I have relocated my battery in the front left side of firewall under the hood,tight space, created new battery tray and hold down bracket. I relocated the cables from the rear battery compartmen to the front location under the hood, and ready to hook up!! I have seen all these posts about the exploding battery terminal connection. I am going to replace positive connection with a new one without the wiring to the air bag deployment and the exploding connector. will I get a failure indication without all that terminal safety connections??????thank beackguy66 UPDATE!! have been working on converting my 2006 mini cooper s to a pickup bed (mini camino) half of roof has been removed from behind front seat to rear of car. sunroof removed and filled in with welded braces and sheet metal. created built in roll bar and partition wall behind front seats from 1 inch square tube welded and covered in sheet metal. there is opening in rear partition for fixed glass window. trimmed metal where rear windows were and added 1 inch square tube metal on both sides welded in place. changed out rear hatch back with tail gate from mini convertible with hinges. added 1 inch square tube to top edge of tail gate to match side trim. all welded in. starting to do finish work on all mods done so far. I posted pics of mods on my album. thanks Beachguy66

 

Exploding battery terminal connection? Do tell. Is this a common problem you Gen 1 guys are seeing?

 

Okay..is this going to make it go faster or do you need the old battery well for bootleggin'?
I've got to see pictures of this as I just took a look under the bonnet of my '06 S and am puzzled.

 

My guess is hes referring to the terminal (not really the terminal but the actual wire from the car) having a small explosive in it that causes a cut in power should you get in an accident. You run into a pole, car senses an accident, blows up the positive terminal so theres no power to catch things on fire. I knew the 3rd gens had it. Wasnt aware of such a thing on the first gens.

 

R52/53.2 have it.

 

R53.2 - I LOVE IT!

What qualifies as a 53.2?

 

What could possibly be your reasoning for moving the battery? I am genuinely curious, as it can't help handling or anything?

 

Must be a track car as it would be difficult to pull off on a DD. Or OP is prototyping a R53.3 and battery location is one major improvements.

 

This could catch some heat but I'm old enough not to give ***********, so, I'm thinking this OP might be a troll. As possible evidence: A really wacky idea with no apparent value, a March '18 join, 1 post and not a single response to any comments.

PS: I put all those stars in there so you can interpret them any way you want and you'll more than likely be correct.

 

And no photos...

 

Installing a straight exhaust ...

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t-exhaust.html

 

^But they still kept the battery in the boot, not in the engine bay...?

Side note: I am a big car enthusiast; but an exhaust that loud just seems ridiculous...

 

As the NAM favorite saying goes: "Without pictures, it didn't happen."

 

I am relocating battery to replace exhaust system with straight thru piping using magnaflow oval muffler. also converting to pickup truck. this was an insurance salvage car i bought. rebuilding into mini truck rat rod!!! chopping roof,coil over adjustable shocks. pulley reduction.cold air filter box.over sized wheel flares. lots of work!!

 

pics of what you did, also what battery did you go to? I think a braile battery and removing all of that cable from the back to the front is probably a lot lighter setup

 

OK, some follow up. We can quit being snarky. But, to repeat, pictures!

 

 

why the surprise? it's a very popular mod what I have not seen is relocating the battery to the front, most just reweld the battery box so it has much less depth, so it can fit a brail battery on it's side

 

OP, if you're making the mini into a pickup truck why not just keep the battery in the rear of the car? I used to work where all the red bull minis are made, which are effectively pickup trucks, and we always ran inserts into the rear of the "bed" to make the space a useable geometry. Unless you're going to be treating your bed as just the exposed chassis on top of the gas tank, I'd think there would be ample room to move the battery into the side of the rear (somewhere in the neighborhood of the access panels for the taillights) without losing any bed space.

 

thanks for the info. I already cut out battery box and have moved battery cables to front under hood. posted pics of progress on all work so far . the pics show the passenger side view. repaired door opening and A pillar lower hinge body parts with new metal from junk yard. also have new door for passenger side. I had to replace rack and pinion also.drives I test drove around my neighbor hood. no doors or any glass in car, lots of fun around 65 mph. back end so light won't hold corners too good. lots of fun!!

 

where are the pics?

 

A few pics in his gallery: https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/g/album/9425400

 

wow quite a lot of work going intot hat car, where exactly is the battery now?

I house my methanol pump right next to the ABS pump, not sure where else I could fit a battery but it would be nice to get it out of the back and run a r56 gp2 diffuser back there

 

Well, the more weight in the "middle of the car", the better for handling.

Mike

 

finally got battery,tray,hold downs and wiring in. battery is everlast(autozone) 460 cranking amps from mazda miata. dimintions are 5.25 in. deep, 8 in. wide, 7.25 high. using existing battery cable now much shorter, the resistance is lower and the 460 amps cranks engine right up. will post pic on my gallery. beachguy66