Couldn't run @ track cause of batt. switch

cvcsmkr

Donating Member
Well after getting everything fixed and driving an hour to track then getting in qualifying lane for an hour, they tell me i cant run becasue of where my batt. is and i dont have a disconnect/cut-off switch, i was freaking pissed. Ohh well. i have done a search and i found a couple of threads but nobody has posted what they have done. My battery is below the bed and in front of passenger side rear tire. Accoring to regulations the switch needs to be in the rear of vehicle. What do you guys think? I dont want to have to cut a hole in the bed of truck. Any Ideas? I know there is a switch that has about a 14" handle/rod so i was thinking of mounting switch to frame and drill hole in bed run rod thru bed and can shut off from there. i do have remote batt. conections on front pass. wheel well.

here is the rules from NHRA:

I have a street car that I occasionally run at the strip. I've relocated the battery to the rear. What else do I need?

Any car with a relocated battery must be equipped with a master electrical cutoff, capable of stopping all electrical functions including ignition (must shut the engine off, as well as fuel pumps, etc.). The switch must be located on the rear of the vehicle, with the "off" position clearly marked. If the switch is of a "push / pull" type, then "push" must be the motion that shuts off the switch, and plastic or "keyed" typed switches are prohibited. Also, the battery must be completely sealed from the driver and/or driver compartment. This means a metal bulkhead must separate the trunk from the driver compartment, or the battery must be located in a sealed, metal box constructed of minimum .024 inch steel or .032 inch aluminum, or in an NHRA accepted plastic box. In cars with a conventional trunk, metal can simply be installed behind the rear seat and under the package tray to effectively seal the battery off from the driver. In a hatchback type vehicle the battery box is usually the easiest solution, since the alternative is to fabricate a bulkhead which seals to the hatch when closed. At present, Moroso is the only company which offers an NHRA accepted plastic battery box, part number 74050.

But I drive on the street. I don't want a big cut off switch hanging on the back.

This solution takes a little work, but it solves the problem. Install the master cutoff inside the vehicle, positioned "sideways" so that the toggle moves forward and back. Drill a hole in the toggle handle, and attach a steel rod that will run out the back of the car, through a hole drilled completely through one tail light assembly. Have a spare tail light assembly on hand, so when you come home from the drags, you remove the rod and put the cherry tail light back in for street cruising. Next time you plan on going to the drag strip, swap lights and reinstall the rod. Since the drilled light is for the strip only, you can also have it marked "PUSH OFF" in big letters so the Tech Inspectors will think you're cool.
 

Captain Morgan

Moderated User
that sucks. My battery is in the back of my Ty and I havent added any switch nor will I ever. Heck, I didnt even have an inline fuse on it till last year :lol:

Either way, It sound like the tech might be a little confused about things cause im thinking there is a time regulation on that just like there is for cages and helmets.

Ed Hess might know and I honestly never recall seeing a switch on the back of his Sy.
 

ed hess

race or get outta the way
well fwiw when i had tech check my sy out after 1st getting into the 11's when he was all done telling me what i did need. I asked him:

"do i need a battery disconnect switch?"

his answer: Kinda shrugged his shoulders and said. "its a nice thing to have"

wtf! break my stones on bars thru the back and then ignore the other regulations... go figure.

anyway, i will be adding one in time.

How do i plan to do it.

Thru one of the license plate screw holes!

The hole is allready there so no new one is needed.

this solves your problem. since you dont want to poke a hole in the cladding, and it doesnt require an extra tail light.

but dont feel bad, my bars are in the shop and i plan to take the truck apart tomorrow.

going thru tech tonite might get interesting. I cringe passing the tower on the return road the last few runs.

On the lighter side. if they say anything to me tonite going thru tech i plan to put my tongue into my cheek and talk with mouth partly closed, "just got back from dentist"

then laugh and hope he does also.

:D
 

dgoodhue

BuSTeD 4.3
Re: Couldn't run @ track cause of batt. switch

Their is no time requirements for a battery cutoff switch. I have just been finishing my cutoff switch. I made 2 brackets, one that tucks in up under the bed for street use and another bracket that allows the cuttoff switch hang down below the bumper cover to appease the track officials. I will just swap brackets (three bolts) when I goto the track. Mine is mounted to one of bumper brackets bolts. If you would like I will get some pictures sometime next week when I pull my truck out of the garage.

I haven't finished cutting my ignitiion yet, I literally just came in from the garage to surf the forum and electrical diagrams to decide what I should do.
 

cvcsmkr

Donating Member
I would really appreciate if you could snap some pics while your under there.

i am also interested in how your going to cut the engine with the battery switch. i dont know if i will need to do that just yet though.
thanks...chad
 

ed hess

race or get outta the way
>>>Their is no time requirements for a battery cutoff switch<<<

i never quite understood this myself. I mean if you wreck and they cant reach in to turn the key, what they are going to open the hood and yank the battery cable..... whutz up whit dat?<-----i get a lot of customers that speak this way! :D

ed
 

cvcsmkr

Donating Member
that was my exact response to the tech. if you had battery in stock location they still can't pull they cable off. lets just say even if they can pull the cable off, they aren't cutting the engine off. its got to be the stupidest rule ever. FO SHO!! :D
 

Loeryder

New member
I haven't tried it yet, but have you considered just mounting a switch back there with some dummy wires not hooked to anything.

