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I don't think there is a problem with a tray either. I use an Optima battery that also sat on wood. I thought about adapting a universal tray along the lines Keith suggested but all I found locally that fit were plastic. Made something else that could be easily adapted to the bottom bolt retainer. Will post a picture later today.

Went out and looked at mine. The battery has part# 34-1 on it. It's an $100 AAP battery bought 4 or 5 months ago. The base of the battery is too large transversly to fit the oem Packard tray. So then most likely the chevy tray will be too wide too. Maybe set the chev tray on a board or better yet rubber mat.

Photos of large battery in my '55 Clipper. Note, I changed to negative ground. Also note the cut-off switch in the first photo.

(o[]o)

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I had a Cole-Hersse cut-off switch fail. It was the one installed on my '47 Custom Clipper. I noted that the starter did not spin as fast as it did before the switch was installed, but thought the cause was something else. I switched the ground (positive) side and used large oversized cables because I was making the battery to ground much longer.

Returning from a Cars and Coffee event, the car stopped running and I had no electrics, none. I got the car on a flat bed tow truck and hauled home. Some checking the next day revealed the bad switch. I removed the switch and the problem was solved. The starter spun much faster (relatively speaking) too.

I have kept the switches on my '55 and '37, but the '47 is sans switch. I remove the ground cable when parking the car for prolonged periods. I opened the switch and looked for burned or bad connections, but nothing was evident. Curious.

(o[]o)

JW -

Now there's an aspect that I forgot to mention, in consideration of any resistance in a cut-off switch.

While charging may not be affected, the heavy-gauge cable goes directly to the starter solenoid for a good reason.

Here is a preliminary plan for battery and cutoff switch. Final will depend on how things work with AC install.

Per Keiths question on GM trays, I made a tray sized for the Optima which sits on bottom of factory tray and clamps in position thru the holes. Raises over the lip and extends out for wider battery. Hold down bolts use the original place on one side and J bolt fits under the tray on the other. Would be easy to extend or add a retainer for GM bottom tabs. My battery tender fits in the remaining space. Had originally planned to put the cutoff there as well with a bracket that could remove and rotate 90 degrees. That way it could mount to radiator support as JW's does should someone want to put a regular battery back in. The cover is from Tar Topper to hide the red Optima.

After second thoughts, decided to use Randy's suggestion and mount switch for the inside operation. Positioning using the factory hole mentioned earlier is as shown on engine and interior side. I may rotate switch 90 degrees because of cables though. The location on inside will need to extend the knob. Because of the kickpanel, will probably place it in a bracket at rear of dash by emerg brake bracket. Will be in high and far enough in to not be too visible but something to determine after the carpet is installed.

Haven't decided on battery cable location yet. Right now it is going above the remote reservoir for my brake mod. The final again depends on how the AC routes.

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I bet a battery tray and retainer out of a '54 would fit a group 34/78 12v optima battery to a tee.

Do they make a "high-amperage" push on/off switch that is similar to a floor mounted high-beam switch? If so that would be perfect as a cut-off switch, well just as long as you don't hit that one by mistake when you are trying to kick on the high beams. :)

There are a few push switches but I didn't find any heavy push on - push off types. Most are the emergency push to kill application and looks like limited amps -- sort of like a heavy duty ign switch could carry.

There are several solenoid type switches good for 125 amps or so with various activation methods. Most just draw current when actually switching so that's also an option for 12v cars. I almost chose one of those.

Howard, do you like the oldfashioned look of Hella products?

Look what I found in their German catalog (the above embedded link goes to their English speaking catalog and dealers located in your country).


12V, 100A (continuous power), removable key


12V, available up to 250A (continuous power), removable key (so-called NATO-bone)



Just to show you a complete different approach and design take a look at --> this.
I attached two related pics. Including bypass for small consumers (like clock etc.) the system goes for unbelievable $11.97 over the counter.








sources
pic 1 & 2: www.hella.de
pic 3 & 4: www.limora.com