Moving the battery to the trunk

Although some debate the merits, I'm a believer in moving the battery to the trunk, or what passes for a trunk in the f-body.  It improves overall front-to-back weight distribution by 1 percentage point, puts weight directly over the tire with least traction at the drag strip, and makes room for other stuff under the hood (like an aftercooler ice box).  The only downside is that it adds about 5 pounds of weight due to the long, heavy cable.

I also believe that those who experience starting problems with a trunk mounted battery either used inadequate cable or didn't terminate the cable properly (or both).  I used single-ought gauge (0-gauge) welding cable and solid copper lugs that are crimped on, then soldered with a propane torch.  Welding cable is essential because of its excellent flexibility.  Keep the cable as short as you can get it for maximum voltage at the starter.

Because my interior was stripped for the rollbar installation, it was easy to route the cable inside the car.  From the spare tire well, it runs forward then down alongside the rear seat back, then under the rear seat bottom cushion to the driveline tunnel.  It follows the tunnel forward, laying between the tunnel and the front passenger seat, to a hole I drilled in the floorpan.  The cable can be seen emerging from this grommet-lined hole in the pic below left  The aluminum bit in that pic is the factory cat heat shield.  The cable is terminated with a lug that bolts to the starter.  I made a new 4 gauge cable to tie the starter to the distribution terminals on the passenger side fenderwell (under that red plastic cap that breaks off).

The pic on the right shows the bolt welded to the rear frame rail that serves as the grounding terminal for the battery (it's above the fuel pump).  There is another grommet-lined hole in the spare tire well that the ground wire (2 gauge welding cable) goes through on its way from the battery to the welded bolt.  There is another bolt welded to the front subframe for the starter ground point.  I use a 12" flat braided cable to connect that bolt to the outer starter mounting bolt.  It runs through an existing slot in the frame, and loops over the header.  I'll snap a pic someday.  There is no cable from the battery ground to the engine - I use the chassis metal as the ground connection.  This has caused absolutely zero problems in more than 3 years of driving.

I finally found an NHRA legal battery box that I liked at Summit.  Since I'm into stealth, a fender mounted cutoff switch was out of the question.  Behind the license would have been kinda cool, but seemed like a ton of work.  My solution was to drill a small hole in the tail light lens and use an aluminum rod to actuate the switch.  The three pix below show what I've done so far.  I'm still searching for a knob for the end of the rod that's big enough for a legal "push off" sticker.