99% of the techs out there just LOOK for it, never seen one test the switch ever.

Its worth a try to not have to cut anymore holes or run an excess amount of wire.

FYI I just took the battery relocate out of a local Sy and it was about to wear through the 4 g cable insulation in 3 different spots.
Thats a wire fire waiting to happen.
Make sure those wires are grommeted and sheathed everywhere they cross a piece of metal.
 

cvcsmkr

Donating Member
i was deffinitely thinking bout doing that. but i would not want to waste another 3 hours going to track then thru qualifying and with my luck the tech would probably want to test the switch. then i would be so pissed :evil: i would run the tech over and ram the tower till it fell over. then i would throw a match in to my gas tank and walk away from the flaming explosin, like in "punisher". :p
 

dgoodhue

BuSTeD 4.3
Loeryder said:
FYI I just took the battery relocate out of a local Sy and it was about to wear through the 4 g cable insulation in 3 different spots.
Thats a wire fire waiting to happen.
Make sure those wires are grommeted and sheathed everywhere they cross a piece of metal.

I agree, I am in the process of pulling my power wire out to use split loom to cover it.
 

InvisiBill

Active member
M-Lo had one in the license plate screw hole a few years back. I barely even noticed it, but she said the cops harrassed her because it blocked the view of the license plate. Just something to consider.

I also remember a thread about this, where + vs. - came up. I believe one group requires it on the + cable, but it actually makes more sense to put it on the - side. The + cable on the switch would make it easier to contact the metal and short, and you had the possibility for sparks on the switch itself or something. I dunno, something like that anyway...
 

tyndago

New member
ed hess said:
>>>Their is no time requirements for a battery cutoff switch<<<

i never quite understood this myself. I mean if you wreck and they cant reach in to turn the key, what they are going to open the hood and yank the battery cable..... whutz up whit dat?<-----i get a lot of customers that speak this way!

Wrong.....

9.99 or quicker , or 135 mph or faster , OR on any car where battery is relocated to trunk area of vehicle.
 

90stangGT

Cobra member
Alot of the mustang guys either use the license plate hole as mentioned above or buy a spare taillight from a boneyard or whatever and put the switch in there and keep the original on the side so you need to hack it up.
 

syclonekid43

New member
how about see if the make some kind of flush mount swicth with a removable key. mount it behind your plate. this way when your at the track pull your plate off and insert key
 

QUIKSUV

New member
I have a good solution. Read on....

Any good tech inspector will not allow the key. It may fall off. Don't care if it is safety wired.

Tech depends on the track. Some inspectors turn their heads, others follow the NHRA rules completely. Remember these track owners have to get insurance and if tech ignored a safety related check then the track could be liable for your accident. We all want to race right? Lets just follow the rules even if they don't make sense. Yes, tech did try my cutoff switch to see if the engine died.

I have a Flaming River FR1013 switch mounted through the rear licence plate light hole. It fits right in there with only 2 small holes for mounting. If you ever want to put the truck back to stock, the stock light goes right back in and covers the small holes you drilled. On a Ty you need to cut a small section out of the rear bumper support to fit the switch. Nothing you can see unless you crawl under the truck. The switch is a single throw, double pole switch. The main part of the switch cuts the battery. The second cuts the fuel pump power. The switch is in the back and so is the pump wiring so it is an easy route for the wires. All works perfectly and not that noticeable. Just a red knob where the light used to be. You could remove the knob for normal driving and just put in on at the track. If you are going to install something, may as well spend the time to make it work.

I have pics if someone will host.
 

tyndago

New member
roberto said:
how about see if the make some kind of flush mount swicth with a removable key. mount it behind your plate. this way when your at the track pull your plate off and insert key

No plastic or removable type keys allowed for NHRA rules.

Buy a push/pull switch. Mount it in/ under the truck.

Push has to be off for NHRA. The lever screws on. Put a hole . You can fill it with a rubber grommet... For a Ty you can put it behind a tailight . Only need one tailight for NHRA.

For a Sy it can go behind license plate...
 

cvcsmkr

Donating Member
quick: please send me pics to chad@davishc.com
or this guy has an uploader for the syty community.
http://www.syty.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=32354

thanks for the info

if you could also tell me which wire you cut for the fuel pump, that would help.

i cant find the fr1013, i think you mean 1010(thats the one with the extra pole to cut pump or altenator.
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=FLA-FR1003
http://www.flaming-river.com/switches1.htm

do you have the additional long handle?
 

QUIKSUV

New member
The Summit part number is FLA-FR1013.

http://store.summitracing.com/defau...art&searchtype=both&part=fla-fr1013&x=21&y=13

This is the correct part.

http://www.flamingriver.com/combo-kill.htm


I sent you some pics. The hosting site would just hang.

I did this more than a year ago so the details are a little fuzzy.

I believe close to the intank fuel pump, just forward of the tank is a 2-pin connector for the pump. There is a connector around there somewhere for the pump. One wire is BLK which is ground, the other is WHT/BLK which is power for the pump. Run the WHT/BLK through the alternator side of the switch. When you press OFF, the switch should open the Battery and fuel pump at the same time.

I am running 2 pumps so I actually cut the relay that controls both. If you run one intank pump then the above should work.
 
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