Fabricating Battery Mounts

another 2/0 cable from a battery’s negative terminal to Sl—you can borrow the 12-volt starter battery you just removed for this purpose—and attach another 2/0 cable to the battery’s positive terminal, but don’t connect it yet. With the transmission in first gear, briefly touch the positive cable from the battery to Al and do two things:

• Look to see if the rear (or front) wheels move • Listen for any strange or grinding noises, etc.

If the wheels move, good. If the wheels move and there is no strange grinding, this is doubly good and you can go on to the next step. If you hear something strange or the wheels don’t turn (in this case, first ensure that the battery is charged), you need to unbutton your motor assembly from the tranny and look into the problem.

Fabricating Battery Mounts

Jim Harris’ 1987 Ford Ranger pickup conversion uses 20 6-volt batteries. Jim elected to mount four of his batteries in the engine compartment area just vacated by the radiator’s removal, and the 16 remaining batteries (in a four-by-four array) in the pickup bed area. In Jim’s 1987 Ford Ranger pickup conversion, the rear battery bracket is attached directly to the frame for maximum rigidity and strength and lowest center of gravity. In Figure 10-14, Jim points to the chassis frame member underneath the cut-away pickup box floor. In Figure 10-15, we see a picture of Paul Little’s frame rail. In Figure 10-16 Jim holds up the sturdy pieces of 2-inch by 2-inch by 1/16-inch steel angle iron that make up the battery mounting frame. The outside frame dimensions are slightly larger than the dimensions of the four-by-four battery array to allow for battery expansion. The batteries rest on a 3/16-inch-thick marine-grade plywood base, and are wedged in place inside the front and rear frames by strips of wood.

Figure 10-14 1987 Ford Ranger rear frame rails.