8-2-2009 – Just a few days back I thought I had all of the motor mounting questions answered. I bent up the flat stock to make the bands for the front of the motor and when I did 
get it in, it sagged. With the 4X4 components just below, I couldn’t take a chance on it dropping any lower and maybe taking a hit, so on to Plan B. I was going through the EVDL and someone posted a blog site about a Honda S2000 (S2KEV). This guy did just what I needed to do – instead of bands; he made more of a cage. Box that motor in and tie it to the f
rame and it is now as solid as a rock. For the bands I made to brackets that were attached to two frame members. This gave me two solid points to attach the bands and it turned out two points to mount the cage. I took a couple of measurements and off to do some welding. The first try missed it by that much – about 1/8”. I knew this might happen, I just did not know by how much. There was a slight angle involved also and I was able to correct for that the second time around. I also made a new plate for the other end of the motor and dry fit everything – perfect! A quick disassembly to prime and paint and this part of the project was done. When I did the Fiero, I painted most of my parts lime green – more of a statement than for any reason. To keep with that theme, I am using orange – a nice OSHA safety orange. It’s a nice contrast to the white Tracker. So before I move on I just want to give a proper thanks to the S2000 guy – whatever your name maybe – and be sure to check out his blog (http://s2kev.blogspot.com/).
With the motor was done, I hooked the clutch cable back up and started thinking abou
t batteries – all twelve of them. When I did the Fiero I had lots of examples of what others had done in terms of batteries. With a lot fewer Trackers out there I was more or less on my own. My plan was eight in the back and four up front. Group 31 batteries are big and take up a lot more room than I first thought. I could only get two where the gas tank was and four more in front on the rear differential – that’s just six. I looked up front and four would be the max. Probably in hindsight I sho
uld have made a big box on the existing floor space and did all eight side by side, but with a big hole there was no turning back. My head was tired from too much thinking. I am still not sure how the front will turn out, but the back was going to be first on the list.
I took the requisite measurements for the back to build a frame for the BIG hole. I needed to reinforce what I took away and make some plans for the boxes. As I stated earlier, two would go where the tank was. These batteries would set below floor level so I would have a space to put a few things if needed (groceries, beer, more tools). Four batteries would set above the rear differential and drive shaft at about three inches deep – th
is would leave about six inches above floor level. The final two batteries will be at floor level in separate frames. When done, I will build a door for the lowest two and a box to cover the other six – think of Tetris. The frame for the hole will be supported by the frame rails in the back. Once everything is in place, I will silicone inside and out on the frame and then insulate and cover the actual battery boxes.
As for the front, that will be another chapter to be written later this week. I see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Once the batteries are in place, the wiring should be fairly straight forward.
So until then…
get it in, it sagged. With the 4X4 components just below, I couldn’t take a chance on it dropping any lower and maybe taking a hit, so on to Plan B. I was going through the EVDL and someone posted a blog site about a Honda S2000 (S2KEV). This guy did just what I needed to do – instead of bands; he made more of a cage. Box that motor in and tie it to the f
rame and it is now as solid as a rock. For the bands I made to brackets that were attached to two frame members. This gave me two solid points to attach the bands and it turned out two points to mount the cage. I took a couple of measurements and off to do some welding. The first try missed it by that much – about 1/8”. I knew this might happen, I just did not know by how much. There was a slight angle involved also and I was able to correct for that the second time around. I also made a new plate for the other end of the motor and dry fit everything – perfect! A quick disassembly to prime and paint and this part of the project was done. When I did the Fiero, I painted most of my parts lime green – more of a statement than for any reason. To keep with that theme, I am using orange – a nice OSHA safety orange. It’s a nice contrast to the white Tracker. So before I move on I just want to give a proper thanks to the S2000 guy – whatever your name maybe – and be sure to check out his blog (http://s2kev.blogspot.com/).With the motor was done, I hooked the clutch cable back up and started thinking abou
t batteries – all twelve of them. When I did the Fiero I had lots of examples of what others had done in terms of batteries. With a lot fewer Trackers out there I was more or less on my own. My plan was eight in the back and four up front. Group 31 batteries are big and take up a lot more room than I first thought. I could only get two where the gas tank was and four more in front on the rear differential – that’s just six. I looked up front and four would be the max. Probably in hindsight I sho
uld have made a big box on the existing floor space and did all eight side by side, but with a big hole there was no turning back. My head was tired from too much thinking. I am still not sure how the front will turn out, but the back was going to be first on the list.I took the requisite measurements for the back to build a frame for the BIG hole. I needed to reinforce what I took away and make some plans for the boxes. As I stated earlier, two would go where the tank was. These batteries would set below floor level so I would have a space to put a few things if needed (groceries, beer, more tools). Four batteries would set above the rear differential and drive shaft at about three inches deep – th
is would leave about six inches above floor level. The final two batteries will be at floor level in separate frames. When done, I will build a door for the lowest two and a box to cover the other six – think of Tetris. The frame for the hole will be supported by the frame rails in the back. Once everything is in place, I will silicone inside and out on the frame and then insulate and cover the actual battery boxes.As for the front, that will be another chapter to be written later this week. I see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Once the batteries are in place, the wiring should be fairly straight forward.
So until then…
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