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This install is pretty easy, but there were a few things I had to work out, so I it'd be worthwhile to write this thing up. Anyhoo, the picture to the right shows the completed setup. The battery itself is from http://www.surplusev.com. It's model G13, and I got the one without terminals. $45 for a tiny ass battery...SWEET. Why would someone want to get one of these? Well, for a few reasons. First, they weigh less than normal batteries. Regular car batteries weigh between ~30 and 45 pounds. The G13 weighs 11.5 pounds. That kind of weight reduction is about what you'd get out of a carbon fiber hood, so it's not bad at all. Plus, the smaller battery eliminates any rubbing you may be getting from the battery tie-down on an aftermarket intake. Anyway, it's sweet. Other than the battery itself, you need a couple things. First, go to home depot and get some bolts about and inch or an inch and a quarter long (that thread easily into the terminals in the battery...duh) and some nylon spacers that are a bit shorter than the bolts, like 3/4" or so. Next, get two washers whose holes will accomodate the bolts you're getting, but also have an outside diameter of about 1/2". You'll also need something about 4 inches high to sit the battery on so that it can be bolted to the stock battery cables. I used one half of the casing to a CB radio and bent it into shape. Finally, you'll need some "plumber's tape". This stuff is the metal stripping you see running over the battery. It's basically 1/2" wide sheet metal that has two different sized holes punched into it in even intervals and comes in rolls of 10 feet or so.
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Next, you need to take out your battery. To do so, first disconnect the ground (black) cable and then the red cable. Next, unscrew the three screws that hold the battery tie-down (the metal strip that runs along the top of the battery, holding it in place). There is one bolt that goes into the wall of the engine compartment, to the right of the battery. The second "bolt" is actually just a nut on top of a really tall piece of metal, which is seen to the right. The last bolt goes into the battery shelf on the left side of the battery. You can either take off your intake piping to get at it, or use a long extension. All the bolts are 10mm, I think. When that's done, remove the battery and tie-down. Put whatever you're using as a stand for the battery onto the battery shelf, and make sure the new, tiny battery is positioned well enough to be attached to the battery cables. Next, you have to remove the stock screws from the ends of the battery cables. To do so, use your finger or the handle of a wrench to push the metal screw and contact out of the cable end. Push from the threaded end, away from the battery, and it should come out pretty easily. Now, you'll just have a cable end with a hole in it. Push each washer into one of the cable ends, on the side AWAY from the battery. Then, thread each bolt through the washer and then through a nylon spacer. When everything is all together, you should have about 1/4" or so of bolt thread sticking out the end of the nylon spacers. Screw that into the terminal holes in the battery, making SURE you don't screw it in too far. That will wreck the battery. An easy way to avoid this is to compare the length of bolt left sticking out of the end of the nylon spacer to the length of the bolts that came already screwed into your battery terminals when you got it. If they're the same length or if your new bolts have a slightly shorter threaded area left to screw into the battery, you're all good. If the section to be screwed in is longer than the bolts that came with the battery, get a longer nylon spacer. Now, screw in the positive terminal first, and the ground second. Doing it the other way around is gonna fuck you up, so be careful. All that's left now is to tie the battery down. Take a long 10mm socket and fit it over the top of the long metal pole yo the right and unscrew it. Using the pole as a "bolt", screw down one end of a length of plumber's tape. Now, run the plumber's tape over the battery and screw the other end into the bolt hole on the left side of the battery, using the stock bolt to secure it. Make it as tight as you can. I used a second strip of plumber's tape to secure the battery to my platform, which you may or may not be able to do. Use a nut and bolt to attach one end od the tape to the other. When all the tape is screwed down, the battery shouldn't move for shit. That's the goal. These batteries have about the same characteristics of a normal car battery, but don't take it for granted. If you fuck up and your sweet, sweet ass battery dies.......well.....too fucking bad.
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