Dodge Daytona Performance 
 

 
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Battery Relocation project

I used a Taylor/Vertex remote battery relocation kit, it comes with 16 ft of  red positive cable and 3 ft of black negative cable with factory crimped terminals.  I did not opt to use the Taylor tray and mounting hardware that came in the kit, although you could.

I decided to mount my battery behind the passenger seat.  I am using an Optima gel cell battery in a standard black poly battery box.  The optima battery's gel cell design won't leak or emit gasses, which makes it a good choice to mount inside hatchback vehicles.  The Optima weighs 33 lbs (stock is 40 lbs), hey 7 pounds is 7 pounds.  More important though is, the  40 lbs off the front end and in a more optimal location for handling.

My Parts List::
1- Optima Gel cell battery - Red Top model 75/35 (33lbs)
1- Standard size black poly battery box (Murray's Auto or Marine supply)
2 - 3/8" x 12" threaded rod
2 - 3/8" wing nuts
2 - 3/8" fender washers
4 - 3/8" nuts
2 - 3/8" washers
1 - 12' L x  1 1/4" W x 1/4" T  aluminum bar
1 - Taylor/Vertex trunk mount battery kit (Summit Racing)
1 - copper lug (Pep Boys)
1 - 2  gauge copper barrel connector  (Pep Boys)
1 - Assorted heat shrink tubing pack

The first thing I did was set the battery in the box where I wanted to mount it, then I marked two spots outside the box to drill holes for the threaded rods.  I prepared the threaded rod for mounting by threading on the stop nuts on one end and dropping the large fender washer on top of it.  The rods were then inserted from the underside, a nut was run down the length of rod to keep it from dropping.  The rods were also trimmed an inch or two for a clean mounting.

I fabricated a hold down bracket out of the 1 1/4" x 1/4" aluminum bar stock.  I cut it to the proper length and then drilled holes to fit it over the threaded rods and secured it with the wing nuts and washers.  I also had to trim the battery box to accommodate the hold down bracket and cables.

Now that the battery is secured lets move on to the cabling.  Attach the one end of the 3 ft negative cable to the battery and the other end to the right rear seat mounting bolt.  I placed the end of the positive cable near the positive terminal on the battery, but DID NOT connect it yet.  I ran the positive under the drivers side console up to the firewall securing it along the way with the provided cable clamps.  I drilled a hole in the firewall and inserted the included grommet.  Then I pulled the cable through the firewall, WD40 helps here. 

One the cable is in the engine compartment, I proceeded to prepare the existing battery cable for connection to the new one.  First, I cut the terminals off the existing positive and negative cables. 

For the existing negative cable in the wiring harness  I  got a copper lug and crimped it on the end where I just cut off the stock terminal, be sure to used heat shrink tubing over the connection .  The negative cable then just gets bolted to the body.  I sanded off the paint where the negative bolts to the body to ensure a good ground.

For the positive cable I got a 2 gauge copper barrel connector from Pep Boys.  There are three wires that make up the stock positive cable, I squeezed all three into one end of the barrel connector, it was tight but they fit.  Then I cut the new cable to length stripped off some insulation and put the end of the new Taylor cable in the barrel connector,  I had to remember to put the heat shrink tubing over the cable before crimping.  Once everything was in place I used a pair of large Vice Grips to crimp both ends of the barrel connector, and heated the shrink tubing over the connection.

Finished!  Here are some pics.