Here are some pictures of one way to do a battery box.
Although, it's not really a box. More like a tray with a clamp.
I am using a Shorai LFX36L3-BS12. Comments on one of the Corvette forums are generally positive after more than a year of operation. It is 6.6" x 3.4" x 6.1" tall and weighs less than 5 lbs, so no heavy duty hold-down clamps are required. The small size makes it easy to get in and out of the tray even when the body is installed. It handled a total of around 25 seconds of cranking (not continuous) with no apparent reduction in cranking speed while testing and priming the oil pump. The engine turned over much faster than the LS7 in my Z06, which has a "regular" battery. Whether this is due to the shorter wire runs, different starter or battery, I don't know.
The tray was constructed from 0.05" aluminum sheet. It's size and shape was determined using a template made from artist's construction cardboard. Cereal box cardboard would work as well. Two edges of the sheet were bent with a small flange to help stiffen it.
The strap is 1/16" x 0.75" aluminum flat stock (Home Depot) and the piano hinge is 1.25" PIANO HINGES from Aircraft Spruce. The strap on the back side is counter-sunk so the screw heads will not press into the side of the battery. The back of the "box" has oversize holes corresponding to these screw locations, so the countersunk metal of the strap lays flush within the oversize holes. The counter-sunk screws are used to attach the rear strap directly to the car frame. The front part of the strap is in an "L" shape and is riveted to the piano hinge. The piano hinge allows the strap to fall forward when disconnected, making it easy to remove the battery by removing the one nut on the screw/stud connecting the two strap halves, without the strap getting in the way.
1/16" Home Depot aluminum angle is used to keep the base of the battery from sliding front or back and the piano hinge on the side keeps it from sliding sideways. This means the only real force on the strap is in holding the battery down. The two rivets holding the strap to the piano hinge are probably the weakest point in the system, but as these are in shear and the battery only weighs 5 lbs, even a 20 g vertical load (highly unlikely to be vertical, even in the event of a bad crash) means that they are only subject to some fraction of 100 lbs of load. A second strap could be added if this was an area of concern, but I wanted to keep anything metal well clear of the positive terminal. The strap is slightly offset from center so that the dedicated charging plug is accessible.
The battery mounting location is the front driver's side of the engine compartment and the tray is held in place by screws threaded into holes tapped into the frame.
Although, it's not really a box. More like a tray with a clamp.
I am using a Shorai LFX36L3-BS12. Comments on one of the Corvette forums are generally positive after more than a year of operation. It is 6.6" x 3.4" x 6.1" tall and weighs less than 5 lbs, so no heavy duty hold-down clamps are required. The small size makes it easy to get in and out of the tray even when the body is installed. It handled a total of around 25 seconds of cranking (not continuous) with no apparent reduction in cranking speed while testing and priming the oil pump. The engine turned over much faster than the LS7 in my Z06, which has a "regular" battery. Whether this is due to the shorter wire runs, different starter or battery, I don't know.
The tray was constructed from 0.05" aluminum sheet. It's size and shape was determined using a template made from artist's construction cardboard. Cereal box cardboard would work as well. Two edges of the sheet were bent with a small flange to help stiffen it.
The strap is 1/16" x 0.75" aluminum flat stock (Home Depot) and the piano hinge is 1.25" PIANO HINGES from Aircraft Spruce. The strap on the back side is counter-sunk so the screw heads will not press into the side of the battery. The back of the "box" has oversize holes corresponding to these screw locations, so the countersunk metal of the strap lays flush within the oversize holes. The counter-sunk screws are used to attach the rear strap directly to the car frame. The front part of the strap is in an "L" shape and is riveted to the piano hinge. The piano hinge allows the strap to fall forward when disconnected, making it easy to remove the battery by removing the one nut on the screw/stud connecting the two strap halves, without the strap getting in the way.
1/16" Home Depot aluminum angle is used to keep the base of the battery from sliding front or back and the piano hinge on the side keeps it from sliding sideways. This means the only real force on the strap is in holding the battery down. The two rivets holding the strap to the piano hinge are probably the weakest point in the system, but as these are in shear and the battery only weighs 5 lbs, even a 20 g vertical load (highly unlikely to be vertical, even in the event of a bad crash) means that they are only subject to some fraction of 100 lbs of load. A second strap could be added if this was an area of concern, but I wanted to keep anything metal well clear of the positive terminal. The strap is slightly offset from center so that the dedicated charging plug is accessible.
The battery mounting location is the front driver's side of the engine compartment and the tray is held in place by screws threaded into holes tapped into the frame.
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