track. It works fine if you are careful and the weight savings cant be beat.







you can get the brackets from rennline.com

 

how much did your lap times drop after doing the battery swap?

 

went from a 2:27 at Sebring to a 2:24!!! How bout dat!!!

Oh you were going so fast I DIDNT SEE YA THERE!!!!

Get that bad *** car of yours to the track and kick some ***!!!

 

Reverse meaning the poles are reversed. In other words, if you are standing in front of the car, the neg is on the right hand side, while the positive is on the left. The optima redtop is just the opposite. Probably need longer cables for that.
In mine, i used the factory cables.

jorge

 

Normal Optima Red Top worked fine for me. No longer cables necessary, it's not even a stretch as you can see in the pics. I have a UK car though, so the negative wire is on the left. If you position the battery correctly, it should work either way though. They make a reverse polarity one too if you're really losing sleep about it.

 

couldn't you just turn the battery around?

 

yep, you could. As a matter of fact, that's what i did first and the cables were under alot of stress. i put the original red in my desert racer and got an orange. If my racer didn't need a new batt ii would have work the cabel issue somehow.

that's why i like this board.....share info.

godspeed.

 

Not sure where that rumor came from. I've been using a PC680 for over a year with no issues.

 

I am a lazy bastard. Rather than fabricate a nice bracket like that, I just bought mine. Good job.

Here's mine.
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ad.php?t=72966