Battery Location

Any reason why I can't place the battery in the back near the engine?

It just seems logical.

Ours is in the engine bay (spyder) and I've seen several speedsters with the battery in the bay.

ON the minus side, probably not the best for weight distribution.

On the plus side, allows more storage at the front and for a very short cable run to the engine (inches instead of feet).

angela

The Beck Speedster places it on the passenger side of the engine compartment as the front end is used for the spare time. Angela is right that it's not the best for weight distribution, but in teh Beck, the weight is offset by the spare. If you don't have room for a spare, you might want to reconsider, or offset it with some weight.

Correct me if I'm off-track here, but didn't at least some 356's come with pig-iron in the nose for just that purpose? Not an elegant solution, but it is a solution.

You know what would be cool? A really nice fitted hand-made toolbox that fits clear up in the front of the nose/floor. Only have to be a few inches tall, make it of metal, fill it with those needed spares. Wall-la - tools on the go with improved weight distribution (battery in the back). Short battery run, forward luggage space.

Time to bust out the welder guys! Fab it up! Git R Dun! WORK WORK!!! hahahah

angela

I've often wondered if you could use the old Starsky and Hutch lunchbox filled with lead in place of the front-mounted battery.
Maybe a Speed Racer one would work better?

For road handling a 50/50 weight distibution is desirable. Suspect the 356 is 30(F)/70(R)! So a good size battery in the nose, gas heater and a full gas tank (or better an oversized gas tank) is good way to improve this. I had a late '65 Porsche 911 that had big heavy iron weights in front bumper ends. While having it stripped and repainted - I noticed it handled very poorly with out them.

The down side of adding weight up there is that it changes something that is called (I think) the polar moment of inertia. Putting all your weight at the ends, even if it's balanced, gives you something like a barbell. Once spinning, it wants to keep spinning. A mid engined car concentrates the weight in the center, which makes it easy to change the car's direction, but it doesn't want to spin on you. I'm no expert (obviously), but I would think you'd want any added weight back a bit, and as low as possible.

Wow Lane! Deja vu; your post reminds me of the Physics and Structure classes I had to take in college.....

Angela..
I agree..in fact, I am looking at doing just that. Since I pulled the radiator, I have all that extra room..so why NOT put the tools up there and POR-15 the outside and put a latex on the inside for vibration?? hhmmmm....right under the spare? or in the middle of the spare? like a Hazet tool box?

Michael

...no wonder I never got my GED. When I got to the equation 'Pi R Squared' I tried to correct the teacher by saying 'Pi R ROUND - CORNBREAD R Square'.

I am currently pondering the weight distribution and polar moment of inertia for a Subaru engine and 915 gearbox build. Mid engine is out for registration reasons, so current thought is to mount the rad and battery up front, and shift the engine/box forward. Not the most elegant solution, but I have to live with the design and registration parameters.

while resistance, and related voltage drop in the longer battery cable is a fact, in practice is is not an issue given quality cable and good connections.
Trunk battery mounting over the right wheel is a common trick in front engined cars, and drag racers. This is stock in some high performance cars, like my Sunbeam Tiger.

And lest we forget the early 70's 911's with TWO front batteries, each ahead of the respective front wheel.

angela