Battery Box

Just a quick question....

After relocating my battery



For a Track day does the battery have to be in a sealed box, i know it does for MSA/FIA but not to sure for a track day.
Obviously i will be putting a brace across the top of the battery cage, and yes its a wet battery.

consider this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Varley-Red-Top-15-Battery-/280711786637?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item415bb9f08d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Varley-Red-Top-15-Battery-Mounting-Bracket-/300652517406?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item460049581e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

jboy01 said:

Just a quick question....

For a Track day does the battery have to be in a sealed box, i know it does for MSA/FIA but not to sure for a track day.
Obviously i will be putting a brace across the top of the battery cage, and yes its a wet battery.

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If I was you I would call the track up and find out, I would personally say that they would want a car like yours to follow MSA rules but it is down to each individual track.

also note that these batterys give off fumes when charging, mainly hydrogen which is an asphyxiant

ScubaSteve said:

also note that these batterys give off fumes when charging, mainly hydrogen which is an asphyxiant

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And highly explosive too.

try odyssey for gel batteries too

in my battery room we have an extractor fan, in your car you need to have a bit of air flow out the car, if its been stripped i doubt its a sealed box so fumes unlikely to be an issue unless it boils over, ie with a failed regulator...actually if its just a track day car, remove the battery, go complete loss system and you can save another 20kg's, bugger if you stall it though...

on most track days I have done they rarely check anything other than tyres and then only when they have a bee in their bonnet about it...

to be fair if you cover it with a piece of plastic or fit it in a cheap plastic box then it will never be a problem..

i wouldnt build something on the basis of just being able to sneak something past the marshalls, think of your own safety, an unsecured 10-14kgs lump that becomes highly mobile, and explosive in an impact, not good news

angers me seeing unsafe track cars

On some battaries you can connect a vent pipe to the side of it to take the fumes to the outside of the car

yep seen those good idea imo

ScubaSteve said:

i wouldnt build something on the basis of just being able to sneak something past the marshalls, think of your own safety, an unsecured 10-14kgs lump that becomes highly mobile, and explosive in an impact, not good news

angers me seeing unsafe track cars

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The battery is secure, thats not the issue if anything its more secure than a flimsy grp box bolted to the chassis its just i need it covered incase the battery decides to take a piss.

paulob1 said:

go complete loss system and you can save another 20kg's, bugger if you stall it though...

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It had crossed my mind lol

jboy01 said:

ScubaSteve said:

i wouldnt build something on the basis of just being able to sneak something past the marshalls, think of your own safety, an unsecured 10-14kgs lump that becomes highly mobile, and explosive in an impact, not good news

angers me seeing unsafe track cars

Click to expand...

The battery is secure, thats not the issue if anything its more secure than a flimsy grp box bolted to the chassis its just i need it covered incase the battery decides to take a piss.

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yeah wasnt really aimed at you as i read you were bracing it, more the advice to use a cheap flimsy box lol.

and i would hope it is more secure with it being in the car and not in the engine bay lol

ScubaSteve said:

jboy01 said:

ScubaSteve said:

i wouldnt build something on the basis of just being able to sneak something past the marshalls, think of your own safety, an unsecured 10-14kgs lump that becomes highly mobile, and explosive in an impact, not good news

angers me seeing unsafe track cars

Click to expand...

The battery is secure, thats not the issue if anything its more secure than a flimsy grp box bolted to the chassis its just i need it covered incase the battery decides to take a piss.

Click to expand...

yeah wasnt really aimed at you as i read you were bracing it, more the advice to use a cheap flimsy box lol.

and i would hope it is more secure with it being in the car and not in the engine bay lol

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Agreed i think i need to devise a cover or put my hand in my pocket for a setup like yours.

we should have a safe track day car thread..all you guys with loads of car modifying skills have a lot to tell us...and it would be great to archive it all....of course we should keep the anger at bay.

I am hoping to get out on a few trial track days this year to get a feel for what i want to build with the frp track day car...80 mm lowering of the suspension sounds keen...did you have to do anything to the wheel arches to fit...is your car styd puma or frp..

Sounds good mate yea dropped 80mm on standard 15s and its a standard puma with 20mm axle spacers still got about an inch between the tyre and the arch but its going to be trial and error on track thats why i got adjustables. k:

ah okay that is interesting, on track you need minimal travel, always wondered if you could ride with solid bars and no suspension at all....doubt it would make that much difference on track..., you could then save yet another 50-100 kgs or more...

not sure, i dont think it would handle well at all, car would handle very flat and become very slidey imo

also lowering too much can have a negative affect on handling, it puts the wishbones at an angle they werent designed to operate at at a negative angle, also alters your scrub radius giving too much negative or too much positive, which has a large effect on steering angle and return to center.

will also make parts wear out quicker, cv joints etc as they will be outside spec in terms of angle, especially the inners, but that really depends on how much you care about breaking things lol, you might not be bothered about that

if you want good handling you want to be looking at as much castor as possible

You can set up the castor easily enough and have that adjustable with solid suspension, and without movement it could be made a good deal lighter, then you could consider better air dams and improved cornering using proper side skirts and other methods...hmm its giving me a few ideas...

You must be trolling lol, you only need castor if you have supension that moves if its solid won't have any effect, even f1 cars have travel in there suspension lol :|

If it was worth not having any suspension at all why would all competition cars still have it?

Most circuits still have slight bumps, even if they appear flat. Say you hit a slight bump, what will hapen with nothing to absorb it? The car will pushed into the air and you have nothing for your tyres to grip on to = a trip to the gravel/armco.