Date:         Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:10:45 -0800
Reply-To:     M'obeechi <obeechi@RUNBOX.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         M'obeechi <obeechi@RUNBOX.COM>
Subject:      Starting Battery Behind the Driver Seat
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-15"

Just wired this in... as a proof of concept... and its got some cool points... 

1. Drilling from underneath the van (with completely sealed goggles, unless you like blindness), in the same section where the front jack points are, you can see two fat holes, that are unobstructed by other sheet metal... these holes are only the in the bottommost layer of sheet metal, and one is larger and more to the outside, while the other is smaller and more to the inside... well, that smaller one that is more to the inside or middle, is the one you want to drill through.... after it goes through the metal and some of the cork, you can get inside, and lift the cork, and drill the rest of the way through the cork, then place a screw through the cork so its facing upwards (and not yet through the sheet metal) and line up your battery box, and poke the bottom enough to mark it, then drill a hole through the battery box, take the screw out, and screw the screw in properly, (down through the battery box, then cork, then sheet metal). Your next screw going down would pass through the other corner of the battery box that is on the outside and more to the rear, as far as using the two inner corners, with a group 27 box, its above the gas tank, so forget that -- instead.. one can use the lower inner hole made by the factory to secure the bracket for the Carat mid-seat to secure the battery box on the inner side with a tab... (securing before the lid is on... and I guess notch out the lid in this area... 

2. The inner upper hole made by the factory for the carat mid seat can be used for grounding the battery, though really, I'd rather loop the ground through the outer bottom rear hole already there from the factory and have a negative distribution bus in the stock battery chamber, but with no screws or spark points anywhere near those fuel vapor return tanks... 

3. For a truly sealed battery box, there could be vent tubing running into the stock battery chamber, and then plugged into and through the stock vent holes that are there from the factory... 

4. You can lift and lower the battery more readily and safely here than under the front seats or the rear seats... just make sure there is no metal anywhere that would cause a grounding short circuit when tightening the red positive battery terminal.