World Exclusive - Big Batt Tray Mod

[amunra]

Hello.

This is the official thread world / internet exclusive - Big Batt Tray Mod.

Inspiration ?

I really got sick of my battery dying in the colder weather or if you leave the car radio on for a little bit,

It left me stranded a couple of times outside , even needed to sleep in my car once until the next morning when a stranger could jumpstart me.. it was such an embarrassment and wondered how VW could use such a weak sized battery and if there was a solution to this cold weather hating battery.

I tried to keep this battery (OEM EFB) alive for aslong as possible (charging every week), but it finally died since i havent been driving it.. and while its been off the road and had a bunch of other stuff to do i've decided to give this a crack which i've thought about for a while if its possible doing.

The oem battery tray definately looked like it had the extra room and maybe the engineers planned this into the tray with "modding in mind" .. you never know as it literally had the exact same floor dimension as the battery ive bought. (80ah)


What you need.

- Chisel & / OR Thinner flathead screwdriver ( i used a smallish and sharp flathead),

- Rubber Mallet,

- Battery Handsaw (i used one) or / Dremel?

- Torch and possibly even Head Strap Torch ( I used both).

-Portable Vaccuum to clean all the hacked away bits.. Literally goes everywhere in the tray and outside too u wanna clean it up after every cutting or 2

- Portable / Battery Drill for Jhooks arm holes.

- Jhooks (19cm) and battery bracket (i used a cheaper adjustable bracket to reduce something not fitting)


Process.


After removing the airbox and intake hose competely.. and tucking away the battery cables (black cable has a little bracket above it to hook and hold.. red one u need to move away and tuck it somewhere but cant remember where it goes u just find somewhere for it and can use some electric tape or something... although i didnt use tape.. u also dont want to cut these cables when ur using ur saw so always make sure your red cable is tucked away from danger.



now that everything was clear.. I decided it was time to operate.



First i used my battery saw... After hacking away at the sidewall back corners tabs (need to be removed completely, becomes a very messy and fiddly job to cut nicely, the tray is some type of fibreglass and it does not cut well on some angles and sometimes very easily.. and little bits of it goes everywhere.) but is pretty doeable with some patience ... i did mangle up my saw blade in the process tho but it made it till the end..


i strictly made sure not to touch anything else in my cabin area (outside the tray) with the saw blade only the tray so i really focused on working from inside the tray area and not anywhere else.. u need to make cuts towards the wall then make cuts towards those cuts to slice chunks off until it has all been removed.. probably need to cut 3 - 4 chunks off 2 corner plastic blockers.. so be careful .


in the end i did chop the back of the tray and the corners pretty brutally not giving a **** about niceties / superficial ( your not going to see the tray anyway).. there was the most to get rid off and the back / driver side of the tray and there is no way around this and not for the faint hearted ... just needed to clear ALL the plastic blocking the new battery from sliding into the back of the tray and meeting the back wall and making sure all corners are clear and 90'...

-- with screwdriver and mallet... i chiselled 2 fin / nodules off the back wall of the tray (need some proper light to line it up and remove competely.. took me a little bit to see and remove it all.. which stopped it sliding all the way back and meeting the back of the wall . and also 3 nodules off the bumper right side off the tray which stopped it falling flat onto the floor... and a small section of the airbox grommet connector to be 90' flush .. after about 15 - 20 placements and replacements and chiselling away to have cleared everything... i managed to get everything cleared to fit the battery in.

I also trimmed a bit of the bumper side tray top edge to create a bit of an angle to get the battery truely onto the floor of bumper side of the tray... people may find they dont need to do this but i was sliding the battery into the tray from that front section and found it fell to the floor easier with a shorter wall.





- i then measured 110mm from the front side of the tray (aiming between 110mm / 120mm but closer to 110mm)...



Drilled a hole on that point on the side wall and lined up on the other side with a metal ruler and drilled opposite hole.. Both holes drilled on an angle firstly with a smaller drill to penetrate then a larger drill making a bigger bore.. making sure not to poke anything on the other side.

I inserted my j hooks that fit in nice and snug.. Slide the Battery from the front, it Clicks onto the floor..

Lined up all the Brackets and they stay in place ... fiddled with the bracket a couple of ways (battery holder arm down and up) found the bracket fastened down more securely with the arm up... but can go either way and will be fine.

pulled the j-hook arms up so they were tight while i tightened the small nuts down to fasten with fingers then used a small tool to tighten properly.. Was well secure.

Bolted It all back up and this is what I got.

[7ur7le]

awesome thread... this is really smart and original compared to a lot of the stuff in here, dont think ive seen this anywhere online

I wonder how many people have done this without even replying or saying thanks for your time spent writing this up.