Thread: D2 Dual Battery Setup

Originally Posted by Fluids

Damo ... pic's as promised.

I basically did what UP shows on his web site.

Flip the ARB heat sheild 180 degrees, and slot the bolt holes to allow the heat sheild to move all the way to the left. (The D34 is 16mm wider than the standard battery that fits).



The lip on the heat sheild for holding down the battery now fouls the battery tray edge ... took it off with a grinder, and the slot that's left is used for the new battery tie down rod to hook into (you can see in the pic' it's been bent a little so it runs parallel to the side of the battery)

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The other side of the battery trays metal hold down lip has metal taken out to allow the battery to move to the right so it's not sitting on the heat sheild bolts. Took a carbide burr in a power drill and perserverance.



Drill a second hole for the rhs battery tie down rod. You might notice the tie down strip across the top of the battery has slotted holes for the tie down rods ... the rhs one needs to be hard up against the battery or the top of it fouls the rolled section of the underside of the bonnet and stops the bonnet from closing.



You can just see the heat sheild bolt head in the bottom of the tray in the picture above, and below.



Here's a shot from the drivers side of the engine bay ...



... and a shot showing the alarm horn ... it's mounting bracket needs to be flattened then rebolted back to the tray ... this takes a little bit of tricky manouvering.



The isolator is on the drivers side, on a steel bracket mounted to the two studs already existing in the inside guard skin. Earth is to the earth stud just next to that. See http://www.aulro.com/afvb/projects-t...overy-2-a.html



Hope all that helps a bit. It's a tight fit, like a finger in a bum so to speak, but it's a good fit if you take the time. I added the Thermo-Tec battery heat sheild as an extra insurance for heat. The battery is sitting on a sheet of the stuff, plus it's been wrapped with the overlapped part of the sheilding wrap at the turbo side of the battery tray. Was about $30 off Ebay for the kit.

NEAT AND TIGHT <<<
Must have thought really ?Is this going to fit >
one of the neatest instals i have seen ,,,
Is that an OPTIMA BATTERY ?
will have to check out the pricing ..

Hmm the actual physical setup (ARB tray) is similar to mine although I use a blue top Optima and it is my starting battery. They have more CCA than a yellow top of the same size.
I have used stainless sheet as the heat shield and covered it with ALDI high brightness aluminium tape for reflection.
As well I polished the turbo heat shield.
I also used a foam insulator around the battery.
So far 3.5 years and no swelling or leakage at the terminals and seems to hold charge well. This included a round Oz trip with temps to low 40s in WA and GRR.
I have a 130AH AGM hybrid in the original position as my house battery, with an ABR controller with 12.4 cutoff, and the optional dash mount auto plus A+B switch on the dash.
For earth because it is the starting battery I have one neg to block and one to LH inner guard.
Regards Philip A