[DeTomaso] Drop battery box

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

I dropped our battery below the front trunk floor maybe 15 years ago. I 
added a 3" wide aluminum crossmember to take the weight of the battery- no box 
needed and it may even do some good bracing the front suspension. The 
position is such that the bottom of your battery is just above the big water 
transfer tubes going to/from the radiator. The amount of space available is 
restrictive fore-and-aft but not side-to-side. The front firewall defines the 
back while the sheet steel doublers that mount the steering rack weldment 
define the front. To the left is the clutch hard-line and a little further over, 
the steering shaft. But to the right, there's 2"-4" of open space. Most 
batteries will drop thru the hole, but the hardest part psychologically (for me) 
was actually chopping a hole in the floor! You can also re-route the front 
brake connecting line from above the floor & behind the old battery to below 
the floor and in front of the steering rack for a neater trunk look. I also 
made a simple aluminum cover held in with 2 dzus fittings. 
At first I used a std. Pantera battery, which must go into the small hole I 
cut in the floor end-wise, then straightens up when below the floor & 
resting on my crossmember. The smaller battery I'm currently using is a 675-amp 
one intended for a Toyota MR-2 and has both types of mounts. It drops 
straight down & weighs 26 lbs; a stocker weighs 42 lbs. With a McLeod gear-drive 
mini-starter, I have no starting issues hot or cold with this smaller battery. 
And it snows here! 
I'm not familiar with the Optima but you cannot safely use a dropped 
battery with side-mounts in a Pantera. The steel steering rack weldment is VERY 
close and could short out even an unconnected hot side-mount. I leave the 
plastic battery shipping block-offs in the side-mounts for some protection and 
make connections to the upper posts. A bungee holds the battery in place. A 
stock short ground cable goes to a rack mount bolt, and the stock hot lead 
(pulled down out of the Pantera's stock routing) is led up through the 
grommeted hole for the A/C condensation drain. The A/C drain was rerouted down thru 
the console floor. 
All in all, not too difficult and trouble free so far, except for having to 
move the stock collapsible spare tire off the battery cover for access to 
it. Yes- I added a spare tire hold-down stud. FWIW- J Deryke