Antigravity Mounting

Yeah, I wish I had an anti-gravity system. (I'd mount it upside down for downforce!). But all I actually have is an Antigravity Batteries XPS-SC1 battery. Though it can't provide assistance with gravity, it can assist with my inertia. It weighs just 1pound which is a savings of over 21 pounds vs the stock part. However I mentioned all of this in my last post so enough with that.

The great thing about saving weight, is reducing weight allows you to reduce weight elsewhere. The 7lb battery had been held in place with an aluminum bracket I fabbed up out of 1/8" 1x1 aluminum angle and steel brackets. Here's the new bracket for the XPS-SC1:

That bracket is 50g vs the 250g for the previous bracket, a savings of about 9 oz. So weight savings for this mod now go up to ~6.5 lb. To mount it in the car I bolted it to the old air box mounting points. Below you ca see it looking up through the wheel well, tire fender liner and Fujita F5 filter removed. 

I put everything back together and lowered the car. Then I wired it up reaching in from the top where I could be sure I could see the + and - markings on the terminals. According to several folks I've heard it from, getting the leads backwards pops about a dozen fuses some in VERY hard to reach places such as inside the dash, so it's extremely extremely important not to do that. Given the small size of this battery and the resulting proximity of the terminals, I will probably add a cover to the negative side as well so it doesn't get shocked if the car has to be jump started. 

So then came the moment of truth. Would it start... I opened the garage door. I turned the battery cut off switch... the usual whir-click of some misc electronics or relay powering up responded. Good. I opened the door and the cabin light came on. Good. I sat in the seat and turned the key the dash lit up. Good. I stepped on the clutch made sure it was out of gear, and pressed the start button...

Whirr Whirr Whirr...

Hmm, try it with some gas

Whirr Whirr Whir... Whirr Whirr Hic Whir Whirr Whir...

Whirr Whirr Whir

Whirr Whirr Whirr

Ok, Deep breaths... ... So it didn't start. It was an experiment I told myself.... It Hic'd once, so it was close, it was worth a shot, better luck next time (etc... etc... etc.)

Later that night I got to thinking. The car hasn't moved for 4 months. The garage is 40-45 degrees. This is more or less the coldest hardest start possible for a car that doesn't get to play in the snow. I had never doubted that the video of this battery starting a v6 truck engine was a video of a "warm" start. So if I can get it to start when the engine is not almost freezing and not all the oil has drained away from it, I may be ok. But if it never cold starts at all after sitting for a while that may not be good enough. So...

I warmed up the garage to about 60 degrees and let the car bask in that warmth for about a day. I figure if it starts after being still for 4 months at 60 degrees maybe it starts at a spring or fall 45-50 degrees after being still for a few days to a week, and either one of those is good enough. Both at the same time is a once a year affair. For what it's worth, the 7lb Braile battery sometimes required several tries for the first spring start. So with a somewhat warmer engine I tried again...

Whirr Whirr Whirr...

(gas) Whirr Whirr Whirr....

Uh oh...

Whirr Whirr Whirr...

Whir Whir Hic Whir, Hic, Hic *COUGH* HarrROOOOOOMM!!!

SUCCESS!

Whew it does start!! So I shut it off again, and gave it 30 seconds... and tried again...

Hic, HarrRROOOOMM!!

So it starts easy once it's been turned over, which is a really good sign. Good enough that I don't need to de-install the battery just yet, but I've pretty clearly found the bleeding edge. I also suspect it's time to find a suitable case charge the old Braille battery and throw it in my trailer so that I can jump the vehicle if necessary. It will also become more critical to not forget to turn off the battery cut-out switch when the vehicle is parked. Now it's up to the test of time to see if this becomes too annoying. It appears to at least remain theoretically feasible.