Peter VanDerWal wrote: > > > The car that I'm going to be converting is an '88 Civic sedan that > > I've had for several years. In the time that I've owned it I've > > become very familiar with its workings, everything from clutch > > replacement to brake jobs and suspension upgrades. I do all my own > > work, so I'm confident in my ability to do the conversion myself > > except for one thing, the battery box. I've noticed that nearly > > everyone has their battery boxes welded, I'm wondering if there is a > > specific reason for that? If I build everything myself I'd likely be > > bolting the boxes together and bolting them to the frame (well, > > unibody). Is this really such a bad idea that I should just ditch it > > and start looking for a welder to build the boxes for me? > > If you cut a hole in a unibody vehicle it is now weaker. Bolt a box in > and it's still weak, weld it in and it will be as strong (or stronger) > as it used to be. > > While it might be possible to nuild/attach battery boxes to a unibody > vehicle using nuts&bolts, it won't be as strong as a welded box. And it > will probably cost more in materials to build one that won't fall out. > > Remember this box will probably be holding over 1/2 ton of batteries, do > you really want to risk having them come loose at speed when you hit a > bump or have an accident?
I'm risking to be critiqued by safety overkill oriented folks, but can share my experience. I didn't drill small holes in CRX unibody, I cut out entire floor behind the seats http://www.metricmind.com/ac_honda/images/bracket5.jpg The battery box is a frame welded together out of angle iron, then sheets of steel used as the bottom and side walls (spot welded to the rack), but whole thing is bolted to the body (and rested on the supporting metal strips also bolted to the body in strategic places. The box on the photo use to hold 8 Trojan 5SHP (86 lb each = 688 lb) and now holds 11 YTs (495 lb). Been running like this since 1997, still looking forward to discover any problems with this. Today I'd likely do this differently. I'm not suggesting to duplicate it either. I'm just stating the fact that what I did - works too, and quite well. Victor '91 ACRX
