Mod 1
The first of my mods is a battery tray. Although I did get one from Westfield's, I didn't want to put it on the scuttle base as this is intended to be a clear area (nice and clean).The first picture shows the basic tray made out of plain alloy sheet bent to fit inside the footwell
Pics 2 & 3 show the final location of where it will go. This will enable me to put my Odyssey pc680 gel battery on it's side and slide neatly under the scuttle base.
There will still be plenty of foot space as it's off the floor. I've not worked out how to secure it and still make it removable yet but hopefully somebody reading this will come up with an idea I can use - Any suggestions?
If all goes well, I also intend to put the washer bottle next to it. This is going to be a very small bottle for a very small screen - lol. It will only require a minimal amount of washer tube to fit into the washer which should be just above the bottle - neat eh? (if I can get it to fit).
Watch this space for the rest of the mod.
Mod 2
On the Vauxhall engines, there are 2 breathers on the cam cover. As I only need one of these, the other can be blocked up. This was done via a set screw siliconed into the small breather on my first car, however, I wanted something neater on this one as I intend to get the cam cover Powder-coated.Simple enough, just pull out (or press out) the small front breather, countersink the hole. I then ground down the head of a countersunk M6 bolt and fixed at the rear with a nut which was thread locked.
When the cover has been coated, it should look rather tidy.
Mod 1B (25/02/06)
Version 2 of my battery tray has now taken place. Version 1 (above Mod 1) did not turn out too well as it was too low and would impede foot-room in the passenger area.Pic 1 shows the tray 3/4 done. This is 1.5mm alloy bent to shape and tig welded for a nice finish/strength. It will be sprayed once finished but there is more work to be done on it yet.
Pic's 3,4 & 5 show a mock up of it in place. this will house the Odyssey PC680 gel batter facing towards the rear, the fuseboxes, Ecu, Ecu solenoids and a Power outlet for charging etc all in one tidy area. It's fixed to the chassis via 8 rivets (3 on the tunnel utilising existing rivet holes) and is extremely strong.
The Battery has 2 holes cut out in the front of the panel for ease of access and will be covered by 2 large grommets. As you can see in pic 4, the fuses are very accessible and easy to read too. I also hope to facilitate an outlet for the Ecu to connect to but I'll see how it goes. This took me best part of a whole day to make, I just hope it works ok.
One thing though, I'm going to have to re-locate the wiper motor upwards slightly to clear the battery/Ecu.
Although this has been detailed in the Transmission section, I've also added it here for completness.
Basically, I've Cut down the stick and welded on the top threaded section from the original stick.
I then did a "Quickshift" Mod on it from Dave Andres site (link in transmission) which made it a little stiffer to use but a little shorter on the throw.
