With the exhaust fabricated, attention has turned to finishing up the wiring and mounting the battery box. Marcus also redid the intake piping that came with the Samberg radiator kit and its LS7/LS3 MAF adapter. The fitment of this pipe puts it close to the hood with the LS3’s drive-by-wire throttle body, so the goal is to achieve enough clearance to not make contact.
The fusebox was also simplified and moved forwards. I’ll need to pick up a new fusebox cover in the future because the peeling sticker is distracting.
Back when I was still amassing parts for the swapping and in the planning phases, I gave the battery notable thought. I knew I wanted to have the battery moved out of the engine bay. The most popular relocation method has been to place the battery into one of the storage bins behind the seats. It is a clever and compact way of mounting everything, but I didn’t like how the battery was kept near the middle of the car and inside the cabin directly behind the passenger or driver. The ideal position for the battery is at the rear, in the hatch.
After researching the subject, I decided upon an interesting solution: mounting 2 dry cell 6-volt batteries on their side in the spare tire well, and wiring them in series. I picked up a pair of Optima 6-volt batteries to meet this purpose. With the batteries laid on their sides, they should still remain mostly flush to the hatch’s floor when mounted in the tire well. Slide the carpet over and presto.
In the beginning, I shared this concept with Marcus and printed him a picture to follow. Here is the battery box he fabricated for the batteries:
Mounted into the car with the batteries:
Cabling complete. The positive cable goes along the channel through the chassis and directly to the alternator. The ground cable is attached to the chassis and there are 2 more engine grounds in the bay.
With the batteries connected, the car STARTS! Marcus noted that it cranks fast and sent me a quick clip of everything running. Needless to say, things are starting to become very interesting.
The moment of truth has been reached. There are still a few more bugs to be worked out and then hopefully the metamorphosis will be complete.
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