The first thing
to do in the turbo install is to relocate the battery to the
hatch to make some room under the hood. The battery takes up
valuable real estate under the hood. In all kits I have seen for
the Probes/MX-6s, the turbo goes where the battery is.
The first thing I did was to order the Accel cable kit from JEGS. Cost was around $40 and the kit included 20 feet of 2 gauge cable and (4) 1-2AWG connectors. Once the cable arrived, I headed to Pep Boys to buy a battery box and some posts. Since I had some Scosche EFX battery terminals left over from my audiophile days, I used them to make the connection at the battery in the hatch.
The first thing to do is to disconnect
the battery, negative first and then positive. Remove the battery
hold-down (10mm) located on the front side of the battery.
Remove the battery and set it aside. If there is evidence of overflow or acid on the battery, use rags to grab the battery and save yourself the agony. Make sure to clean off any acid before re-installing.
Remove the (3) 10mm bolts holding the battery tray to the car. Take out the tray and save it if you ever plan on re-installing the battery under the hood.
In the hatch,
locate a suitable mounting place for the battery box. Ensure that
there is clearance to get the lid off and room to get the battery
in and out. Mine is located where the NOS bottle used to reside.
Secure the battery box to the floor.
Back under the hood, I ran the Accel cable from the original battery location over to the passenger-side firewall grommet where the main wire harness runs through it. I then ran the cable under the carpet to the battery box in the hatch.
Instead of
simply taping the Accel cable to the stock +12V terminal like I
have seen so many people do, I used one of the supplied 2AWG
connectors and attached it to the terminal bolt.
Since I did not want the cable simply hanging out under the hood, I fashioned a bracket to hold it and painted it black. In the top of the bracket, I drilled a hole to accept one of the battery posts that I bought. I "prepared" the post by insulating it with insulation cut off of a piece of 4 gauge cable that I had laying around. Since this setup is just to hold the cable and not make a connection, the post has to be insulated so there is no chance of a short (since we are talking about the +12V terminal here).
I attached the
bracket and post to the car using an OEM bolt under the fuse box.
For the OEM negative terminal, I simply insulated it and routed it through a hole under the Diagnostic box where a large wire loom runs. I then tie strapped the cable to the loom to keep it in place.
Once that was done, I attached the +12V terminal with the Accel cable to the mounting post that I made. Notice that I left the red protective cover on to ensure no electrical connection.
Back under the
hatch, it's time to make the electrical connections at the
battery. I drilled a 1/2" hole in the bottom of the battery
box and then through the floor to act as a vent. After that, drop
the battery in the box.
Connect the Accel cable to the terminal and then to the +12V battery terminal. For the negative side, I ran a cable through the hole that was originally for the NOS bottle blow-down tube. I connected the cable to a bolt at the rear of the car that holds the rear bumper cover directly to the frame. Connect the other side to the (-) battery terminal.
Start the car
to ensure everything is OK. Reset your clock and preset radio
stations! If everything is fine, loom the Accel cable under the
hood and the ground cable under the rear. In addition, I used
weather-stripping to seal the top of the battery box from the
cabin.
That's it! You now have plenty of room to mount that turbo and still have access to the +12V under the hood in case you need or give a jump start!
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