The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Battery Compartment for 52 Chevy 1/2 ton

Hi. any ideas for an after market battery tray that can be mounted on the fireall? I prefer to get one from a wrecking yard and clean it up. any ideas for a donor?

I have seen people use a battery box from the task force years. 55-59

Dont know if this helps but I made one out of aluminum and mounted it behind the seat. neglected to mention the gas tank has been movee.

why not cut/drill the rivits, remove yours and enlarge it by an inch or two. then bolt it back on.

I've got a 12V battery that sits in the original box. No mods were made to the box. I don't know what it was in originally.

What do you gain from mounting it on the firewall? Isn't it closer to the starter where it already is? Seems like the engine compartment looks alot cleaner with out that big ol' battery hanging there. :confused:

I have a 12 volt battery sittin in the original box.It looks better not being able to see it.Why do you want to move it ?

yeah... my dad found a 12v battery that would fit in his stock under the floor compartment for his '53.

-W

Well, when I started rebuilding my truck, I thought the carpet would prob get wet if there was a possibility of a bad battery cover floor seal, so I welded it shut.

I also liked the idea of having the battery in the front compartment. I know, I know! I just had to be different...

why have the battery on the firewall it just dont look good im keeping mine on the frame wait till it drips acid on your fire wall and motor

I have carpet in mine, never has gotten wet while driving.I never had any water come in under the original floor mat either.Anybody else have carpet in there trucks with the battery in the floor ??

I'm not a big fan of having hidden batteries. I'm also not particularly keen on having it under the floor. I'm going to spend quite a bit of time looking into alternatives to the original configuration for this. At least, that's the plan.

I think it is safer confined under the floor than on the firewall.Everybody likes something different,and this keeps life interesting.

On under the floor battery boxes in vehicles that customers want fancy carpet in that ends up being almost nonremovable we modify the box by cutting the triangular shaped sheet metal gusset and replace it with a frame to the outside of the box strap. This allows the battery to be slid out from underneath. Also use side post battery for obvious reason. If your wiring and charging systom are in good shape it's not too much of a burden to have to get under it every three or four years. Also, put a copper strap on the battery terminal of the alternater to give a place to hook a charger to, just in case. That's usually a 10 guage wire so it will take a 60 amp charge rate.

On under the floor battery boxes in vehicles that customers want fancy carpet in that ends up being almost nonremovable we modify the box by cutting the triangular shaped sheet metal gusset and replace it with a frame to the outside of the box strap. This allows the battery to be slid out from underneath. Also use side post battery for obvious reason. If your wiring and charging systom are in good shape it's not too much of a burden to have to get under it every three or four years. Also, put a copper strap on the battery terminal of the alternater to give a place to hook a charger to, just in case. That's usually a 10 guage wire so it will take a 60 amp charge rate.

I was thinking of this a while back. My biggest problem is lifting the battery in and out of the box as well as finding the correct size battery.

Making it so carpet wouldn't have to be removed and easier to remove and service the battery is the key. Not relocating it.

I was going to make a padded carpeted lid that is actually a larger portion of the passenger floor. Then all I had to do was lift it up without taking anything apart. It would just sit in place with maybe a 1/2 turn lock latch on two corners. I would piano hinge the other end. You could make it flip towards the firewall....towards the seat....towards the hump.....or have two doors that open in the middle with one flipping up towards the seat and the other towards the firewall.

The same idea as the spare tire wheel well in a newer car, just sturdier.

I just found a nice looking Battery holder that will mount to the firewall from Chevy Duty. I think it will work for my application.

I've found that running boards work well for battery location (with a decent cover),too,if you're not all uppity about the concept of convenience over beauty.
Speed

That's funny, I just moved mine from the firewall and put it back under the floor board. the battery holder was a homemade box with a tarp strap to secure it. There were two reasons I removed it, one the battery would drop acid dust (battery powder stuff)onto the engine and the second was when I would sit on the hood the hood would deflect enough to contact both top terminals on the battery and cause a hot spot where I was sitting.

Hmmm Stuman... makes me think about getting a plasma cutter and undoing what I did.

The battery box on a 56 Chev passenger car sits on the firewall, how about one of those?
Lothar